Church Of St John Of Jerusalem

Church of St John of Jerusalem

This is a parish church dating from the 12th, 13th and 14th centuries, largely rebuilt and restored in 1877 by W E Martin. It is constructed of sandstone rubble with sandstone and limestone dressings, and has Welsh slate roofs.

The building has a rectangular four to five bay plan with nave and chancel that are structurally undivided, and includes a south porch. The west elevation features a battered ashlar zone beneath and between the verges. In the centre is an advanced support to a bell-cot, which has dressed quoins and a 13th-century trefoiled lancet above. This breaks through the apex of the gable to a cornice and gabled bell-cot with two chamfered, two-centred openings, each containing a bell.

The north elevation has three restored trefoil-headed lancets and three buttresses with offsets. Between the right-hand window and right buttress is a blocked and restored 12th-century round-headed doorway with moulded imposts and a label stopped by a monster's head to each side. The centre of the label has a grotesque head. The restored jambs have chamfer stops and a re-consecration cross to the left side.

The east elevation has three round-headed windows, the central one set high in the wall, with a verge and gable cross.

The south elevation has a restored ogee-headed window to the right-hand side containing two cinquefoil-headed lights and quatrefoil tracery, two trefoiled lancets to the centre, and one small chamfered lancet to the left-hand side. The south porch is probably from 1877 and has pine panels with one trefoil-headed opening to each side of the entry and three on each return. It has a limestone plinth, a gabled roof with scissor struts, and a 19th-century south doorway with a contemporary ledged oak door in a square-headed opening.

The interior has a continuous 19th-century pine wagon roof with scissor struts. The east windows are set in deep splays and contain stained glass. The central light features an archangel with the inscription "Holy Holy Holy". The left light shows the Baptism of Christ, and the right a detail of The Last Supper. The two-light window of the south wall contains scenes from The Resurrection. Opposite, in the easternmost window of the north wall, is The Nativity with the inscription "THE WORD WAS MADE FLESH".

A 19th-century limestone pulpit is part-octagonal with two trefoil-headed panels and two large pyramidical stops to the base, with a central cross. There is a 19th-century wrought iron lectern with scrolled brackets, a tripod and an oak bookrest. A late 19th-century harmonium is constructed of oak and mahogany, with a deep top that is brattished and two brass sconces with double hinges. It was made by the Bell Organ and Piano Co Ltd of Canada and features the company's characteristic mouse-proof pedal.

The font is probably early 17th-century, with an octagonal base, stem and bowl, all moulded. The stem has a recessed lancet to each face. The bowl has two incised trefoil-headed designs to each face, three of which on the east side contain carvings of a flower, fleur-de-lys and thistle.

The north wall contains a wall monument to Herbert and Henry Fox, men of the parish who died in the First World War, inscribed "REMEMBER THEM, O LORD FOR GOOD". On the same wall is a monument for Richard Garrold (died 1807) with a draped white urn set within a black obelisk. Further east is a similar monument to his namesake (died 1846). Near the pulpit is a wall monument to Thomas Garrold (died 1859) by Jennings of Hereford, with a draped white pediment and acroteria supported on tapered pilasters on a slate or block marble background. Several other wall monuments dating from the mid-19th to early 20th century commemorate members of the Fisher, Preece, Smyth and Tickle families.