Church Of St John The Baptist

The Church of St John the Baptist is a Grade II* listed building located in Bransford, dating back to the 13th century, with later alterations from the 14th, 15th, and 17th centuries. It was restored in 1957 and is constructed of stone rubble, with some brick, and has a tiled roof. The church features a nave and a continuous chancel, along with a west bell turret and a south porch.

The west wall includes a chamfered one-light window with an elliptical head. Above the roof, a weatherboarded bell turret with louvres and a pyramidal roof rises. On the south side, there is a 13th-century chamfered lancet window to the left of the porch, and to the right, a window with a single trefoiled ogee light under a flat head. Further right is a three-light window with timber mullions, rectangular lead glazing, and brick reveals. The eastern end of this wall is made of brick on a stone base.

The doorway features an ogee-arched head and is sheltered by a timber porch. The gable wall of the porch has paired posts, with the inner posts forming an arch with the tie-beam. The side walls of the porch have timber mullions above a middle rail and chamfered wall-plates in two orders. The inner truss is supported by arch-braces. The east wall of the chancel is made of brick and has a timber window with four lights and a transom, topped by a segmental brick arch over its flat head. The north wall shows signs of rebuilding, with a two-trefoiled light window under a flat head to the right of a buttress, and a chamfered doorway with a Tudor-arched head further right.

Inside, the church has a collar rafter roof with curved braces to the collar and two tie-beams, the eastern of which supports two vertical struts. The wall-plates are moulded. In the south wall, there is a piscina set in a flat-headed recess. A fragment of wall painting is visible at the east end of the north wall. The tower is supported by four timber posts with diagonal braces, much of which has been renewed. A timber-framed wall on the east side separates the tower from the nave and contains two blocked wood-mullioned windows and a plank door with a wooden handle.