Church of St John the Baptist

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TL 7705 719/29/60

DANBURY CHURCH GREEN Church of St John the Baptist

10.04.67

I

A stone rubble church with stone dressings with a square west tower with a castellated parapet, outer diagonal buttresses and a shingled spire set back behind the parapet, considerably restored. The roof is tiled. The church is possibly of C12 origin but the earliest part of the present church is the base of the north arcade which is circa 1233. The nave, south arcade and west tower are of the C14. The steeple was first built in the C15. The church was extensively restored by either Sir George Gilbert Scott or George Gilbert Scott Junior in 1866 (unclear) and again in 1952 by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, after bomb damage in 1941. The roof of the north aisle is of the C 14 and has a castellated wall plate carved with effigies of Kings and Queens of the period, probably the Edwards.

There is a squint from the north aisle of the chancel. Four of the back pews in the nave, (north side) are original, with poppy heads and carved with various beasts on the shoulders. The remaining pews are copies by Sir G G Scott. The north aisle has four late C 13 windows with two arched recesses below containing oak effigies of Knights in armour with crossed legs indicating either crusaders or church builders. The armour suggests a date between 1272 and 1307. An effigy in the south aisle is of a slightly later date. They probably represent members of the St Clere family who endowed the church and rebuilt the north aisle. The gallery to the bell platform has a railing of circa 1600, part of the Jacobean altar rail removed from the church during the Commonwealth, (RCHM 1 ). Bibliography.

6790 (Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England), An Inventory of Essex South East, 1923, Vol4

Listing NGR: TL7793005119