Church Of St John The Baptist

The Church of St John the Baptist in Grendon Bishop is a parish church largely dating from 1787-88, with earlier origins and alterations and an extension in 1870 by F.R. Kempson. The church is constructed of Old Red Sandstone rubble with freestone dressings and buttresses, topped with a tile roof and cast-iron rainwater goods.

The church's design reflects the Gothic-revival style, characterised by a steeply pitched roof. The nave features simple pointed windows – three on the south wall and two on the north. The pointed south doorway is set within a timber-framed porch with open arcaded sides and a gable featuring quatrefoils, raised on a low dwarf wall. The chancel's south wall has a two-light window with central column and trefoil tracery. The apse is distinguished by single cusped windows under hood moulds, and a sill band. The two-stage west tower incorporates a two-light plate-tracery window. A re-set Norman window is found on the south wall, and a date tablet sits below the sill of the bell openings. The low, splay-foot shingled spire rests on sawtooth brick eaves.

Inside, the tower arch and the arch to the sanctuary apse both have continuous chamfers. The nave and chancel are unified in a single, open space, with a trussed-rafter roof supported by a moulded cornice. The apse features a ribbed wooden vault. The plastered walls are punctuated by windows with simple chamfered rere arches that blend into the imposts. The nave has a flagstone floor beneath the pews, overlaid with a wooden floor. Decorative encaustic tiles adorn the chancel floor.

Principal fixtures include a round tub font, probably dating from the 18th century. Other fittings largely date from the 1870 renovations and include pine pews and choir stalls with open, shaped ends. A 20th-century pulpit features blind Gothic panels. Several simple wall monuments are also present, including a memorial to Philip South (died 1756) by James Yates, and two by W. Milton commemorating Captain Joseph Nunn (died 1813) and Philip Morris (died 1816), alongside two by Philpott of Bromyard dedicated to James Parlour (died 1757) and John Jenks (died 1806).

The church's origins lie in the 12th century, evidenced by the re-set Norman window in the south tower. A tablet inside records the church’s rebuilding in 1787-88. The apse was added in 1870, when Victorian-era renovations were also undertaken by F.R. Kempson, whose architectural practice was based in Hereford.

The church is designated Grade II for being an early Gothic-revival church retaining external character despite later extensions, incorporating earlier phases, and for the retention of 19th-century character and detail within the interior.