Church Of St John The Baptist

The Church of St John the Baptist is a church rebuilt between 1870 and 1871 by Ewan Christian, incorporating elements of the earlier medieval structure. It is constructed from coursed squared limestone and ironstone, with limestone dressings and slate roofs featuring ornamental ridge tiles. The church comprises a chancel, a vestry, a nave, north and south aisles, a south porch, and a north-west tower.

The two-bay chancel has a three-light Decorated style east window with a hood mould; a quatrefoil window is set within a stone-coped gable above. The vestry to the north has a one-light east window with a pointed trefoil head and a single lancet window to the north. The nave and aisles are under a single roof. The north aisle features a three-light window with reticulated tracery, set within a gable, flanked by smaller two-light Decorated style windows, with another similar window further west, all with hood moulds. The south aisle has a similar design to the north, including a two-light east window with a quatrefoil in its head. The south porch has a double-chamfered doorway with a hood mould, and one-light windows with cusped heads and a stone-coped gable with kneelers. The south door within has a quadrant moulding, a hollow chamfer, and a hood mould. The west front of the church has a three-light Decorated style window, flanked by two-light windows with quatrefoils in their heads, all with hood moulds and low, offset buttresses either side of the central window.

The two-stage north-west tower incorporates a polygonal stair turret projection to the south-west, with small, rectangular chamfered windows providing light for the stair. It has quatrefoil windows at the top and a ridged stone roof. The doorway to the north has semi-circular responds, moulded capitals, and a wave-moulded arch. A similar door is present on the north side. The bell-openings are two-light with quatrefoils in their heads, each set within a hood mould; a corbel table supports a spire with one tier of lucarnes and pyramidal corner pinnacles.

Inside, the chancel has a piscina to the north with a cusped ogee head, and another to the south with a pointed-arched head, both likely medieval and re-used. The nave has four-bay arcades: the north arcade is medieval with octagonal piers, moulded capitals, and double-chamfered arches. A 17th-century moulded octagonal font is also present. The communion rail is from the 19th century and features fine wrought-iron supports. Stained glass is found in the east and west windows, the east window signed by Mayer of Munich. Wall monuments include one to Joseph Key, who died in 1783, featuring an incised slate inscription in a stone surround. There are also monuments to Reverend Richard Smith, who died in 1778, and Reverend John Jones, who died in 1793. An incised slate wall monument, also in a stone surround, records parish charities and their donors, and was erected in 1737.