Church of St John the Baptist is a Grade II* listed building in the Herefordshire, County of local planning authority area, England. First listed on 26 January 1967. A Medieval Church.

Church of St John the Baptist

WRENN ID
scarred-thatch-grain
Grade
II*
Local Planning Authority
Herefordshire, County of
Constituency
Hereford and South Herefordshire MP: Jesse Norman (Con)
Country
England
Date first listed
26 January 1967
Type
Church
Period
Medieval
Address
Church of St John the Baptist, Orcop
OS grid reference
SO 473 262
Coordinates
51.93245, -2.7666
Source
Historic England listing

Also on this page: sale history · flood risk · radon risk · weather exposure · detailed attributes ↓

Description

The Church of St John the Baptist is a parish church located in Orcop. It features an early 13th-century nave and north aisle, a chancel dating from around 1300, and a west tower built in the early 16th century. The church underwent extensive restoration in 1860 by T Nicholson, which included the addition of a polygonal vestry, and was further restored in 1907. The structure is made of sandstone rubble with later dressed rubble refacing and ashlar dressings, while the west tower has a part timber-framed design with timber cladding and is topped with Welsh slate roofs.

The west tower consists of two stages, with the lower stage encased in stone during the restoration. It features a truncated pyramidal roof, a louvred bell stage, and a short spire. The nave has two square-headed windows with two trefoil ogee-headed lights, likely from the 19th-century restoration, located to the right of a gabled 19th-century timber-framed porch and doorway. The north wall of the north aisle includes one 13th-century lancet window to the west and one 19th-century lancet to the east. The chancel has one restored single lancet window on the left and a pair of similar lancets on the right. There is a single trefoil-headed light from around 1300 on the north side, partially obscured by the 19th-century vestry, and a 19th-century east window with three lights.

Inside, the timber structure of the west tower is exposed, supported by massive posts with scissor braces on the north and south sides and diagonal braces to the east, arched over the tower arch. The nave features an early 16th-century arched braced collar roof. There is a low arcade of three bays in the north aisle, with circular piers and moulded capitals and bases, and 2-centred arches of two chamfered orders, all of which have been extensively retooled. Additionally, there is a re-used 12th-century piscina in the chancel, featuring the top of a scalloped pillar and a square drain.

Local climate

Church of St John the Baptist receives an average of 840 mm of rain a year. This makes it wetter than 57% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is greater than that of 56% of listed buildings.

It experiences an average of 43 freeze-thaw cycles a year, more than 84% of listed buildings. Of these, 20 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.

Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.

More on this building

Sign in or create a free account to unlock:

  • No EPC on record for this property
  • Sale history — 1 transaction since 2020
  • No related consent applications matched
  • Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
  • Flood risk assessment
  • Radon risk assessment
  • Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
Create free account

Matched applications, energy data and sale records are assembled automatically and may contain errors. Flag incorrect data.

Similar buildings

The closest matches to this building from all 493,000 UK listed buildings, by architecture, period and materials.

Nearby listed buildings

  1. Orcop War Memorial Grade II 450 m
  2. Rhydicar Grade II 1.7 km
  3. Lower Monkton Grade II 1.7 km
  4. Upper Monkton Farmhouse Grade II 1.8 km
  5. Treferanon Farmhouse Grade II 1.9 km
  6. Hills Farmhouse Grade II 2.1 km
  7. Milepost in Front of Old Hendre Grade II 2.3 km
  8. Milestone Opposite Pike Cottages at Ngr So 494248 Grade II 2.6 km
  9. Barn at Treago Farm Grade II* 2.6 km
  10. Milepost at Ngr So 495279 Grade II 2.7 km