Church Of St John The Baptist

Church of St John the Baptist

A redundant church of medieval construction, dating from the 12th to 15th centuries and substantially restored in 1875 by J. B. Corby of Stamford. The building is constructed of squared coursed limestone and limestone ashlar with lead and Collyweston slate roofs.

The church comprises an aisled nave of four bays, a chancel, a west tower, and a north porch. The south elevation of the chancel displays a range of two windows, each of two lights with squared heads and cusped-head lights, separated by a central priests' door. Above runs a shallow gabled roof with plain ashlar parapets. A small lean-to building adjoins to the left, roofed with Collyweston slate. The chancel's east end features a five-light Perpendicular window with hollow reveals and a four-centred arch-head, flanked by two-stage clasping buttresses, with a shallow gable parapet and finial above. The north elevation of the chancel is plain, with two blank bays and a plain ashlar parapet, the chancel itself being constructed entirely in ashlar.

The south aisle occupies two bays of the nave and contains a range of two plain two-light square-head windows. Two-stage buttresses stand at the corners, and the aisle has a lean-to roof with Collyweston slates. Its east window is three-light with panel tracery and a two-centred arch-head. The remaining two bays of the nave to the west include one two-light window with hollow reveals and a two-centred arch-head, alongside a blocked doorway with moulded stone surround and two-centred arch-head. Two-stage buttresses mark the corner and bays. The south nave clerestory comprises a range of three plain two-light square-head windows beneath a shallow gabled roof with ashlar parapet.

The north aisle mirrors the south aisle in position and size. It contains a two-window range of plain two-light square-head windows, probably restored in the 19th century, with a two-stage clasping buttress at the corner and a two-stage buttress between bays. Its lean-to roof is covered with Collyweston slates, and its east window matches that of the south aisle. Above the north aisle runs a clerestory of three windows similar to the south elevation.

The north porch, attached to the west of the north aisle, has an outer doorway with a two-centred chamfered and moulded arch-head with semi-circular responds, crowned by a trefoil-head niche above. Outer gates of 19th-century trellis work were added later. The inner doorway features hollows and roll mouldings with a four-centred arch-head, and the plank door retains fine strap hinges. The porch has a gabled roof with Collyweston slates and ashlar gable parapets. Adjacent to the porch is a one-window range of the nave with a two-light window matching those on the south elevation. The north nave clerestory above contains three windows similar to the south elevation.

The west tower is of late 14th-century date and comprises four irregular stages with a moulded plinth. Four-stage angle buttresses rise to the lower three stages, with shallow corner pilasters to the upper stage. The lower stage contains a two-light west window with tracery featuring mouchettes. Pairs of tall two-light bell-chamber openings with transoms occupy each face of the upper stage: those on the south face have round heads, those on the north face have two-centred arch-heads, and those on the east and west faces have square-heads. A quatrefoil frieze with castellated parapet crowns the tower. Set back above is an octagonal crocketed spire with two tiers of lucarnes.

Interior

The nave contains two-bay arcades in the transeptal position. The south arcade is of 14th-century date with triple-chamfered arches, octagonal piers, and corbelled responds. A similar arcade to the south, of 15th-century date, features double-chamfered arches. The chancel arch is a fine 12th-century example with roll mouldings and zig-zag decoration, probably reconstructed as a pointed arch in the 13th century. It has double semi-circular responds; the north capital depicts a castle under siege whilst the south capital displays monsters and interlaced foliage. Flanking arch-head recesses on either side of the chancel arch are also 12th-century, with roll mouldings and detached shafts. A triple-chamfered tower arch with semi-circular responds completes the major structural features.

The roof structures are of pre-19th-century date. Corbels in the nave were probably reset when the roof was reconstructed in 1737-38. The chancel features moulded tie beams and purlins, whilst the undersides of the aisle roofs are plastered with exposed principals and purlins visible in the south aisle. Above the south arcade, the head of a former 12th-century clerestory window remains visible. Fragments of a 12th-century frieze appear on the south wall of the nave and south wall of the south aisle, and a 12th-century corbel table survives in the south aisle.

An ogee-head piscina stands to the right of the altar, with a two-centred arch-head piscina in the south aisle. The font is of late 13th-century date, decorated with a quatrefoil on one side and a pierced trefoil arch on a second side. A trefoil-head fragment sits above the pulpit, and a carved corbel adorns the south wall of the nave. The altar features a late 19th-century tiled reredos with similar floor tiling to the sanctuary.

Stained glass includes fragments of 14th-century glass depicting the arms of Delawarr in the nave and 15th-century glass in the east windows of the aisles. The chancel's east window contains late 19th-century stained glass.

Monuments and Memorials

The church contains numerous monuments reflecting its connection to the Cecil family. Richard Cecil, second son of Lord Burghley, has a chest tomb to the left of the altar, dating to approximately 1633 and probably incorporating an Easter sepulchre. Edward Cecil, who died in 1636 and was the fifth son of David Earl of Exeter, is commemorated by inscribed floor tablets in the chancel, as are the second, third, and fourth sons of the Earl of Exeter, dating to approximately 1638. Matrices of brasses also appear in the chancel floor. The Cecil family maintained a mansion at Wakerley.

Early and mid-19th-century wall tablets in the nave commemorate the Pepper family. The south wall of the chancel holds inscribed tablets to William Charles Jackson (died 1819), by Gilbert of Stanford, with a draped urn above, Samuel Hunt (died 1814), a plain tablet by T. Swann of Barrowden, and William Jackson (died 1810), with an inscribed tablet topped by a broad obelisk. Additional 19th-century tablets line the same wall.