Church Of St John Baptist

The Church of St John Baptist was built between 1868 and 1870, designed by G.F. Bodley. It is constructed of cream stone with red stone dressings and random banding, with tile roofs to most areas and slate to the aisles. The church comprises a nave with aisles, a west tower, a chancel, a north chapel, a south organ loft and vestry, and a short passage leading to a detached vestry.

The west tower has angle buttresses with gabled traceried panels. It features a west entrance and a three-light window above with intersecting tracery. The top stage has two-light, louvred bell openings. A panelled parapet topped with pinnacles supports a spire on an octagonal drum with four gabled, two-light openings. A lean-to stair turret is incorporated into the south-east angle. The five-bay nave has two-light clerestory windows, and three-light nave windows between buttresses. A segmental, pointed window is present in the north aisle, and a gabled arch on the south side. A porch with a flat roof and parapet features a statue in a niche above the entrance. The north chapel has two paired, two-light windows with a statue of St. Mark in a niche, and a three-light east window. The chancel features a five-light east window with intersecting tracery and a three-light south window. The vestry exhibits an unusual fluted gutter spout. The detached vestry has a two-light window overlooking Green Lane and two square-headed, two-light windows flanking a lateral stack to the south; the connecting passage has a timber, continuous traceried window of six lights, with an entrance.

Inside, the arcades are supported by octagonal piers. The walls are richly stencilled above sill level, and the roofs are also stencilled. A wall painting above the chancel arch was executed by Kempe, which is a rare example. The fittings are all richly painted. The nave features octagonal front panels with marble shafts, a pyramidal cover, and a lectern. The tower now contains a Chapel of the Holy Rood. A reredos, altar, and credence table, adapted from a rood screen and dating to 1890, were crafted by Bodley and taken from Dunstable Priory. The chancel screen has ribbed coving and a loft parapet, and similar screens are present in the chapels. The south chapel, located at the end of the aisle, includes a screen behind the reredos. The chancel has canopied stalls, a parclose screen to the north, and an organ to the south. A rich reredos is also present. A brass memorial commemorates Father Brockman, dated 1925. East and south windows were designed by Morris and Co. The vestry contains a painted ceiling, the passage features arch-braced, cambered tie beams, and the detached vestry has cope chests. This is a fine example of Bodley’s early work, notable for its remarkably complete interior and as one of the finest examples of Victorian polychromy.