Church Of St John The Baptist

The Church of St John the Baptist is a substantial Norman church, likely built under Bishop Roger of Sarum. It features a massive crossing tower. The church's Norman windows possess decorated arches, and the paired bell stage openings are flanked by blank arches. The tower’s rectangular plan is underscored by three arches to the north and south, and five to the east and west. A round stair turret rises above the tower. The front of the transepts display partially destroyed pairs of Norman windows, alongside a small Norman window in the gable, all featuring decorated arches. Norman buttresses are present on the chancel, and a small window is set in the east gable. Some Norman windows are Victorian replacements.

The main body of the church is in the Perpendicular style, with the west front being a design from 1863 by Slater. Perpendicular windows are also found on the north and south transepts. Perpendicular porches are present, with the north porch being two-storied. The chancel is flanked by chapels, with the south Beauchamp Chapel drawing strong parallels to the Beauchamp and Tocotes chapel at Bromham (1492). It is heavily ornamented, featuring two bays with four and five-light windows, densely decorated battlements, and pinnacles, and a tall, canopied niche on the east side. The north Lamb Chapel is less ornate, but still features battlements, pinnacles, and buttresses decorated with pinnacled buttress-shafts.

Internally the Norman crossing showcases rounded arches to the east and west, but pointed arches to the north and south, an early example in England. The Norman chancel features low rib vaulting, scallop and foliage capitals to the wall shafts, and blind arcading of intersecting arches with a zigzag and scale pattern within the spandrels above the arches. The arcading on the south wall now serves as a screen to the Beauchamp Chapel, where the corbel table of the Norman chancel and transept remains visible, decorated with grotesque heads. The Beauchamp Chapel is as richly decorated inside as out, with a fine, traceried roof. The Lamb Chapel also boasts a fine panelled ceiling. The nave is characterised by six-bay arcades featuring square piers, semi-circular shafts, and polygonal abaci, dating to the late 14th century. The westernmost bay is contemporary with the 1863 west front. Other features include a Perpendicular pulpit with shallow gabled blank arches, a late 17th-century organ case with rich acanthus ornament, a Heathcote Monument by King (1768) and several other late 18th-century monuments by Westmacott Senior, Richard Westmacott, Prince Hoare, and Baily.