Church of St John the Baptist is a Grade I listed building in the Mid Suffolk local planning authority area, England. First listed on 29 July 1955. A Medieval Church.
Church of St John the Baptist
- WRENN ID
- woven-mortar-merlin
- Grade
- I
- Local Planning Authority
- Mid Suffolk
- Constituency
- Waveney Valley MP: Adrian Ramsay (Green)
- Country
- England
- Date first listed
- 29 July 1955
- Type
- Church
- Period
- Medieval
- Address
- Church of St John the Baptist, the Street, Metfield
- OS grid reference
- TM 294 803
- Coordinates
- 52.37291, 1.36907
- Source
- Historic England listing
Description
The Church of St John the Baptist is a medieval parish church featuring a nave, chancel, west tower, and south porch. It is constructed of flint rubble with stone dressings, while the nave and chancel are plastered. The nave roof is covered with shingles, and the chancel roof is slated. The square tower, primarily dating from the 14th century, may have an earlier base, and it has a crenellated parapet added in 1712. The belfry stage, which is slightly narrower, has Y-traceried openings. The nave, which has four bays, was largely reconstructed in the 15th century and features 2-light and 3-light windows from that period.
The porch, an impressive early 15th-century structure, is made of knapped flint and has flushwork panelling across the entire facade, along with a crenellated parapet. It includes an enriched entrance arch with a hood mould and leaf-carved spandrels, and two trefoil-headed niches above. Inside, there is an original wooden lierne vault with carved bosses and a moulded nave doorway with a medieval plank door. The early 14th-century chancel was heightened and refenestrated in the 15th century, and a blocked 14th-century window can be seen inside. The east window is a 19th-century wooden installation.
The interior features a 15th-century arch-braced nave roof in eight bays, with a crenellated wallplate (partly renewed) and arch-bracing beneath the ridge. The east bay serves as a canopy of honour and has original painted decoration based on motifs for Jesus and Mary. The chancel has a 15th-century four-bay arch-braced roof with 19th-century restoration and painted decoration. An early 14th-century piscina with an elongated trefoil arch is located in the chancel, while a 15th-century piscina is found in the nave. The church also houses a 15th-century carved octagonal font, which has small traces of original colouring; the bowl panels depict alternating lions and angels holding shields bearing a leopard, derived from the arms of Sir John Jermy, who was Lord of the Manor.
At the west end of the nave, part of the dado from the medieval rood screen is stored, featuring traceried panels and some original colouring. There is an 18th-century west gallery that was enlarged in the 19th century. At the east end of the chancel, there are 18th-century framed copies of the Lord's Prayer and Creed. Most furnishings date from around 1900. In the base of the tower, there is an early 17th-century turret clock that is still in use.
Local climate
Church of St John the Baptist sits in a drier-than-average part of the UK, with an average of 710 mm of rain a year. This makes it drier than 88% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is lower than that of 69% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 23 freeze-thaw cycles a year, fewer than 76% of listed buildings. Of these, 12 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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- Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
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