Church Of St John The Baptist

Church of St John the Baptist

This parish church dates from the 13th, 14th and 15th centuries and was restored in 1874 by James Fowler. It is constructed of dressed stone and coursed squared rubble with ashlar dressings, under slate roofs. The building features moulded and chamfered plinths, string courses, moulded parapets and coped gables with crosses.

The church comprises a two-stage west tower, nave, north aisle, chancel, south aisle and south porch. The west tower has a pair of diagonal buttresses, an eaves band and four gargoyles, with a crenellated parapet topped by four crocketed pinnacles. The west front contains a 19th-century double lancet with hood mould, while the second stage displays four 13th-century cusped double lancet bell openings with chamfered reveals and hood moulds.

The three-bay nave has single gargoyles to the north and three gargoyles to the south, with a gabled chimney on the north-east corner. The four-bay north aisle has five buttresses with three setoffs. To the west is a single 19th-century cusped ogee-headed double lancet in a square-headed moulded opening. The north side contains four similar 15th-century lancets with restored tracery, the easternmost being smaller, followed by a 19th-century pointed doorway in a square reveal with hood mould.

The two-bay chancel has a pair of diagonal buttresses to the east and a single buttress to the south, all with three setoffs. The east end features a 15th-century quadruple lancet with cusped heads, coved and chamfered reveal and hood mould. The south side of the chancel has a 15th-century double lancet with cusped ogee heads, and to the east a 16th-century triple lancet with cusped heads, elliptical opening and splayed reveal.

The three-bay south aisle has three buttresses with four or five setoffs and three gargoyles above. The south side contains two 15th-century cusped ogee-headed double lancets with hood mould, similar windows at the east and west ends. The single-bay south porch has corner buttresses of two setoffs and a cusped lancet on each side with square head and hood mould. The moulded doorway features a hood mould with mask stops, while the inner doorway has a moulded 14th-century opening with hood mould and two miniature gabled buttresses.

Internally, the tower arch dates from the 14th century and was restored in the 19th century. It has a double chamfer and rebate with moulded imposts and hood mould with foliate stops. The tower chamber contains a large marble and slate Classical 18th-century memorial with a female figure and draped urn, attributed to the Fishers of York, with the inscription panel now missing.

The nave arcade dates from the 13th century and consists of two round piers with water-holding bases and moulded octagonal caps, with double chamfered and rebated arches and keeled responds. The south arcade is 14th-century with two octagonal piers, moulded octagonal bases and capitals, double chamfered and rebated arches and half-pier responds. The roof has corbels carrying curved brackets to tie beams, foliate bosses and moulded principal timbers.

The north aisle has a four-centred arched opening to a vestry at the east end with a single Tudor-arched door, and a 19th-century lean-to roof on corbels. The 19th-century chancel arch is in 14th-century style with double chamfer and rebate, octagonal imposts and hood mould with foliate stops. The chancel has an organ opening and doorway to the north, and to the east a panelled timber reredos and a window containing stained glass by Kempe, dated 1900. The chancel roof is 19th-century with principal rafters and curved brackets on corbels. The south aisle has a 19th-century lean-to roof.

The fittings include a 19th-century traceried panelled octagonal stone pulpit, plain timber lectern and octagonal font with four traceried panels on the bowl and wooden lid. The church also contains plain deal pews, pierced and carved stalls and desks, a Classical-style war memorial from 1918, a brass from 1752 and three 20th-century brasses.