The church pictured has changed little in exterior appearance since it was built in the early fourteenth century. The present exterior owes a great deal to restoration, which the building underwent in 1869-1870, but the main lines of the nave, presbytery and chancel are probably those of the 1321-1323 rebuilding. The role of the building as hospital chapel to St John's hospital next door may explain the long and narrow plan of the structure. It was at St John's Church that John Gifford, an ex-cavalier and ex-sinner, became a pastor and preached to a congregation of converted Christians which included John Bunyan. Gifford was the original of Evangelist in The Pilgrim's Progress. With the restoration of the monarchy in 1660 and the consequent return to religious uniformity, the congregation had to leave St John's Church and were without a meeting house for twelve years until they settled on the site of the Bunyan Meeting.