St. John's Church - Portsmouth, New Hampshire - American Guide Series on Waymarking.com

St. John's Church, Chapel St. (R), a brick church erected in 1807, is set on a hill overlooking the river. The facade contains three doors, and on the second floor are three tall arched windows, with a semi circular window in the main pediment. A short square tower on the front is surmounted by a domed octagonal lantern. The lower windows along the side have flat arched lintels with keystones.

The interior of St. John's is designed in a much lighter vein than the somber exterior. Stately white pews line its three long aisles and the diminishing lines of the side galleries with their superimposed orders of Doric and Ionic columns effectively focalize on the great chancel arch. The ceiling over the central aisle, embellished with shallow coffers, is in the form of a segmental vault.

On the face of the elliptical chancel arch is an interesting mural the figure of Christ silhouetted against a brilliant sunburst and billowy clouds. The design of this mural, like that of the highly stylized Ionic columns in the galleries, rather suggests the French baroque.

The graceful dome of the chancel is adorned with a large shell motif. The altar is framed against a classic screen designed with fluted pilasters and triple arches in the traditional Palladian manner.

This building replaced an earlier chapel, erected on Strawberry Bank, and named Queen's Chapel in 1732 in honor of Queen Caroline, who furnished books for the pulpit, two mahogany chairs and the plate, all bearing the royal arms and still in use. A ' Vinegar Bible,' printed in 1717, one of the four in this country, is preserved in a carved rosewood case. Through the glass cover the word 'vinegar,' a misprint for 'vineyard' in the Biblical parable, can be seen. The marble Font was presented in 1761 by the daughters of General Mason who commanded the British at the capture of the French colony of Senegal in 1758. It was part of the plunder, and was originally lined with silver, which was wrenched out during the battle. In the church is an Organ, one of the oldest in the country, 'an ungodly chest of whistles,' built in England in 1710, used for a time in King's Chapel, Boston, and brought to Portsmouth in 1836.  - New Hampshire: A Guide to the Granite State, Portsmouth section, pgs. 238-239