Church Of St John The Baptist And St John'S Gate

Church and Gateway

This Grade I listed church dates from the 14th and 15th centuries, with a late 16th-century vestry and additions of about 1820 to the narthex and side gateways. It is constructed of rubble with limestone dressings, and features a limestone ashlar tower and spire. The building comprises a nave, chancel, eastern vestry, and a western tower built over a gateway, all in the Perpendicular Gothic style.

North Elevation

The north side is notable for St John's conduit at its eastern end, featuring two lion heads with a tap below a carved panel of beasts beneath a 19th-century four-centred arch. Above this are three hemi-octagonal attached shafts supporting a 15th-century canted oriel window with cinquefoil lights and a crenellated cornice. An octagonal chimney on a carved corbel with rendered stack stands to the west. A deep drip marks the 14th-century crypt of six bays, which has been refenestrated with low 15th-century three-light Tudor-arched windows (the westernmost blocked) and a small Tudor-arched ribbed door. The late 15th-century chancel features two bays of three-light windows separated by a shallow buttress. The 14th-century nave contains four bays of larger three-light windows, with a short four-light Tudor-arched clerestory window above the first bay, all beneath a crenellated parapet.

South Elevation

The chancel south side has three bays with similar windows to the north, and two doorways at either end with chamfered Tudor arches (the eastern one dating to the 19th century). At the western end of the chancel, the nave steps out and is linked by an angled wall on corbels. The south nave resembles the north elevation but lacks the crypt windows.

Gateway

At the western end stands the gateway. Its north elevation displays a tall moulded 14th-century arch brought forward with a crenellated parapet and three chamfered orders separated by hollow moulds. Flanking this are two 19th-century lower arches with quatrefoil panels and head stops to label moulds—the eastern one beneath the nave, the western beneath a parapeted wall. The south side of the central gateway features two niches with restored hoods and painted statues of Brennus and Bellinus, the mythical founders of Bristol, each holding an orb and sceptre. Above are shields and a Royal Arms to the parapet, with painted shield label stops to the outer arches. The eastern arch pairs with the church entrance, which has a 19th-century ribbed door with strap hinges. The main gateway contains a ribbed fan vault with a bell hole, while the side gateways have a ridge rib with drips on each side.

Tower and Spire

The two-stage tower has diagonal buttresses, a lower window with two trefoil-headed lights, a central clock, and tall two-light belfry windows. Gargoyles sit below a crenellated parapet with crocketed pinnacles. The octagonal spire features a midway foliate drip and a finial.

Interior

Crypt

The crypt divides into two sections. The eastern section comprises three bays with a tierceron vault with bosses on attached shafts with capitals. An ogee memorial niche occupies the south wall, flanked by crocket finials, with two further plain depressed ogee niches in the north wall beneath windows. The western section contains two bays with a more complex tierceron ribbed vault with bosses but no shafts. A fine ogee-arched memorial niche with cusping sits in the south wall, with shields to the spandrel below the label and shields to the panelled front. Two stoops stand by the door and in the southwest corner, the latter having a projecting shield.

Chancel and Nave

The two-bay chancel displays relief crenellation across the middle of the east wall and three fine Tudor-arched studded doors with raised lozenges in panels on each side and to the south. Billet moulding runs below the windows. An arch and steps behind the south chancel arch pier lead to the pulpit.

The six-bay nave features splayed window reveals with attached shafts between the bays, topped with painted octagonal capitals. The raised eastern bay contains clerestory windows for a former rood loft and a 15th-century roof with tie beams and posts to angel corbels. The remainder features a timber cornice with a shallow 15th-century arch-braced collar beam roof. A narthex with an open-well stair of 1883 provides access to the organ loft.

Fittings and Furnishings

The church retains fine Laudian fittings. A very good communion table of 1635 has six legs and stretchers, paired with a gated altar rail of twisted banisters. Other items include a plain panelled chest, two lecterns with scrolled brackets and guilloche moulding to the top, and pews of 1621 with doors. A partially restored 17th-century west screen and organ loft feature painted panels and fluted pilasters. A brass two-sided lectern dates to about 1690, and an 18th-century wrought-iron sword rest is also present.

A fine font of 1624 sits on a square base with lion's feet. The basin features brackets, a Greek cross plan, winged heads, and roses, topped with an oak cover of eight ogee brackets and a dove. A rare hour-glass from the Commonwealth period (now held in the City Museum) is attached beside the octagonal pulpit, which features tracery panels and Tudor flowers.

Memorials

Memorials include a wall tablet and the Rowley Brass for Thomas Rowley, died 1478, with inscribed figures. A table tomb to Walter Frampton, died 1388, occupies an elliptical-arched recess in the chancel, with painted shields to the front panels and a recumbent praying effigy. A wall tablet to Andrew Innys, died 1723, signed by Rysbrack, features flanking columns and cherub's heads.

Historical Context

St John the Baptist is one of four churches built along the line of the town walls. Walter Frampton was chief benefactor for the church until his death in 1388. Like the Church of St Nicholas, the crypt provided space for guild or chantry chapels.