The Church of St John of Beverley, Whatton is a

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

in the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britai ...

Whatton-in-the-Vale Whatton-in-the-Vale is an English village in the Nottinghamshire borough of Rushcliffe. It lies in the Vale of Belvoir, with the River Smite to the west and the River Whipling to the east, mainly north of the trunk A52 road, 12 miles (19 k ...

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated Notts.) is a landlocked county in the East Midlands region of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The trad ...

, dedicated to St John of Beverley. The church is Grade II* listed by the

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport , type = Department , logo = Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport logo.svg , logo_width = , logo_caption = , seal = , seal_width = , seal_caption = , picture = Gove ...

Building

The church is medieval, dating from the 14th century, but little of the original survived the

restoration Restoration is the act of restoring something to its original state and may refer to: * Conservation and restoration of cultural heritage ** Audio restoration ** Film restoration ** Image restoration ** Textile restoration * Restoration ecology ...

s of 1846, 1866–1867 and 1870. It consists now of a chancel rebuilt in 1846, a central tower and steeple rebuilt in 1870, and a nave with north and south aisles and north and south porches. The only remaining Romanesque work is the former south

transept A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform churches, a transept is an area set crosswise to the nave in a cruciform ("cross-shaped") building wi ...

arch of the tower, which was moved to the north side during the 19th-century restoration. The nave is in Early English style. There is also a chapel dedicated to the memory of Archbishop

Thomas Cranmer Thomas Cranmer (2 July 1489 – 21 March 1556) was a leader of the English Reformation and Archbishop of Canterbury during the reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI and, for a short time, Mary I. He helped build the case for the annulment of Henry ...

, who was born and raised in

Aslockton Aslockton is an English village and civil parish 12 miles (19.3 km) east of Nottingham and two miles (3.2 km) east of Bingham, on the north bank of the River Smite opposite Whatton-in-the-Vale. The parish is also adjacent to Scarring ...

, which was a chapelry of Whatton at that time. The two corbel heads in the chapel date from about 1300 and depict King

David David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...

and an angel.''A Short Guide to the Parish Churches of the Bingham Rural Deanery'', ed. J. Pickworth-Hutchinson (Bingham: Bingham Deanery Chapter, 1963).

Effigies and features

Apart from interesting architectural detail (the lower part of a now redundant

newel A newel, also called a central pole or support column, is the central supporting pillar of a staircase. It can also refer to an upright post that supports and/or terminates the handrail of a stair banister (the "newel post"). In stairs having st ...

staircase, the Decorated recess containing a statue of a former incumbent 304–10 and a double

piscina A piscina is a shallow basin placed near the altar of a church, or else in the vestry or sacristy, used for washing the communion vessels. The sacrarium is the drain itself. Anglicans usually refer to the basin, calling it a piscina. For Roman Ca ...

), there is a late 14th-century effigy of a Knight Templar in armour and another of a cross-legged knight of the early 14th century, and a tablet in memory of Thomas Cranmer, father of the archbishop, who was born in

in 1489. The font dates from 1662. One of the 19th-century stained-glass windows, depicting SS. Peter and John with Jesus, was designed by the

Pre-Raphaelite The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (later known as the Pre-Raphaelites) was a group of English painters, poets, and art critics, founded in 1848 by William Holman Hunt, John Everett Millais, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Michael Rossetti, James ...

Edward Burne-Jones Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones, 1st Baronet, (; 28 August, 183317 June, 1898) was a British painter and designer associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood which included Dante Gabriel Rossetti, John Millais, Ford Madox Brown and Holman ...

. There is a peal of eight bells, of which five bells were cast by Henry Oldfield of

Nottingham Nottingham ( , locally ) is a city and unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east of Sheffield and north-east of Birmingham. Nottingham has links to the legend of Robi ...

in 1590 and 1618. An early clock was installed in 1683 by Richard Roe. This was replaced in 1910.

Parish status

The church belongs to the Cranmer Group of parishes, which consists of: * St Thomas's Church, Aslockton *

Church of St Mary and All Saints, Hawksworth The Church of St Mary and All Saints, Hawksworth is the Church of England parish church in Hawksworth, Nottinghamshire. It is Grade II* listed by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport as a particularly significant building o ...

Church of St John of Beverley, Scarrington The Church of St John of Beverley is a 13th-century parish church of the Church of England, in the village of Scarrington, Nottinghamshire. It has been Grade I listed by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. History The med ...

* St Helena's Church, Thoroton *Church of St John of Beverley, Whatton *St Mary's Church, Orston

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Whatton, Church Of St John Of Beverley Church of England church buildings in Nottinghamshire Grade II* listed churches in Nottinghamshire