Baxterley Church

Baxterley Church is a building of uncertain dedication, primarily dating to around 1200 with a chancel, and possibly 14th century origins for the nave. The west front was largely reworked in the 16th/17th centuries, though much of the church was substantially rebuilt and a north aisle, vestry, and porch were added around 1875 by Paull and Bickerdike. The church is constructed of various sandstones, with the chancel and nave's east wall largely of coursed squared rubble, and the rest of the building of regular coursed stone. The timber-framed porch has rendered infill panels, and the plain-tile roofs feature coped gable parapets, trefoiled kneeler details, and cross finials.

The church comprises a two-bay chancel, a three-bay nave, a north aisle, a north vestry, and a porch. The chancel has 19th-century buttresses and a triple lancet east window. A round-arched slit window is located on the south side. A restored 15th-century south low-side window is unglazed, with bars and a 19th-century shutter. The vestry has a three-light straight-headed east window incorporating re-set 15th-century trefoiled ogee heads. The north gable features a chamfered round-arched doorway with a blind tympanum, hood mould, and plank door. An octagonal stack rises from the angle of the vestry, nave, and aisle. The nave is set off-axis to the south. The east wall features a 19th-century window with cusped Y-tracery. The south side has three 19th-century buttresses and a window with cusped Y-tracery, alongside a trefoiled western lancet. The west front incorporates a square 17th-century bell turret. The turret has a straight-headed two-light louvred west window and bell chamber openings, and is topped with a moulded cornice and embattled parapet with simple pinnacles. A 19th-century buttress sits between the nave and aisle. The aisle has a porch in the third bay, featuring ribbed double-leaf doors and a chamfered doorway with a plank door inside. The east and north-east windows are two-light with simple geometrical tracery, while the central and western windows have cusped Y-tracery.

The interior is plastered, with the chancel containing two plain 19th-century sedilia and a wagon roof. The 12th-century chancel arch was reconstructed in 1958 and features fluted imposts and a hood mould. The north arcade has two chamfered orders with octagonal pillars and moulded capitals. The west turret intrudes into the nave, supported by walls with a simple moulded round arch. The 19th-century nave and aisle roofs complete the interior. Notable fittings include a 15th-century octagonal font with shields to alternate faces, 19th-century pews, and 19th-century stained glass. Monuments are present on the north aisle's north wall (Thomas Shaw, 1772), the nave's south wall (Boultbec family, 1806), and the turret’s south wall (Thomas Strong, 1723).