Church Of St John The Baptist

CHURCH OF ST JOHN THE BAPTIST

This parish church, which holds minster status, dates principally from the early 15th century but incorporates fragments from the 12th century. Later additions and alterations were made in the late 15th, 16th, 17th and 19th centuries.

The church is built of coursed dressed stone under slate roofs.

Plan

A west tower is followed by a nave with aisles, and a chancel which also has aisles and a clerestory. There is a small north porch and a larger south porch positioned towards the west end of the nave. A chapel adjoins the east side of the south porch (the Holdsworth Chapel), and a further chapel (the Rokeby Chapel) stands on the north side of the chancel.

Exterior

All rooflines except that of the north aisle of the nave have parapets, some crenellated, all with crocketed pinnacles. The west tower has four stages with stepped angle buttresses. The pointed west door has two weathered coats of arms above it, and above these is a six-light Perpendicular traceried window. The top stage has paired pointed openings with louvres on three sides, with clock faces below.

The five-bay north aisle is partly formed from the south wall of the previous church, with buttresses added later. A small gabled porch with a shouldered arch door occupies the second bay from the west. The two windows to the left of the porch have Y tracery, as does the window to the right, though this is set into later stonework and is larger. The leftmost bay, also with later stonework, has a Perpendicular window.

The Rokeby Chapel is attached to the north side of the chancel. It has large Perpendicular windows at the west and east ends, and two bays also with Perpendicular windows. An additional rectangular window has been inserted beside the right-hand original window, with a small door below. The chancel aisle extends for three further bays beyond the Rokeby Chapel, with windows similar to those elsewhere in the building. At the east end, angle buttresses flank the aisles, and gargoyles in the form of animals mark the corners. A central window with Perpendicular tracery is flanked by stepped buttresses and a small square window near the ground. Similar, smaller windows are at the west end of each aisle: the left one with a small square window below, and the right with a square-headed doorway.

On the south side the chancel has five bays. The two leftmost bays are not defined by a buttress but have a small doorway and rose window above. The five windows in these bays are similar but not identical; the central one has a three-centred arch. The two right-hand bays have square mullioned windows below, and the centre bay has a pointed-arch doorway. The chancel has seven clerestory windows on each side.

The Holdsworth Chapel on the south side of the nave has four bays and is in a similar style. The upper parts of the buttresses are free-standing and attached to the wall by extravagantly carved gargoyles in the form of animals. The south porch, immediately adjacent to the chapel, is gabled with a pointed doorway, carved broad timber double doors and a glass overlight. There is a single Perpendicular window to the left, and a run of pointed segmental windows above both the porch and the nave window.

Interior

The nave has five bays. The arcades to the south and north aisles have broad pointed arches and a variety of piers; the first and fifth are considerably larger than the rest. Low box pews extend into the aisles on both sides, with a central stone-flagged passage and passages through each aisle. The pews have decorative carved ends adapted from 17th-century originals. The nave ceiling is panelled, and the aisles have lean-to timber ceilings with principal rafters descending below the wall plate and supported on timber corbels. The north wall of the north aisle, from the west end as far as the fourth bay, is of roughly shaped random coursed stone, evidence of its former status as the exterior wall of the earlier church. A small north porch is now a lavatory; the original outer door survives. There are numerous wall monuments throughout.

The south wall of the south aisle is pierced between bays three and five by a further arcade with pointed arches, leading to the Holdsworth Chapel. A wood and glass screen with a door in the central bay divides the chapel from the aisle. To the west of the Holdsworth Chapel is the south porch, with outer heavy timber pointed-arch double doors leading to modern glass and timber doors and screen, and inner heavy timber double doors. A carving attached to the wall over the inner doors has a mixture of symbols and lettering and appears to be a reused fragment.

At the west end the interior of the tower is approached up six steps. A chest tomb with an effigy on the top of Charles Musgrave, archdeacon of York in the 19th century, is situated in the centre of the tower base. Among other dedications is a plaque displaying brass nameplates formerly on pew ends. A small door in the corner leads to the tower stair. The window is a later replica of a Commonwealth window. A tomb with a dedication within a crocketed ogee arch with carved figures below is situated at the western end of the south aisle. Directly in front of the tower at the west end of the nave is the font, which has an octagonal raised stone base and a highly elaborate finely carved wooden font cover.

Between the nave and chancel are two bays occupying a central position, with the chancel arch springing from the fifth pier and the rood screen two bays beyond. After the rood screen, the chancel has three bays. In this area is a low dais on which stands the forward altar, with pews in the aisles to either side facing inwards. The carved wooden pulpit, which stands on castors so that it can be moved, is adjacent to the fifth pier on the south side. On the north side the aisle wall is replaced by arcading with pointed arches leading to the Rokeby Chapel. A wood and glass screen divides the chapel from the aisle. On the south side there are two Commonwealth windows with distinctive plain glass in finely leaded geometric patterns.

The rood screen is a delicately carved wooden construction. Beyond are three rows of choir stalls to either side, with misericords dating from the 15th century bearing individually carved images. The altar rail has elaborate turned wood balusters of the late 17th century; these and the misericords may have originated in Kirkstall Abbey. The reredos is wood panelled by Robert Thompson. The panelled ceiling is decorated with painted coats of arms.

The organ is situated on the north side, beyond which in the north-east corner is a small chapel, currently a store, with various wall monuments including a dedicatory plaque to the foundation by Nathaniel Waterhouse of a school for poor boys in the 17th century, and one Commonwealth window. On the south side of the chancel is the Wellington Chapel, designed by George Coutts, with three more Commonwealth windows.

The Rokeby Chapel has an altar decorated with painted scenes and two early 18th-century dedication plaques among others. The Holdsworth Chapel has an elaborately carved wooden screen of the 16th century separating it from the south aisle, and fixed pews. Much of the furniture in the Holdsworth Chapel was moved there from elsewhere in the church.

Accessed via stone steps from the east end of the chancel is the crypt area. This consists of several rooms including a music room with a ceiling partly vaulted and partly panelled with painted coats of arms similar to those on the chancel ceiling. The walls are partly panelled, with fitted cupboards occupying much of the walls. An office also has panelled walls and a fitted desk, and a vestry has glass-fronted cupboards and wood-lined walls incorporating a grandfather clock. The windows are mullioned with leaded panes.

Subsidiary Features

At the western approach to the church is an arched gateway with stone piers, three ball finials and swept-up flanking walls. Immediately outside is a set of stocks in stone, in poor condition.