Parish Church Of St John The Baptist

The parish church of St John the Baptist has origins in the pre-Conquest period, with a largely rebuilt structure from the 12th century. Subsequent enlargement occurred throughout the 13th, 14th, 15th, and 16th centuries. A restoration took place around 1875, overseen by the architect G E Street. The church comprises a five-bay nave with north and south aisles, a chancel, and a west tower, along with a south porch.

The three-stage west tower, constructed in the 16th century, combines stone and flint in a chequerwork pattern. It features inset angle buttresses with pinnacles, a projecting octagonal stair turret to the north-west, and a battlemented parapet with pinnacles. The top stage has three-light windows with pierced stone panels, while the second stage has a two-light window in the west wall, flanked by canopied niches. The west door has a four-centred arch and carved spandrils. The nave and aisle roofs are covered in lead.

The south aisle was partially rebuilt in the 19th century, with lower walls of stone and flint banding and upper walls of brick and flint. The windows have reticulated tracery. The eastern window is a five-light design within a three-centred arch, dating to the 16th century. The south porch, dating to around 1875, is constructed of brick and flint banding with a stone slate roof and coped gable. It has a waggon-type roof, and contains two fire-hooks above the inner door. The chancel, from the 15th century, has rough ashlar walls and three-light windows with Perpendicular tracery. The east window incorporates some 13th-century material, reset in the 19th century, and has a stone-slated roof with coped gables. Angle buttresses are present on the chancel. The north aisle, dating to the 14th century, was rebuilt in the 19th century, reusing original windows. It has stone and flint banding, and square-headed three-light windows. A doorway features a moulded two-centred arch.

Internally, the three centre bays of the north aisle, from the early 12th century, have circular piers, plain caps, and plain pointed arches of two orders. The corresponding bays of the south arcade, from the late 12th century, have carved caps and chevron moulding on the arches. The eastern bays originally led into transepts, now incorporated into the aisles. The west bays were a 13th-century extension of the original church. The tower arch is from the 15th century, with panelled soffits, while the chancel arch dates to the 14th century and has two orders, accompanied by squints on each side. The chancel roof is from the 19th century, in a four-centred waggon form. A good late 16th-century canopied table tomb is set in the north wall. The Turberville chapel in the east end of the south aisle contains two similar monuments and an earlier tomb recess. The nave roof, from the late 15th century, is arch-braced with tie-beams, king and queen posts, and mock hammer-beams, featuring figures of the apostles. The carved bosses on the tie-beams are highly enriched, having been repaired and re-coloured around 1875 and in the 20th century. The north aisle has a 15th-century lean-to roof. Nave pews incorporate re-used 16th-century carved ends. The font dates to the 12th century, displaying interlaced arcading. The church is of significant interest, with its outstanding nave roof.