Church Of St John The Baptist

The Church of St John the Baptist is a Grade II* listed building located in Little Stretton. It dates from the 12th century, with 13th and 15th-century elements, and was restored in the late 19th century by H.L. Goddard of Leicester. The church is constructed of ashlar and rubble stone, featuring a Swithland slate roof with stone coped gables and a leaded roof on the tower.

The west tower, which is from the 15th century with a 13th-century base, has three stages and includes a plinth, mouldings, a small west crosslet, and a quatrefoil opening above. It also has four two-light bell openings, all except the north side featuring battlemented transoms and cusped lights, along with hood moulds. The tower is topped with a low pyramid roof and a weathercock.

Inside, the nave has a small arch with a chamfered square that is hollowed in the center. The north wall of the nave is blank except for a blocked north doorway, and there are three large red and blue brick buttresses on the exterior. Near the east end, there is an aumbry with a 17th-century wooden door. The south wall features five two-light windows with Y, curvilinear, and reticulated tracery, as well as a Norman south doorway. The south porch likely has a brick front from around 1700.

The east window is a three-light Perpendicular style, and the church has a 19th-century six-bay tie beam roof. A 13th or 14th-century octagonal font made of Purbeck marble is present, with each panel containing two blank pointed arches, mostly cusped. The church also features an early 17th-century oak communion rail, an 18th-century oak pulpit, wall monuments, and four medieval bench ends.