St John the Baptist's Church is in Station Road in the village of

Flookburgh Flookburgh is an ancient village on the Cartmel peninsula in Cumbria, England, until 1974 part of Lancashire. Being close to Morecambe Bay, cockle and shrimp fishing plays a big part in village life. Flookburgh is sometimes thought to derive ...

, on the

Cartmel Peninsula Cartmel Peninsula is a peninsula in Cumbria in England. It juts in a southerly direction into Morecambe Bay, bordered by the estuaries of the River Leven to the west and the River Winster to the east. It is, along with the Furness Peninsula, ...

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. C ...

, England. It is an active Anglican parish church in the deanery of Windermere, the archdeaconry of Westmorland and Furness, and the

diocese of Carlisle The Diocese of Carlisle was created in 11 April 1132 by Henry I out of part of the Diocese of Durham, although many people of Cumbric descent in the area looked to Glasgow for spiritual leadership. The first bishop was Æthelwold, who was the k ...

. Its benefice is united with those of St Mary, Allithwaite, St Mary and St Michael, Cartmel, St Peter, Field Broughton, St Paul, Grange-over-Sands,

Grange Fell Church, Grange-Over-Sands __NOTOC__ Grange Fell Church commonly referred to by locals as the Fell Church is a Church of England church in the Grange Fell area of Grange-over-Sands, Cumbria, England. It was built in 1907. Its benefice is united with those of St Mary, ...

, St Paul, Lindale, St Mary Staveley-in-Cartmel, St Anne Haverthwaite and St Peter Finsthwaite to form the benefice of Cartmel Peninsula. The church is recorded in the

National Heritage List for England The National Heritage List for England (NHLE) is England's official database of protected heritage assets. It includes details of all English listed buildings, scheduled monuments, register of historic parks and gardens, protected shipwrecks, a ...

as a designated Grade II*

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

History

St John's was designed by the Lancaster architects

Austin and Paley Sharpe, Paley and Austin are the surnames of architects who practised in Lancaster, Lancashire, England, between 1835 and 1946, working either alone or in partnership. The full names of the principals in their practice, which went under vario ...

, and paid for by

Victor Cavendish Victor Christian William Cavendish, 9th Duke of Devonshire (31 May 18686 May 1938), known as Victor Cavendish until 1908, was a British peer and politician who served as Governor General of Canada. A member of the Cavendish family, he was ed ...

. It replaces an older church built in 1777 on a site nearby. The foundation stone was laid in 1897 by Lady Evelyn Cavendish, and the church was consecrated in 1900. Its original estimated cost was £8,000, but it finally cost £12,000 ().

Architecture

Exterior

The church is constructed in pale

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates ...

, dressed to be almost smooth, with ashlar dressings and bands. It is roofed in sandstone flags, other than the

apse In architecture, an apse (plural apses; from Latin 'arch, vault' from Ancient Greek 'arch'; sometimes written apsis, plural apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome, also known as an '' exedra''. ...

, which has a lead roof. The architectural style is Romanesque. Its plan consists of a four- bay

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

with a clerestory, north and south three-bay

aisle An aisle is, in general, a space for walking with rows of non-walking spaces on both sides. Aisles with seating on both sides can be seen in airplanes, certain types of buildings, such as churches, cathedrals, synagogues, meeting halls, par ...

s, a west tower, a south porch, and a

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse. Ov ...

with a chapel to the north, an organ chamber to the south, and a semicircular apse to the east with a

vestry A vestry was a committee for the local secular and ecclesiastical government for a parish in England, Wales and some English colonies which originally met in the vestry or sacristy of the parish church, and consequently became known colloquiall ...

beneath. The church stands on a sloping site, with the tower at the top, and the rest of the church stepped down the slope. The tower is in three stages, with

buttress A buttress is an architectural structure built against or projecting from a wall which serves to support or reinforce the wall. Buttresses are fairly common on more ancient buildings, as a means of providing support to act against the lateral ( ...

es, a corbelled coped

parapet A parapet is a barrier that is an extension of the wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/breast'). ...

, and a

saddleback roof A saddleback roof is usually on a tower, with a ridge and two sloping sides, producing a gable A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed ...

with

gable A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aesth ...

s on the east and west sides. On the west side of the tower are paired lancet windows in the bottom stage, a round-headed lancet window with zigzag moulding in the middle stage, and paired louvred bell openings in the top stage. On the south side of the tower is a porch with two open quatrefoils in its gable. Above this is a lancet window and a single bell opening. The north side has a gabled stair turret, a lancet window, and a single bell opening. On the east side is a pair of bell openings. There are clock faces on all sides. The windows in the body of the church are round-headed lancets, single or in pairs. Each bay of the clerestory contains a two-light window.

Interior

The three-bay

arcade Arcade most often refers to: * Arcade game, a coin-operated game machine ** Arcade cabinet, housing which holds an arcade game's hardware ** Arcade system board, a standardized printed circuit board * Amusement arcade, a place with arcade games * ...

is carried on quatrefoil piers. All the furnishings were designed by the architects, and are "very good in a quiet way". Also in the nave are creed and commandment boards dating from the 18th century, and the royal arms of

George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...

. In the chancel is a

trefoil A trefoil () is a graphic form composed of the outline of three overlapping rings, used in architecture and Christian symbolism, among other areas. The term is also applied to other symbols with a threefold shape. A similar shape with four ring ...

-headed

sedilia In church architecture, sedilia (plural of Latin ''sedīle'', "seat") are seats, usually made of stone, found on the liturgical south side of an altar, often in the chancel, for use during Mass for the officiating priest and his assistants, the ...

. All the stained glass is by

Shrigley and Hunt Shrigley and Hunt was an English firm which produced stained-glass windows and art tiles. History The business began in the 1750s when Shrigley's was a painting, carving and gilding firm in Lancaster, Lancashire. In 1868, control of Shrigley' ...

, dating from about 1901 to 1927, the newest window depicting Saint Cuthbert preaching. The organ has two manuals; its builder is not known. There is a

ring Ring may refer to: * Ring (jewellery), a round band, usually made of metal, worn as ornamental jewelry * To make a sound with a bell, and the sound made by a bell :(hence) to initiate a telephone connection Arts, entertainment and media Film and ...

of eight bells, all cast by

John Taylor & Co John Taylor Bell Foundry (Loughborough) Limited, trading as John Taylor & Co and commonly known as Taylor's Bell Foundry, Taylor's of Loughborough, or simply Taylor's, is the world's largest working bell foundry. It is located in Loughborough, ...

; four date from 1900, two from 1949, and two from 2008.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Flookburgh, St John the Baptist's Church Church of England church buildings in Cumbria Diocese of Carlisle Grade II* listed churches in Cumbria Romanesque Revival church buildings in England 19th-century Church of England church buildings Churches completed in 1900 Austin and Paley buildings

History

Architecture

Exterior

Interior

See also

References