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

Hope Bagot Hope Bagot is a hamlet and civil parish in Shropshire, England. It is situated south of Cleehill and the parish is hilly in nature. The market town of Ludlow is away. The parish church in the hamlet is St John the Baptist's Church, which is ...

Shropshire Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to th ...

, England. It is an active

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

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 deanery of Ludlow, the archdeaconry of Ludlow, and the

diocese of Hereford The Diocese of Hereford is a Church of England diocese based in Hereford, covering Herefordshire, southern Shropshire and a few parishes within Worcestershire in England, and a few parishes within Powys and Monmouthshire in Wales. The cathedral ...

. Its

benefice A benefice () or living is a reward received in exchange for services rendered and as a retainer for future services. The Roman Empire used the Latin term as a benefit to an individual from the Empire for services rendered. Its use was adopted by ...

is united with those of eleven local churches to form the Tenbury Team Ministry. 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, an ...

as a designated Grade I

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

The church dates from the 12th century, with alterations and additions in the 13th, 14th and 17th centuries. The

Hill A hill is a landform that extends above the surrounding terrain. It often has a distinct Summit (topography), summit. Terminology The distinction between a hill and a mountain is unclear and largely subjective, but a hill is universally con ...

(de Hull/de la Hall) of Court of Hill and

Burford Burford () is a town on the River Windrush, in the Cotswolds, Cotswold hills, in the West Oxfordshire district of Oxfordshire, England. It is often referred to as the 'gateway' to the Cotswolds. Burford is located west of Oxford and southeas ...

family had the living from the 1200s until the mid 1500s. It was restored in 1868 and again in 1911. The later restoration was carried out by

W. D. Caroe W. may refer to: * SoHo (Australian TV channel) (previously W.), an Australian pay television channel * ''W.'' (film), a 2008 American biographical drama film based on the life of George W. Bush * "W.", the fifth track from Codeine's 1992 EP ''Bar ...

Architecture

St John's is a small church and is largely

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norm ...

in style. It is constructed in stone

rubble Rubble is broken stone, of irregular size, shape and texture; undressed especially as a filling-in. Rubble naturally found in the soil is known also as 'brash' (compare cornbrash)."Rubble" def. 2., "Brash n. 2. def. 1. ''Oxford English Dictionar ...

with

ashlar Ashlar () is finely dressed (cut, worked) stone, either an individual stone that has been worked until squared, or a structure built from such stones. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, generally rectangular cuboid, mentioned by Vitruv ...

dressings, is partly rendered, and has a tiled roof. Its plan consists of a

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 south porch, 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. Ove ...

, and a west tower. The tower is in two stages; it has walls that incline inwards, and is surmounted by a pyramidal cap. There are

lancet window A lancet window is a tall, narrow window with a pointed arch at its top. It acquired the "lancet" name from its resemblance to a lance. Instances of this architectural element are typical of Gothic church edifices of the earliest period. Lancet wi ...

s on the west and south sides of the tower. The north side of the church is entirely Norman, with a single window in both the nave and the chancel. The south doorway is also Norman, and has a plain tympanum. The windows on the south side of the church date from the 14th century. The south porch is in timber. The east window has two lights, and appears to date from the early 16th century. The interior of the church is also largely Norman, although the chancel roof dates from Caroe's restoration. In the chancel is a

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 ...

and a stepped

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 ...

. The plain

font In metal typesetting, a font is a particular size, weight and style of a typeface. Each font is a matched set of type, with a piece (a "sort") for each glyph. A typeface consists of a range of such fonts that shared an overall design. In mod ...

dates from the 12th century, and the oak

pulpit A pulpit is a raised stand for preachers in a Christian church. The origin of the word is the Latin ''pulpitum'' (platform or staging). The traditional pulpit is raised well above the surrounding floor for audibility and visibility, access ...

from the 17th century. Behind the pulpit is a wall painting with an inscription including the date 1681. There is stained glass in the east window dating from about 1900.

External features

In the churchyard to the south of the church are four memorials, each of which is listed at Grade II. All are headstones dating from the early 18th century. The memorial to Clara and William Giles contains carving depicting a heart and laurel leaves. The memorial to Jane Walker, who died in 1728, is decorated with foliage, as is the memorial to John Penny, who died in 1729. The memorial to Thomas Giles, who died in 1739, and to his wife, who died in 1729, has a carving of clasped hands. Also in the churchyard is an ancient yew tree.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hope Bagot, Saint John the Baptist church Grade I listed churches in Shropshire Church of England church buildings in Shropshire English churches with Norman architecture English Gothic architecture in Shropshire Diocese of Hereford

History

Architecture

External features

See also

References