Church Of St John The Baptist

The Church of St John the Baptist is a parish church located on Church Street in Niton. The nave dates back to the 11th century, while the chancel was built in the 13th century and lengthened in the 14th century when the south porch was also constructed. A south chapel, south aisle, and tower spire were added in the 15th century, and the north aisle was rebuilt in 1864 on the site of the earlier 13th-century north aisle, which had been demolished in the 15th century. The architect was Cornewall Jones.

The church is built from Isle of Wight stone rubble with ashlar dressings and has a tiled roof. It features a nave and chancel combined, with aisles, a south porch, and a west tower. The west tower is three stages high, with angle buttresses, a moulded band at the plinth and between the lower and middle stages, and a south turret topped with a crenellated parapet. The ribbed eight-sided stone spire has an iron weathercock. The west door is arched and has a heavy hood mould. The north aisle, built in 1864, has three lancet windows, while the south aisle contains three 15th-century paired cinquefoil-headed windows with drip moulding and buttresses. The gabled south porch features a cross-shaped saddlestone and an arch with dying mouldings. The chancel has an east window with a triple trefoil-headed light that is ribbed on the inside. A vestry added in the 19th century has a triple cinquefoil light window with a reset grotesque mask above.

Inside, the church has a three-bay nave with plain round-headed arches supported by circular columns on the south side and a combination of one circular column and one chamfered square column on the north side. The Norman font is cauldron-shaped and features rope moulding at the top, along with the coat of arms of George III. The 13th-century chancel arch has chamfered corners and a squint, and there is a bowl-shaped piscina. The south chapel includes a piscina and four wall monuments, the most notable being a medallion by Flaxman dedicated to George Arnold Esq., who died in 1806. The roofs over the nave and aisles are boarded, likely from the 19th century, while the 19th-century chancel roof is canted in eight sections with elaborate floriate bosses. The church also contains 19th-century pews and a pulpit, as well as a fine 17th-century chair carved with oak emblems and another with a swan neck top.