Church Of St John The Baptist

The Church of St John the Baptist is a church dating from the 12th to 15th centuries, with a restoration in 1870. It is constructed of ashlar and coursed rubble stone, with a Collyweston slate roof to the chancel and a leaded and battlemented roof elsewhere. The church includes a west tower, nave, aisles, chancel, and north and south porches.

The west tower is of the 13th century, with three stages, buttresses, a projecting north-west stair turret, a west lancet with 19th-century stained glass, bell openings, and battlements. It is topped by a broach spire with three tiers of lucarnes in alternating positions. The west arch into the nave is double-chamfered with a hood mould, featuring polygonal responds. A four-bay late 12th-century north arcade has circular piers and later pointed double-chamfered arches. The four-bay 13th-century south arcade has circular piers and triple-shafted responds. Both arcades feature hood moulds and label stops. The nave has a Perpendicular clerestory with four 2-light windows on each side, and a low-pitch tie beam roof. The north aisle includes a window with Y tracery, two flat-topped windows, a north door dating to circa 1300, and a north-east window with reticulated tracery. The chancel, dating to circa 1300, contains three north windows – one with 14th-century stained glass, another with fragments and shields of similar glass, and a small 2-light window. A five-light east window is under a segmental arch with stained glass by Kempe of circa 1892. The south side features three windows, a south door, and a small 1-light window. Notable features include a fine double sedilia with ogee arches and ballflower decoration, and a piscina with a cusped arch. The roof in the chancel dates to 1870, with curved braces to curved collars, supporting a ballflower frieze on the exterior. The south aisle has a south-east window, another south window with stained glass of 1880, a south door dating to circa 1300, and another window with Y tracery. The south porch is also of circa 1300 and has an octagonal front. A partly 16th-century pulpit stands on a 19th-century base. The church contains a fine series of wall monuments, including one to Simon Digby of 1582, one to Susanna Noel of 1640 with a portrait bust, one to John Digby of 1758 by F. Bingham of Peterborough, and a brass memorial of 1625 to Archdeacon Johnson, founder of Uppingham and Oakham Schools. A fine brass chandelier of 1758 serves as a memorial to John Digby.

A wall painting, likely from the 13th century, depicts tendrils and flowers inside the south arcade.