Remains Of Old Church Of St John The Baptist

The remains of the Old Church of St John the Baptist, located in Yazor, likely originated in the 14th and 15th centuries. It served as a parish church before later becoming a private chapel for the Davenport family, and is now disused. The church was largely demolished between 1843 and 1855, with partial restoration work carried out around 1858. The structure is built of sandstone rubble with sandstone dressings and ashlar, and has a tiled roof with a gambrel on the north side. A 15th-century west tower stands roughly 40 feet high, and is partially obscured by vegetation.

The east elevation features a central ground-floor opening with a four-centred arch and double chamfers, potentially a 16th-century doorway within the former tower arch. The north elevation of the south nave arcade has three bays; the right-hand bay forms an open arch to the south-east corner of the tower. The arches are two-centred and double-chamfered, with octagonal piers and moulded capitals, probably dating to the 15th century. The two left-hand arches are now filled with 19th-century ashlar. A triangular-headed doorway in the central bay leads to a pair of oak doors with strap hinges. A weathered buttress sits to the left-hand side. The south transept’s west elevation contains one double chamfered arch and a pair of trefoiled lights. Its south elevation is marked by three stepped trefoiled lights, and a wall plaque commemorating Ralph Tichborne Hinckes JPDL, son of Rev GH Davenport, who lived between 1873 and 1944. The east elevation has a pair of trefoiled ogeed lights with a quatrefoil in the spandrel.

Inside the south transept, the roof is supported by mid-19th-century scissor struts. The north wall displays remnants of the nave arcade set within 19th-century red sandstone dressings, featuring a recessed quatrefoil containing the inscription: “IN MEMORY OF IOHN: COLTMAN: DAVENPORT ESQre; died 1858.” Numerous similar quatrefoils on the east wall are memorials to John Davenport, Lord of the Manor of West Woodhall, who died in 1862, and his wife Charlotte, daughter of George Coltman, who lived between 1805 and 1685. A pair of large corbel heads, likely from the 15th century, flank the east window. A floor slab to the left of the window has two incised crosses within circles, dating from the 13th or 14th century. A large bell bears the Lombardic inscription "Ave Maria...". A re-set piscina in the south wall has a trefoiled head and lacks a drain. A late 19th-century oak communion table features three cinquefoil-headed open panels. Four contemporary benches are present, two with desks featuring trefoiled openings; a simple seat incorporates trefoiled and cinquefoiled openings. A late 19th-century mahogany harmonium by W Bell & Co of Guelph, Canada, is also located here and includes patented mouse-proof pedals.