Church Of St John The Baptist

Church of St John the Baptist

This is a parish church located on the north side of St John's Road in Great Clacton. The building dates primarily from the 12th century, with significant later additions and alterations spanning medieval times through to the 20th century.

The main structure comprises a nave and chancel from the 12th century, with a west tower added in the 15th century. The chancel was altered in the 14th century. Later additions include a 19th-century organ chamber and various restorations, some carried out by Hakewill around 1865. Further restoration work was undertaken in the 20th century.

The exterior walls are built of septaria and mixed rubble, with limestone dressings, Roman brick, and 20th-century brick used in repairs. The roofs are covered with red plain tiles.

The nave is divided into three bays by wide pilaster buttresses, suggesting that the roof may formerly have been vaulted. Each bay contains a large restored round-headed window with stone bands underneath. Below the centre windows are recessed 12th-century doorways on the north and south sides, both partly restored. The round arches of these doorways have three orders, with the two outer ones roll-moulded and the inner ones enclosing brick tympana with plain lintels. The jambs are each fitted with two detached shafts with moulded bases and cushion capitals; the south doorway has plain shafts while the north doorway has diaper and twisted inner shafts with restored brickwork between them. The recess head is restored with diapering. The south side has double vertically boarded doors with ornate hinges; the north door has diagonal boarding.

The chancel's east wall features 19th-century round-headed lights on either side of the central buttress, with a band and similar window above, and a roundel in the gable, all with patterned heads. A cross finial crowns the apex. The south wall has three windows, those to the east being of two lights with moulded two-centred arches, with a buttress between them. The splays and internal shafts are probably from the 12th century. A 15th-century cinquefoiled window is set low in the north wall. The 19th-century north organ chamber has a lean-to roof, a round-headed door and window to its west wall, and a round-headed two-light window to its east wall.

The west tower is of three stages. The two lower stages date from the 15th century and feature angle buttresses and a moulded plinth. The upper stage is 19th-century weatherboarded with balusters. An octagonal spire with fish-scale tiles crowns the tower. A north-eastern stair turret with loop lights rises from the base. The belfry stage has timber segmental-headed sounding louvres on all faces. The west window comprises three cinquefoiled lights with vertical tracery above and a two-centred arched head with moulded label over. The north and south faces have partly restored narrow trefoiled lights with labels. The west doorway has moulded jambs and a two-centred arch with moulded label over.

The interior has been extensively restored. The nave and chancel roofs are of seven cants. At the west end of the nave are two tie beams supporting the arched braced timber frame of a former belfry, which must predate the existing 15th-century tower. The chancel windows have mainly restored shafts and moulded decoration. 19th-century stained glass is installed throughout. A sedile is positioned beneath the southeast window with a dropped cill, and a piscina pierces the north and west walls of the east splay, each side featuring a pointed head and octofoil drain. The chancel contains 19th-century carved panelling to the reredos, a 19th-century carved and moulded altar rail, and a two-bay arcade of round-headed arches to the north wall of the organ chamber. A 19th-century round-headed red brick chancel arch is flanked by red brick quoins. Above it is a 19th-century triforium of red brick with stone shafts. The nave windows have deep round-headed splays. The north and south doorways are topped by 19th-century round-headed red brick arches. A 19th-century carved and panelled pulpit stands in the nave. A 19th-to-20th-century memorial to the west wall commemorates Eldazar Knox, second son of John Knox (1558–1591), who was sometime vicar of this parish.

The font is 15th-century and octagonal in form, remodelled in 1954. Its panelled sides are decorated with seated figures and two angels holding shields. The tower arch is two-centred, moulded and chamfered, with attached shafts featuring moulded capitals and bases.