Church Of St John Baptist

The Church of St John Baptist is a parish church located in Weston Beggard. It dates back to the 12th century, with a nave from that period, a 14th-century west tower, chancel, and south porch. The church underwent restoration and the south wall of the nave was largely rebuilt in 1881 by T Nicholson. It is constructed from coursed and dressed sandstone rubble with ashlar dressings and has tiled roofs.

The west tower consists of three stages, featuring a moulded plinth and a plain parapet, with diagonal buttresses on the west side. A 2-light window with a semi-circular head is located in the bell-stage, and there is a carved gargoyle on the south face of the parapet. The nave has two late 19th-century 2-light windows flanking the doorway, which is accessed through a gabled porch. The outer archway has two continuous orders, while the inner arch is moulded and the outer is chamfered. The inner doorway features a semi-circular headed arch from around 1200 with two orders, including an inner roll moulded and outer chamfered design, and a chamfered label with carved stops. The chancel has a single light mid-19th-century window on the left and a 2-light mid-19th-century window on the right. Restored 14th-century windows are present on the north wall of the chancel, including one single trefoil ogee-headed light to the west and a 2-light window to the east.

Inside, the nave features a trussed rafter roof with scissor-bracing, which is reputedly of medieval origin but likely heavily restored. The tower arch consists of three continuous chamfered orders, while the chancel arch has two chamfered orders, with the inner resting on corbels. The north corbel has a scalloped capital, and the south corbel features a moulded abacus with leaf ornament underneath. Notable monuments include a tomb recess from around 1300-10 on the south wall of the chancel, which has moulded jambs and a cinquefoiled and sub-cusped arch with foliage ornament in the spandrels, flanked by mutilated pinnacles, a crocketted gable, and a carved finial. There is also a tomb recess on the north wall decorated with ball-flower motifs.