St. John the Baptist Church

Beautiful church. Lovely village.

The Church of England parish church of Saint John the Baptist was built in the 12th century. The arcade between the nave and north aisle dates from this period and is in the Transitional style between Norman architecture and Early English Gothic. The chancel arch is also Transitional, but may have been rebuilt in about 1700. The chancel was rebuilt around the beginning of the 14th century and is a high quality example of the transition from Early English (its side windows) to the Decorated Gothic (its east window, which has unusual tracery). The south aisle was built late in the 14th century, with a clerestory above its arcade to light the nave.In the 15th century all but one of the windows in the north aisle were replaced with Perpendicular Gothic ones and the bell tower was built. The church furniture includes four early 16th century benches whose bench ends have unusual carvings of poppyheads, human heads and grotesque animals. The tower has a ring of five bells. Ellis and Francis Knight of Reading cast the treble and fourth bells in 1652. Michael Darbie, an itinerant bellfounder, cast the third bell in 1656. Henry III Bagley of Chacombe, Northamptonshire cast the second bell in 1716, possibly at his foundry at Witney. Abraham II Rudhall of Gloucester cast the tenor bell in 1724, completing the current ring.