Church of St John the Baptist

Details

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

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

135213

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Books and journals
Verey, D, The Buildings of England: The Vale and the Forest of Dean, (1980)
Page, W, The Victoria History of the County of Gloucester, (1965)

End of official list entry

All text content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0 , except where otherwise stated. Any supplied maps are © Crown Copyright [and database rights] 2026 OS AC0000815036 and may not be reproduced without permission.