Church of St John the Baptist is a Grade I listed building in the Huntingdonshire local planning authority area, England. First listed on 30 May 1958. Parish church.
Church of St John the Baptist
- WRENN ID
- fading-string-nettle
- Grade
- I
- Local Planning Authority
- Huntingdonshire
- Constituency
- Huntingdon MP: Ben Obese-Jecty (Con)
- Country
- England
- Date first listed
- 30 May 1958
- Type
- Parish church
- Address
- Church of St John the Baptist, Church Street, Somersham
- OS grid reference
- TL 360 778
- Coordinates
- 52.38191, -0.00298
- Source
- Historic England listing
Description
The Church of St John the Baptist is a parish church with a 13th-century chancel, nave, and aisles. A 14th-century tower, clerestory, and north porch, and a 15th-century south porch were added later. The church is constructed of stone and pebble rubble with Barnack stone dressings, and has plain tiled and lead roofs. The tower has three stages, with angle buttresses of four stages, an embattled parapet, a small lead-covered spire topped with a ball finial and weather vane. A 14th-century belfry window features two trefoiled lights with a quatrefoil in a two-centred head, with a moulded label. Four similar clerestory windows are also present. Pairs of mask-head corbels appear on the parapets of the aisles and nave.
The south aisle has three 15th-century windows, each with three cinquefoil lights in a four-centred head with a moulded label. A doorway in the south aisle is from the mid-13th century, featuring a richly moulded two-centred arch and detached shafts to each jamb, with stiff-leaf carving to the capital and a moulded base. Similar decoration is found on the 13th-century priest's door in the chancel, which contains three lancet windows. The south porch has its original roof and a two-centred archway of two moulded orders, with a moulded label and head stops.
Internally, the chancel arch and tower arch have two-centred arches with moulded labels featuring mask stops and keeling to the hollow chamfers, along with attached shafts with moulded capitals and bases. The nave arcade has four bays with two-centred arches, moulded labels, and mask stops. The piers are square, with chamfered angles and attached shafts to each face, each featuring moulded capitals and bases, and later crenellations. The church boasts a very fine 14th-century king post roof of four bays, with moulded tie beams cutting across curved principals, moulded purlins, and a ridge. Crown posts are braced to the ridge, and carved pendants are at the apex of the intermediate principals, with carved bosses at purlin intersections. Stone carved corbels support the wallposts. A piscina is present in the chancel and north and south aisles. The sedilia in the chancel are from the 13th century, consisting of three bays. A brass from the early 16th century commemorates a priest, and a monument to Anthony Hammond, Deputy Lieutenant of Huntingdonshire, dates to 1680. Floor slabs are from the 17th and 18th centuries. A 17th-century chair with carved and inlaid back, a medieval chest, which has been dug out and features an iron-bound lid, are also present.
Local climate
Church of St John the Baptist sits in one of the driest parts of the UK, with an average of 690 mm of rain a year. This makes it drier than 98% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is lower than that of 99% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 35 freeze-thaw cycles a year, more than 59% of listed buildings. Of these, 17 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.
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