Church Of St John The Baptist

The Church of St John the Baptist is a Grade II* listed building located in Kirby Wiske. It has origins dating back to the 12th, 14th, 15th, and 19th centuries and is constructed of ashlar stone with a graduated slate roof. The church features a west tower, a nave with north and south aisles, a south porch, and a chancel with a north vestry.

The west tower, built in the 15th century, has three stages and includes a plinth, offset diagonal buttresses, and a clockface beneath a 15th-century two-light pointed-arched cusped belfry window. The tower is topped with an embattled parapet and has a large three-light Perpendicular window with a hoodmould on the west side, along with a single-light cusped opening and a belfry window similar to those on other sides.

The nave consists of three bays and features a plinth. On the left, there is a gabled 19th-century south porch with a pointed-arched opening, chamfered coping, and a gable cross. The inner board door has a 12th-century Norman surround, decorated with radially placed bull heads and a zigzag pattern, along with a hoodmould of radial lobes. To the right, there are two 19th-century two-light pointed-arched windows separated by an offset buttress, with stone coping above. The north aisle mirrors this design.

The chancel also has three bays, separated by offset buttresses and includes a plinth. To the right of the central window is a pointed-arched priests' doorway with a hoodmould. The windows are 19th-century two-light pointed-arched cusped windows with hoodmoulds, and the east window is a 19th-century five-light Perpendicular-style pointed-arched cusped window with a hoodmould. The north vestry was added in the 19th century.

Inside, the church features three-bay north and south arcades from the 14th century, supported by octagonal piers with plain moulded capitals and chamfered arches with hoodmoulds. The chancel arch is similar in design. Some heads from the Norman corbel table have been reset in the south aisle to support its roof. The chancel contains 14th-century sedilia with three cusped openings, a piscina, and a cusped Easter sepulchre adorned with a frieze of naturalistic leaves and crocketing. Niches flanking the east window have vaulted canopies with ogee details, likely from the 14th century.