Parish Church of St John the Baptist is a Grade II listed building in the Epping Forest local planning authority area, England. First listed on 29 May 1984. Church.

Parish Church of St John the Baptist

WRENN ID
other-keep-tide
Grade
II
Local Planning Authority
Epping Forest
Constituency
Epping Forest MP: Dr Neil Hudson (Con)
Country
England
Date first listed
29 May 1984
Type
Church
Address
Parish Church of St John the Baptist, Church Lane, Loughton
OS grid reference
TQ 429 969
Coordinates
51.653, 0.06493
Source
Historic England listing

Also on this page: flood risk · radon risk · weather exposure · detailed attributes ↓

Description

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.

Local climate

Parish Church of St John the Baptist sits in one of the driest parts of the UK, with an average of 680 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 98% of listed buildings.

It experiences an average of 31 freeze-thaw cycles a year, fewer than 60% of listed buildings. Of these, 15 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.

More on this building

Sign in or create a free account to unlock:

  • No EPC on record for this property
  • No sale records on file
  • No related consent applications matched
  • Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
  • Flood risk assessment
  • Radon risk assessment
  • Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
Create free account

Matched applications, energy data and sale records are assembled automatically and may contain errors. Flag incorrect data.

Similar buildings

The closest matches to this building from all 493,000 UK listed buildings, by architecture, period and materials.

Nearby listed buildings

  1. Church House Grade II 54 m
  2. Meads Grade II 111 m
  3. Funeral Chapel at Entrance of Loughton Burial Ground Grade II 122 m
  4. 122, Church Hill Grade II 209 m
  5. 20, 22 and 24, Pump Hill Grade II 364 m
  6. The Gardeners Arms Public House Grade II 373 m
  7. 107, York Hill Grade II 387 m
  8. 109, York Hill Grade II 395 m
  9. 111, 113 and 115, York Hill Grade II 400 m
  10. 117 and 119, York Hill Grade II 416 m