Church Of St John The Baptist

Church of St John the Baptist

This church is a 13th-century building, heavily restored in 1868 by Anthony Salvin. It is constructed of rubble with stone slate, artificial stone slate and lead roofs. The building comprises a west tower, a four-bay nave with a south aisle and south porch, and a three-bay chancel with a 19th-century north vestry.

The 13th-century tower has three stages with chamfered offsets and quoins. It features stepped diagonal buttresses, a single-light ringing-chamber window with a shouldered head, and a two-light shafted belfry opening. The tower has a spout from the roof and a battlemented parapet. On the west face are the same belfry openings as the other sides, plus a ground-floor lancet window positioned above the central buttress. Between the central and south-west corner buttresses on the ground is a medieval stone coffin laid on its side. On the north side is a five-sided 19th-century stair turret with a shouldered-headed doorway and quatrefoil light vents. The east side shows a chamfered doorway with a hoodmould opening onto the nave roof, the steep nave roofline, and a belfry opening.

The porch has a plinth with a torus string above, quoins and stepped diagonal buttresses. The doorway is double-chamfered with continuous hollow moulding. A hollow-moulded string marks the lower roofline, with a sundial positioned above and moulded coping. A chamfered slit light vent appears in the right return. Inside the porch is a late 13th-century doorway of two chamfered orders, the outer one shafted with water-holding capitals. The interior contains benchtables and two pieces of sculpture in the walls, including beakhead voussoirs and medieval grave covers.

The south aisle has a chamfered single-light 19th-century west window, carved stones built into the south wall, and two 19th-century three-light windows with Geometric tracery (the right bay blind). A parapet runs above the aisle with water spouts on a chamfered string and coping with a gable cross to the right. A late 13th-century chamfered east window of three pointed lights with a hoodmould and mask stops stands in this wall. The north wall has three 19th-century two-light windows with Decorated and Perpendicular tracery.

The chancel features a 19th-century chamfered low side window, a quoined chamfered priest's doorway, a three-light chamfered mullion window, a lancet window, a stepped buttress, another lancet window, and a parapet on a hollow-moulded string with a gable cross coping to the right. The east end has stepped buttresses flanking a 19th-century three-light window with Decorated tracery. An early 16th-century window of three pointed lights with hollow spandrels and a straight-headed hoodmould overall stands on the north side. A 19th-century vestry with a two-light window and heating chamber below is attached to the north.

The interior contains a four-bay south arcade with double-chamfered pointed arches and labels resting on octagonal piers, with leaf stops to the label on the nave side. A double-chamfered tower arch sits on rounded responds decorated with nailhead work on the capitals. A double-chamfered chancel arch has its inner order shafted, with hollow-chamfered abaci and low screen walls partly closing the opening.

The chancel north wall has a probably 19th-century segmental-arched recess with a recumbent effigy. The chancel south wall contains a 19th-century trefoiled piscina and stepped three-seat sedilia. In the south aisle is a chamfered trefoil-cusped piscina and aumbry. A 19th-century font has an early 17th-century tall carved canopy. Numerous carved stones of Anglo-Saxon and medieval date are built into the west end walls of the south aisle.

At the east end of the south aisle stands a large marble tomb-chest with alabaster effigies of Sir Hugh Smithson (died 1670), propped on his elbow, and his wife Dorothy (died 1691), reclining with a book. Above on the south wall is a monument to the same couple with volutes, festoons and Latin inscription, flanked by a helm and gauntlets.

On the south wall of the chancel is a marble monument above the priest's door to Anthony Smithson (died 1688) and his wife Susanna (died 1674), arranged in two panels and flanked by volutes with festoons and his armorial achievement above.

The north wall of the chancel contains a marble monument above the vestry door to Sir Hugh Smithson (died 1729) and his wife Margaret, featuring fluted pilasters, a Doric frieze and his armorial achievement above. Also on this side is a brass plate to Elizabeth Catterick (died 1591).

The east wall of the chancel displays well-painted 19th-century boards of the Lord's Prayer, Creed and Commandment. Above the chancel arch is the royal coat of arms of George III. Hatchments appear on the north wall of the nave and above the south arcade. On the north wall of the nave is an early 19th-century marble monument by J Gott to Elizabeth, Julia and Frances, daughters of Hugh, Duke of Northumberland, featuring a reclining female figure and three urns. Also on this wall is a 17th-century wall monument to Wingate Pulleine of Carlton Hall.

Below the tower are an Anglo-Saxon cross-shaft with entwined beasts set on a chamfered octagonal base, a detached cross-head, two separate pieces of cross-shaft, and an early parish chest. Worn recumbent effigies rest on the sills of the south and east windows.