Church Of St John The Baptist

Church of St John the Baptist

Parish church dating from the 14th and 15th centuries, substantially restored between 1883 and 1887 by Oldrid Scott, when the north and south aisles were rebuilt. The tower was further restored in 1981. The building is constructed in ashlar with probable lead roofs.

The church comprises a tower, nave with aisles, south porch, south-east rood turret and chancel, all topped with embattled parapets featuring single ridge crosses to the east nave and chancel. A buttressed plinth runs around the building, with a moulded band above and sill band.

The 15th-century tower stands in three stages on angle buttresses, adorned with eight crocketed pinnacles and eight gargoyles. The west side features a restored moulded arched doorway with wooden door and continuous hood mould. Above this is a single arched window with three cusped lights, surmounted by a further three arched and cusped lights with cusped panel tracery, hood mould and label stops. The second stage on the south side contains a niche with a standing, worn figure set within a cinque-foiled canopy decorated with three finials. The bell chamber has four arched openings, each with two arched and cusped lights surmounted by two further similar lights with tracery, hood mould and label stops. A single clock face appears below the north opening. Rectangular stair lights number five to the south side and one each to the west and north sides.

The north aisle's west wall carries a single arched 15th-century three-light window with cusped panel tracery, hood mould and a single human head label stop to the left. The four-bay north wall, which features three gargoyles, contains three similar windows with hood moulds and human head label stops. A moulded pointed arched doorway with wooden door, decorative iron hinges and hood mould with human head label stops appears in the second bay from the right. The east wall has a similar window with hood mould and human head label stops. The clerestory features eight arched windows, each with three arched and cusped lights, reticulated tracery and continuous hood mould.

The 15th-century chancel has in its north wall two large gargoyles and two 14th-century-style arched windows, each with three arched and cusped lights, hood mould and human head label stops (the left window lacking the right label stop). The east chancel wall displays a single large arched five-light window with cusped panel tracery, hood mould and human head label stops. The south chancel has two large gargoyles and three 14th-century-style arched windows, each with three arched and cusped lights, hood mould and human head label stops. A double chamfered arched doorway, with a sundial to the right, breaks into the left corner of the central window. The rood turret has a single rectangular stair light.

The east wall of the south aisle contains a single arched three-light 15th-century window with cusped panel tracery, hood mould and human head label stops. The four-bay south wall, with three gargoyles, displays three similar windows with hood moulds and human head label stops. The second bay from the left opens into the diagonally buttressed south porch. This porch features a single ridge cross, two crocketed pinnacles and single gargoyles to the east and west sides. The moulded and chamfered arched doorway has its inner chamfer supported on embattled capitals, with hood mould and human head label stops. Above is a niche containing a figure standing under a double arch decorated with finials. The east and west walls each have a single arched and cusped light under a flat arch with hood mould. The porch interior features two corbels on both the east and west sides, and a timbered roof with 15th-century bosses. The inner moulded arched doorway carries a hood mould and human head label stops. A sundial appears in the south-west corner of the south parapet. The west wall has a single 15th-century arched three-light window with cusped panel tracery. The clerestory corresponds to the north side but features three worn gargoyles.

Interior

The four-bay nave arcades have octagonal columns and responds, each side featuring a single recessed rectangular blind panel, embattled capitals and moulded arches with hood moulds, each bearing five head label stops. A tall tower arch with concave moulding and embattled capitals separates the nave and tower. An early 14th-century double chamfered chancel arch, with inner chamfer featuring moulded impost, hood mould and human head label stops, marks the transition to the chancel.

The east nave wall contains a chamfered arched doorway with wooden door leading to the rood stair, with a blocked arch above. 17th-century altar rails with turned balusters stand before the chancel. A 17th-century panelled and decorated pulpit and a 17th-century alms box with iron fittings are present. The ashlar font, probably an inverted 14th-century font, rests on a base decorated with fleurons and is supported by flying buttresses. The bowl is dated 1686 and retains a 17th-century conical decorated canopy. The east bay of the south aisle preserves the restored and reduced 15th-century chancel screen with panel tracery. The south aisle contains the base of a 17th-century altar table, whilst the north aisle retains the top of an ashlar altar table. The nave contains a litity desk partly constructed with a 16th-century bench end featuring a decoratively carved head. A large 17th-century chest with iron fittings is also present. Single iron brackets formerly for lamps appear on the north and south walls of the chancel. Remaining furniture dates from the 19th and 20th centuries.

Monuments include an alabaster tomb of John (Judge) Markham, died 1409, in the chancel, decorated around the sides with plain shields in roundels and inscribed around the top edge, though later defaced. A fine brass of 1419 to Dame Millicent Meryng, depicting a lady in medieval costume, is located in the south aisle. A 13th-century coffin lid with worn effigy stands beside the north wall. Several 17th- and 18th-century floor slabs are present throughout. Fragments of 15th-century glass remain in the east window of the south aisle. The east window, installed in 1896, is by Comper. The 19th-century nave and chancel roofs with bosses are supported on corbels.