St John the Baptist, Pinner, is an

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

church in Church Lane,

Pinner Pinner is a suburb in the London Borough of Harrow, northwest London, England, northwest of Charing Cross, close to the border with Hillingdon, historically in the county of Middlesex. The population was 38,698 in 2021. Originally a mediaeval ...

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, former county in South East England, now mainly within Greater London. Its boundaries largely followed three rivers: the River Thames, Thames in the south, the River Lea, Le ...

History

The church was consecrated in 1320, and largely dates from the 14th century. Originally it was a chapel subordinate to the ancient church of St Mary, Harrow on the Hill, forming part of the deanery of Croydon which came under the immediate jurisdiction of the

Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the Primus inter pares, ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the bishop of the diocese of Canterbury. The first archbishop ...

. This was because the Archbishop was the Lord of the Manor of Harrow. Over the years St John's grew independent of St Mary's in many ways, but it was not until 1766 that Pinner became a parish independent of Harrow.

Henry James Pye Henry James Pye (; 20 February 1745 – 11 August 1813) was an English poet, and Poet Laureate from 1790 until his death. His appointment owed nothing to poetic achievement and was probably a reward for political favours. Pye was merely a ...

, Poet Laureate to King

George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland, Ireland from 25 October 1760 until his death in 1820. The Acts of Union 1800 unified Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and ...

, was buried in the church and William Skenelsby, who died at the reputed age of 118 years, was in the churchyard. The church has been

Grade II* listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

since 1951.

Description

The West Tower and South Porch date from the 15th century. The

vestry A vestry was a committee for the local secular and ecclesiastical government of a parish in England, Wales and some English colony, English colonies. At their height, the vestries were the only form of local government in many places and spen ...

was designed by Temple Moore, and built in 1911. The

stained glass Stained glass refers to coloured glass as a material or art and architectural works created from it. Although it is traditionally made in flat panels and used as windows, the creations of modern stained glass artists also include three-dimensio ...

windows are of many designs and ages, including two by

Ninian Comper Sir John Ninian Comper (10 June 1864 – 22 December 1960) was a Scottish architect, one of the last of the great Gothic Revival architecture, Gothic Revival architects. His work almost entirely focused on the design, restoration and embellishm ...

. The edges of the windows were restored by J. L. Pearson in 1879-80, and paid for by A. W. Tooke, a wealthy landowner in Pinner, and the son of William Tooke. Pearson also built the current church roof with gables, replacing an earlier one with attic windows. The south chapel dates from 1859, and was enlarged in 1880. Among the church treasures is a 15th-century octagonal

baptismal font A baptismal font is an Church architecture, ecclesiastical architectural element, which serves as a receptacle for baptismal water used for baptism, as a part of Christian initiation for both rites of Infant baptism, infant and Believer's bapti ...

, altar rails from the 17th century and an oak chest which must predate 1622, as it was recorded that it needed a new lock that year. The font cover dates from 1909. Numerous memorials include one in the church to Sir Christopher Clitherow, a former

Lord Mayor of London The Lord Mayor of London is the Mayors in England, mayor of the City of London, England, and the Leader of the council, leader of the City of London Corporation. Within the City, the Lord Mayor is accorded Order of precedence, precedence over a ...

who owned land on Pinner Hill in the seventeenth century; and an unusual one located in the churchyard, on the south side. It is in the form of a stone

pyramid A pyramid () is a structure whose visible surfaces are triangular in broad outline and converge toward the top, making the appearance roughly a pyramid in the geometric sense. The base of a pyramid can be of any polygon shape, such as trian ...

with a fake sarcophagus within, and was erected by the eighteenth-century botanist

John Claudius Loudon John Claudius Loudon (8 April 1782 – 14 December 1843) was a Scottish botanist, garden designer and author, born in Cambuslang in 1782. He was the first to use the term arboretum in writing to refer to a garden of plants, especially trees, co ...

in memory of his parents.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pinner, John the Baptist Grade II* listed churches in London Grade II* listed buildings in the London Borough of Harrow 14th-century church buildings in England Church of England church buildings in the London Borough of Harrow History of the London Borough of Harrow Diocese of London Churches dedicated to John the Baptist in England Anglican churches dedicated to John the Baptist