Description

SO 93 SE OXENTON OXENTON VILLAGE

5/118 Church of St John the
Baptist
4.7.60

GV I

Anglican parish church. C13, C14 and C15, restored 1905. Nave
and chancel, except the south wall, coursed limestone rubble;
south wall of chancel porch and north aisle coursed squared and
dressed limestone; tower and mortuary: ashlar; stone slate roof.
Nave with north aisle with mortuary chapel at right angles, chancel
and west tower. Nave south wall: Decorated pointed 2-light
window; small Tudor-arched window upper right; plank door with
studded fillets within a C13 flat-chamfered pointed surround within
the porch. C13 porch with an almost round-headed entrance with a
deep flat chamfer; C13 single-light with ogee-arched head to the
left-hand return; C13 lancet to the right-hand return. Access to
vault via lean-to to the left of the porch with timber uprights
with curving braces at the top. Chancel with side buttresses.
Chancel south wall: single light with an ogee-curved cinquefoil
head; Perpendicular 2-light window with a Tudor-arched surround
formerly lighting a rood loft to the right; Perpendicular 2-light
east window; lower portion of a projecting chimney stack on the
north side. North aisle: Decorated 2-light east window; similar
window on the north side; part-glazed door with fillets within a
C13 pointed-arched surround with scroll-moulded hood; trefoil-
headed C13 lancet at the west end. Late C19 mortuary vault with
blocked pointed-arched entrance to the gable end. C15 three-stage
tower with diagonal buttresses; 2-light. Decorated west window;
single 4-centred arched window to the first stage above;
Perpendicular 3-light belfry windows with blind central window and
blind tracery; wooden louvres with crocketed canopy.
Battlemented parapet with crocketed finials. Nave and chancel
have one continuous roof. Stepped coping and roll cross saddles
to the gable end of the nave and porch.
Interior: 2-bay chancel with C15 roof with two moulded tie beams
supported on braces from C15 carved stone corbels, three in the
form of angels, 2 with brattished decoration; arch-braced collar
beams each with a central rosette; single purlin and single tier
of curved windbracing. 2½-bay nave with facsimile king post roof
trusses, inserted 1905. Early compartmented lean-to roof to aisle
with moulded tie beams. Three-bay nave arcade of wide C13
Transitional round-headed arches of 2 orders. Four-centred
Perpendicular tower arch, matching arches on the north and south
sides of the tower. Flagged floor to nave. Possibly medieval
lozenge shaped monochrome tiles in black, red and yellow arranged
to give a 3-dimensional effect in the chancel. Trefoil-headed
piscina in the south wall of the nave, near the pulpit. Mutilated
C13 piscina with trefoil head and aumbry in the south wall of the
chancel. C15 aumbry on north side of chancel with inset door
with finely carved pierced tracery. Two Tudor roses set into the
east wall of the chancel. Two wooden sculptures, one showing the
Virgin and Child with St Anne, the Resurrection, on brattished
stone bases projecting from the north and south walls of the
chancel respectively, probably C15 Flemish work. Wooden carving
of Christ and a lamb on the north wall. C14 octagonal limestone
font with two trefoil-headed panels to each face at the west end of
the nave. Early C20 pews and early C20 choir stalls with reused
moulded medieval rails. Early C20 octagonal wooden pulpit and
screen, both with linenfold panelling, divides the nave from the
chancel. Early C20 choir stalls incorporating some reused C15
panelling. Early C20 communion rails. Late Elizabethan holy
table with bulbous legs and carved decoration. Series of
superimposed wall paintings on south wall, the clearest elements
being a kneeling lady and the monogram 'I.H.S.'. Further wall
paintings on the nave north wall including a Catherine wheel,
traces of a text with decorative border. Further fragments of
wall painting over the nave arcade. White marble monument to
Edward, Earl Ellenborough, died 1871, former Governor General of
India, on the north wall of the aisle (q.v. The De la Bere Hotel)
to right of blocked entrance to his mortuary chapel. Small window
at the west end of the north aisle with brightly coloured
decorative glass with Lord Ellenborough's cypher and coronet.
(V.C.H. Glos VI and David Verey, The Buildings of England, The Vale
and the Forest of Dean, 1980).

Listing NGR: SO9584231476

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17526428

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

• 
  Suffolk: West: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Lancashire: Liverpool and the South-West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Old House Care and Repair
• 
  Sussex: West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Gwent/Monmouthshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Wales)
• 
  The green guide for historic buildings: how to improve the environmental performance of listed and historic buildings