Parish Church Of St John The Baptist

The Parish Church of St John the Baptist was built in 1846 by Sidney Smirke in a neo-Norman style and was extended in 1877. It is constructed from gault brick with stone dressings and features a slate roof. The church has a cruciform layout with a square tower at the crossing, a stair tower in the northeast corner, a vestry in the southeast corner, and a north porch. All windows are round-arched with internal splays and external nook-shafts, and the same moulding continues around the arch. The tower has two louvred lights on each face, with nook-shafts and cushion capitals set in recessed panels that are corbelled at the top. The nave consists of four bays with corbelled eaves and has two windows that have less splay than the others.

Inside, the church is plastered with groined vaulting throughout, and features cushion capitals on corbels in the nave, as well as nook shafts with moulded bases and cushion capitals at the crossing. Originally, the chancel was one bay but was extended by one bay in 1877, featuring three east windows and two on each side. The reredos is made of painted tiles, mosaic, and marble, with the same treatment extending to the sides of the east bay only. In the east wall of the south transept, there is a wrought iron grill with flowing curves ending in six-petalled flowers, dedicated to Henry Maitland in 1878. The chancel and transepts contain coloured glass, while the nave has plain glass. The original brick floor was replaced with planking in 1982, which includes a dais at the crossing. The vestry has a gabled south side, featuring a group of three round-headed lights and a round window above. The north doorway is round-headed beneath a segmental arch.