Church Of St John

The Church of St John is a parish church dating from the 12th century, with alterations made in the 13th and 14th centuries, and restoration work completed in 1880. It is constructed from red sandstone blocks, likely sourced from a Roman building, and features a graduated greenslate roof with coped gables and cross finials. The church has a three-bay nave that includes a south porch, a north vestry, and a west open bellcote. The chancel is lower and consists of a single bay with a south chapel that is common to the south aisle. The nave contains 19th-century two-light windows in the north wall, while the porch features a pointed arch with an ogee-headed niche. The south aisles and side chapel have small windows with chamfered surrounds. A stone inscribed with "I.F.B.P." is set into the wall, and the west wall includes a built-in fragment of a medieval graveslab. The chancel has one original tall narrow window in the south wall and a three-light east window from the 19th century. The north side of the nave roof has two 20th-century dormer windows with leaded panes, and the rainwater heads on the chancel are dated 1880.

Inside, there is a 13th-century elliptical arcade arch with the remains of a blocked 12th-century south window above it. The church features a square font from the 13th century with stiff-leaf ornamentation on its columned shaft, and an open queenpost roof. The chancel has a narrow segmental chancel arch, along with a piscina and an aumbry. The Royal Arms dated 1733 are displayed, accompanied by four text boards from the same period. Above the chancel arch hangs a framed early 18th-century painting of the Last Supper, likely by Matthias Read, who also designed a wall plaque in the chancel dedicated to Joseph and William Senhouse. The stained-glass east window was created by John Scott of Carlisle in 1849.