Description

YARCOMBE YARCOMBE
ST 20 NW
7/186 Church of St John the Baptist
22.2.55
GV I
Parish church. C15, but more than one building phase and the latest maybe early
C16; restored 1889 - 91 at which time the chancel was rebuilt. Local stone and
flint rubble with Beerstone and Hamstone ashlar detail; lead roof to nave, aisles
transepts and porch, slate to chancel.
Plan: relatively large parish church with cruciform plan, north and south aisles,
west tower, south porch and C19 vestry and organ loft on north side of the chancel.
Most of the church is Perpendicular in style but the C19 chancel is Decorated.
Exterior: tall west tower of 3 stages with diagonal buttresses and embattled
parapet with carved gargoyle waterspouts. Semi-octagonal stair turret on the north
side. The belfry has large 2-light windows with Perpendicular tracery and plain
hoodmoulds. On the west side there is a 2-centred arch doorway with moulded
surround and above it a 3-light window with Perpendicular tracery, above that a
small 2-light window with crank-headed lights to the ringing floor and above that an
iron clockface.
Both aisles are 3 bays with embattled parapets but they are a little different. The
south aisle parapet is all Hams tone ashlar and the gargoyle waterspouts are carved
as characatured people. The south porch is in the same style with embattled parapet
and diagonal buttresses. It contains a 2-centred outer arch with moulded surround
and plain hoodmould; the south doorway is similar. The low pitch roof of the porch
is C15 in style but probably a C19 replacement with moulded ribs and carved oak
bosses. Each side of the porch are square-headed 3-light windows with cinquefoil
headed lights and plain hoodmoulds. There is another in the west end. The north
aisle parapet is stone rubble with ashlar coping. There is a moulded eaves cornice
here interrupted by carved gargoyle waterspouts and other grotesque carvings. In
the centre of the aisle is a Tudor arch doorway with carved foliate spandrels and
hoodmould with carved human head label stops. Each side are 3-light windows with
Perpendicular tracery and hoodmouls with carved human head label stops. (There is
another in the west end). The ends of each transept contains a 3-light window with
Perpendicular tracery and hoodmoulds but only the northern window has carved human
head label stops. Also the south transept has a plain gable whereas the north
transept gable has an embattled parapet continuous with that of the north aisle. A
rood stair turret projects in the angle of the south transept and chancel. The
chancel windows have Decorated tracery; there are 2 3-light windows with Priests
doorway between on the south side, a large 3-light window in the east end and a
small 3-light window in the squint between the north transept and chancel. The
vestry is Tudor Gothic in style.
Interior: the nave and south transept have repaired open wagon roofs with moulded
ribs and purlins and replacement carved oak bosses. The north transept has a low
pitch roof of moulded intersecting beams with replacement carved oak bosses, and the
lean-to aisle roofs are similar. The chancel has a boarded wagon roof in the same
style as the nave but it is wholly C19. Tall tower arch with moulded surround.
Both aisles have 3-bay Hamstone arcades with a fourth arch to the transept; moulded
piers (Pevsner's type A) with caps to the shafts only. At the east end of the each
aisle is an arch springing from corbels carved as an angels. There is a hagioscope
from the south transept to the chancel and alongside it a narrow doorway to the
disused road stair. There is a trefoil-headed piscine in the south transept and
another in the sanctuary. Tall arch from chancel to organ loft. The walls are
plastered. The floor is mainly parquet blocks but there are C19 encaustic tiles in
the sanctuary.
Large and ornate C19 carved oak reredos in Gothic style featuring a painted
triptych. Contemporary altar table and altar rail which is oak on wrought iron twin
standards with scrolled brackets. Stalls are also late C19, oak with an open Gothic
arcade on the frontals. 2 small prayer desks are in the same style but incorporate
high quality C16 carved bench ends featuring representations of St John the Baptist,
St James, St Peter and the Virgin and Child. The Gothic style lectern is said to be
made up of pieces from an earlier pulpit and it has linenfold panels. Plain pine
benches. Good C15 Hamstone font has an octagonal bowl with quatrefoil panels
enriched with fourleaf motifs, there are badges and rosettes around the base and the
plinth and stem have trefoil-headed panels. The tower screen is dated 1986. Good
late C19 hanging lamp holders throughout the church, the best one is them brass one
in the chancel. A C17 oak table is used as an altar in the south transept and there
is a probably C17 oak chest in the north transept.
The only memorials are a couple of C20 ones in the chancel. The tracery of the
north transept end window includes some good C15 stained glass including complete
figures. More C15 glass fragments have been assembled in the north squint window to
the chancel. Some C19 stained glass in the south aisle.
Source: Church guide.

Listing NGR: ST2455508198

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17525871

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Somerset: North and Bristol: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Pevsner's Architectural Glossary (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Introductions)
• 
  Northamptonshire: Buildings of England Series (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Old House Handbook: A Practical Guide to Care and Repair
• 
  Warwickshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Wiltshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)