Church Of St John The Baptist

The Church of St John the Baptist is a Grade I listed building, predominantly dating to the 15th century, with earlier 14th-century fabric incorporated into the north nave and chancel aisles. The church was restored in 1867-9 by Pearson. It is constructed of very deeply-coursed ashlar, with a stone slate roof.

The church comprises a west tower, a four-bay nave, and a three-bay chancel, both with buttressed lean-to aisles to the south. The design is in the Perpendicular style. The square, four-stage tower has diagonal buttresses. It features a moulded west doorway above which is a three-light window. The third stage has a five-sided oriel window with cusped lights, each with shields below, culminating in a pyramidal roof. Louvred, transomed belfry openings are present, along with gargoyles, a crenellated parapet, and crocketed pinnacles.

The nave’s clerestory bays are divided by slender buttresses, diagonally set to bays 2 and 4, with bay 1 being slightly later. The clerestory windows are two-light, cusped, with arched heads and hoodmoulds connected by a decorative band. Gargoyles, a crenellated parapet, and crocketed pinnacles also adorn the nave. South aisle windows are three-light with cusped lights and shallow-arched heads. North aisle windows are of two lights with cusped Y-tracery. Chancel aisle windows have Perpendicular tracery, while the four-light east window displays Decorated flamboyant tracery, probably a 19th-century restoration.

Inside, there are four-bay north and south arcades; bay 1 of the arcade is built into the solid wall, while the remaining bays rest on eight-sided, lozenge-shaped piers with cambered arches. Also present are a three-bay north chancel arcade and a two-bay south chancel arcade, supported by octagonal piers with rosette decoration to the capitals. Spiral staircases are located at the west end of the north aisle and ascending to the earlier west tower.

The church retains an excellent panelled roof to the nave and aisles, with moulded beams and decorative bosses. The chancel roof is panelled but plain with a brattished wall plate, and the chapel roofs are also panelled with bosses. A decorated, ogee-headed vestry door, a cusped arched piscina, and a low, brattished, panelled oak screen separate the chancel from the south chapel. A similar screen is located to the west of the south chapel. A rood stair is positioned at the east end of the north aisle. The octagonal font is of Perpendicular design, with traceried panelled sides. A significant monument commemorates Sandfoord (Sandford) Nevile of Chevet (1672), consisting of a black marble slab on a stone base with iron railings, supported by four white marble putti, which in turn support a further black marble slab inscribed with the dedication. A Rococo memorial tablet to Henry Broadhead (1754) is located near the south door, consisting of a black obelisk ornamented with a white marble putto on a cartouche, with floral and foliage supports, and featuring three cherub heads with wings beneath.