Parish Church Of St John The Baptist

Parish Church of St John the Baptist

A large, low parish church of complex, multi-phase construction spanning from the mid 12th century onwards. Parts of the north aisle and the chancel arcades date from the mid 12th century, with the remainder of the north aisle and the south aisle added in the late 12th or early 13th century. The tower was built in the 13th century with a 14th-century spire, and an early 16th-century northeast treasury was added to the chancel. The church was extensively restored in 1875 to designs by Ewan Christian, with further alterations undertaken in the 20th century.

The church is constructed mainly of knapped flint with some ragstone. The plan comprises a nine-bay aisled nave and chancel without structural division, with the chancel projecting one bay beyond the aisles. A northeast treasury, northwest tower, and north and south porches complete the layout.

Externally, the building is long and low without structural division between nave and chancel, dominated by a very tall tower. The roofs are steeply pitched throughout with no clerestory. Most tracery was renewed in the 19th century by Christian, apparently in original openings. The east and west windows are Perpendicular in style. The south wall of the south chapel contains two 13th-century lancets; remaining south windows are largely 14th-century style with two cushed lights, with a late 13th-century geometric window west of the porch. The south porch was added in the 19th century in plain Gothic style. The north chancel windows are early 16th-century in style with depressed heads and three cusped lights; other north windows mix late 13th and 14th-century styles. The north porch has a gabled roof and two-centred opening, with a north door dating to c.1300. The early 16th-century northeast treasury is faced in coursed ragstone with a low-pitched roof and embattled parapet. The three-stage tower features narrow, trefoiled-headed openings, heavily renewed, and a broach spire rebuilt by Christian in the 19th century with one band of lucarnes positioned high up.

Internally, there is no chancel arch; the length of the church is emphasised by continuous nave and chancel arcades and continuous roofs throughout. The arcades date from the mid 12th century to the very early 13th century, though the piers are not arranged chronologically and may result from rebuilding after a fire or other disaster, such as the collapse of a former crossing tower. The eastern two bays of the north nave arcade are mid 12th century. The two-bay north and south chancel arcades, the northwest end of the north nave arcade, and the opposite bays on the south are late 12th century. The central bays on each side and the westernmost bay on the south are early 13th century, as is the entrance to the south tower. The west bay of the nave and south aisle have been enclosed with a glass screen featuring a mezzanine above.

Principal fixtures include 13th-century piscina and sedilia in the chancel. A very fine 15th-century font is polygonal and richly carved with the arms of England and the Cinque Ports on the bowl and buttresses on the stem. The church was partly refurnished in 1936-8 in High Church fashion, with the screen, rood, pulpit, and reredos all executed in traditional Perpendicular Gothic style with rich carving. The reredos shows a crucifixion flanked by the six canonised archbishops of Canterbury; the pulpit displays figures of saints in ogee niches. The altar in the south chapel has riddel posts with carved figures of angels. The church was reordered in the 1980s with a nave altar on a low platform. Some good 19th and early 20th-century glass is present, including a War Memorial window in the north aisle.

The church contains an important collection of monuments. Brasses include a skeleton figure for Richard Notfelde, d. 1446. Wall tablets of note include Paul Cleybrooke and wife, d.1624, with a real helm on top, and Sir Thomas Staines, d.1830, with a ship, signed Bacon and Manning. A large collection of hatchments is also displayed.

Historically, a church probably occupied this site by the mid 11th century. The church had reached its present size by c.1200, and its grand scale—particularly notable given it was only a chapel of Minster until 1275—is likely attributable to the prosperity of the area in the 12th and 13th centuries. The complex construction history of the nave arcades probably indicates rebuilding following a fire or partial collapse. The tower was built at the west end of the north aisle in the 13th century, with the spire probably originating in the 14th century. A treasury was added on the northeast side of the chancel in the early 16th century. In the 18th century, the church was refurnished and fitted with galleries, subsequently removed, to accommodate the town's growing population. The 1875 restoration by renowned church architect Ewan Christian included substantial external work. Further alterations and refurnishing occurred in the 20th century.