Church Of Saint John The Baptist

Church of Saint John the Baptist

This church was built between 1817 and 1820 by Henry Rhodes in the style of Sir John Soane. It is constructed of stock brick with stone dressing and a slate roof.

The west elevation features a two-storey portico of shallow projection with four Doric pilasters on tall plinths. A simple stone pediment with acroteria crowns this. The central bay contains double panelled entrance doors with a sub-order and pediment, flanked by Doric pilasters without bases and half pilaster returns. Two steps lead to the doors, above which is a blind parapet with inset half balusters and blocks. A semicircular window with small leaded lights and a bracketed pediment sits above. Moulded architraves and a similar moulded frieze frame the composition, with shoulder blocks at the base. Yellow brick infill panels occupy the side bays, which have similar sub-orders of half pilasters but no pediment, with balusters and windows above. Smaller doors below have moulded stone lintels with brick panels over.

The tower rises above the main pediment on a rectangular plan with inset quadrant corners. It has a brick base with projecting stone moulding and string course. A Doric order with shallow pediment is supported on coupled pilasters on all four faces, with 45-degree splay corners. Above the pediment is an elliptical drum with simple coping. A louvred panel sits between pilasters with a clock face bearing gilt figures. A hemispherical stone dome surmounted by stone finials of formalised entablature crowns the tower. A wreath iron weathervane consists of a slender baluster with gilt knob, a simple gilt vane with arrowhead and tail featuring voluted edges.

The south elevation carries the main cornice and plinth through with shallow projecting end pavilions linked to the ends by quadrant plan corners. The end pavilions have segmented arches and keystones in the plinth with semicircular grilles to the crypt. Full-height pilasters with recessed three-quarter pilasters are present. Ground-floor windows are plain segmental brick arch-headed with small panes and centre mullions, with stone band course, bracket and recessed supporting window above featuring a sub-order, shallow pediment, Doric pilasters and small panes with a centre mullion stone scroll in recess under the window, surrounded by a brick panel. The centre of the elevation at ground-floor level has five windows of similar design. The east and west windows in the pavilions now contain stained glass. The five stained glass windows above have recessed brick semicircular heads supported on continuous coping with full balusters below. The stone band under the coping breaks round piers. Below the centre windows is a stepped entrance to the crypt with plain spear-head iron railings.

The north elevation has only one stained glass window at the west end of the centre; the remainder have centre mullions and 72 small panes.

The east elevation has main pilasters returning at the corners with a central projecting chancel featuring piers in angles and pedimented coping over the east end. The main order follows the breaks. Three blind recessed openings with semicircular heads appear on the chancel end, with single similar openings on the nave ends. Two projecting single-storey wings are linked to the church by a recess on the north wall with a segmental brick arch over the door, stone pilasters and cornice. Stone tympanum steps are present. The plain stock brick wall contains return ends with two semicircular leaded small-pane windows. A single-storey link between the wings has twentieth-century metal windows. The south wing on the south elevation has a recessed panel and projecting porch with a panelled and studded door and stone steps.

Interior

The chancel has a segmental arch with a beam beyond and indirect top lighting. Pilasters with depressed Corinthian capitals and consoles below the beam are present, with a Greek entablature on the beam and walls over the altar. Coupled quarter pilasters occupy the corners. The east wall contains a central panel mural by Hans Feibusch from 1951 on wood panel, with the Ten Commandments written on each side. Wall memorials to the south of the chancel include a tablet to Hannae Augustus Gostling (1837) with two angels over, and Benjamin Newcombe (1818) by Baily, featuring an inscription on a pedestal with an urn on a half column, a female figure with anchor and slate backing. On the north side are memorials to George Gostling (1854) with an inscription tablet, sarcophagus and three angels by E H Baily, and George Gostling (1820) with an inscription, pedestal column and portrait figure by Flaxman R A. To the south of the chancel is a memorial to John Harris (1817) in Greek style with bracket, tablet, arms and inscription above.

The altar is of simple white marble with gilt centre inlay and a twentieth-century oak altar rail.

The nave has galleries on the sides and west end spanning five bays with plain entablature columns, rectangular in plan. An elongated Greek pediment crowns the entrance. A small organ case sits above with upper choir galleries on each side featuring turned wood balusters. Inverted lamp bowls on shafts sit above each column. A flat ceiling with a raised centre panel and curved ends contains three rosettes over ventilators. The main wall cornice follows the ceiling curves at the corners. Plain wood pews furnish the space.

The lectern is a turned brass column with an eagle. The pulpit is plain octagonal oak on a column with a sounding board from Little Livermore, Suffolk. The font is a simple white marble bowl on an octagonal column.

Memorials in the north aisle include a floor slab to Robert Forster (1663) with inscription only, and an east wall slate inscription tablet supporting a central elliptical recess with a bust, arms on each side and above, all coloured. A small brass to Anthony Bond (1576) shows a line drawing of four figures and an altar above the inscription. On the north wall from east to west are a tablet with framing inscription to Richard Kellofet (1595), a simple Greek tablet to John Knowles (1810), a framed oil painting of the remains of the original reredos painting by F Westall RA, and a painted Royal Coat of Arms (1660). At the south-east end is a slate tablet with architectural frame to Sir Frederick Hervey Bathurst (1824) with coloured arms above, and a memorial to Lady Freemantle (1841) by R Brown on slate backing with a white marble tablet and carved bracket with Greek cresting.

The south aisles contain, from west to east, a memorial to Sir Felton Elwill Bathurst Hervey (1819), who served at Waterloo, in Greek architectural frame with medals and militaria above in white marble; a plain white marble memorial on slate to Amelia Anne Liptrott (1793); and a marble memorial with ornate shroud and cherubs to Sarah Honeywood, aged 7, (1750). The east wall displays a foundation stone from an earlier church inscribed saying the chancel was rebuilt by Abbot Rutherwyke of Chertsey in 1327, and features a carved slate tablet with heraldic motif in the floor. Two stained glass windows by Moore and Son (1910) are also present.

At gallery level, the south side contains four stained glass windows removed from Coopers Hill College Chapel with Renaissance design and clear background, with two similar windows on the north. These are in memory of Arthur Sullivan (1852-1885) and Philip Henry Bowen (1887). At the east end on the north side is a Greek sarcophagus memorial to Challoner Bisse (1828) on a slate base, tablets to N Torin (1828) over arms with drapes and inscription, to Revell (1808) with an urn, and a Greek tablet to Anne Stewart on brackets.

The north staircase has a benefactors board on the east wall and diamond painted arms on the west wall. The south wall displays a Denham memorial with an architectural frame, centre ellipse and portrait busts of two women and a child, all painted. The south staircase contains a painted coat of arms and the Sir John Denham memorial (1638), showing Sir John rising from the grave in a winding sheet over a charnel house of skeletons, with two Corinthian columns and angels above an entablature with Latin inscription painted below. Both staircases divide at the bottom to centre and side lobbies with map stick rails and plain iron bars.

The whole church is built over vaults of varying shapes. Some coffins were moved, while other vaults have wood and iron doors. The main door (now removed) was a massive oak door with metal backing, a semicircular cast iron grille and two heavy iron bolts. In the lane to the east, a brick wall with an arched opening formerly led to a stable for the priest's horse, with access stairs to the vestry above.