A Category A listed structure,[1] it is located in the town centre at the junction between Hanover Street and Victoria Road.

Architect Robert Alexander Bryden[3] was hired and the present church building was completed in 1877.

[4] (Bryden is buried about half a mile to the north of the church, in Dunoon Cemetery.)

St John's Church was built using dry stone masonry and stands on a steeply sloping site which increases its apparent size and the height of the tower and spire.

The church was refurbished in 2012 via a £200,000 grant from Historic Scotland and the Heritage Lottery Fund.