Church Of St John

The Church of St John is a parish church, possibly dating back to the 12th century, with significant additions and alterations made over several centuries. The nave arcade is late 13th century, the west tower with its spire was rebuilt in 1797, a south porch was constructed in 1648, and the chancel was rebuilt between 1862 and 1863. The entire building underwent substantial restoration, including the re-roofing of the nave in 1864, and an organ chamber/vestry was added in 1908.

The church is primarily built of coursed ironstone rubble, with limestone used in parts of the nave. The nave has a tiled roof, the south aisle a lead roof, and the chancel, porch and vestry are covered with Collyweston slates. The west tower has three stages, featuring angle buttresses, a chamfered plinth and strings, a southeast stair, and restored battlements with carved gargoyles. An octagonal spire tops the tower, with lucarnes providing light. The west window and bell chamber openings are two-light designs with tracery and arched heads. The west doorway has a steep four-centred moulded arch with a hoodmould. The nave’s clerestory features 15th-century windows with four-centred heads and hoodmoulds, with three two-light windows on the south side and one two-light and one three-light window on the north. A small, moulded two-centred arch defines the north doorway. The south aisle includes two circa 1300 windows, each with two uncusped lights and a quatrefoil above; a scratched mass dial is visible on one jamb of the left-hand window. A later rectangular two-light window marks the west end of the aisle, and a 15th-century three-light window with a four-centred head marks the east end. A moulded south doorway leads into a gabled ashlar porch, its semi-circular arch being chamfered. The chancel incorporates reused windows within its walls; the south wall includes a transomed lancet, a small Romanesque light, and a rectangular traceried window. The east wall has a three-light window with intersecting tracery.

Inside, the tall tower arch has a double-chamfered arch and jambs. A three-bay south arcade, with the western arch separated from the others by a short wall, links the nave and aisle. The arcade arches and chancel arch are double chamfered, supported by octagonal piers or half-shafts with moulded capitals. In the southeast corner of the nave, remnants of a staircase reveal the former location of a rood. A restored piscina with a moulded arch and hoodmould is located in the south aisle. The chancel contains an arch to the organ chamber/vestry and an aumbry in the north wall, as well as a 13th-century moulded reveal to the east window. A piscina with a Caernarvon arch and good 13th-century sedilia with two chamfered arches and a moulded capital to the central column are also found on the south wall. A square stone font from around 1300 incorporates low relief carving of blind cusped arches on all sides, deeply chamfered corners with random geometric motifs, and moulded capitals from former shaft supports.