Description

SK 77 SW EAST MARKHAM CHURCH STREET
(south side)

5/17 Church of St.John
the Baptist
1.2.67
G.V. I

Parish church. C14, C15. Restored 1883-7 by Oldrid Scott when
the north and south aisles were rebuilt. Tower restored 1981.
Ashlar. Probably lead roofs. Embattled parapets with single
ridge crosses to the east nave and chancel. Buttressed and set
on a plinth with a moulded band over and a sill band. Tower,
nave, aisles, south porch, south east rood turret and chancel.
C15 angle buttressed tower of 3 stages with bands, 8 crocketed
pinnacles and 8 gargoyles. West restored moulded arched doorway
with wooden door and continuous hood mould. Above is a single
arched window with 3 cusped lights surmounted by a further 3
arched and cusped lights with cusped panel tracery, hood mould
and label stops. The south side has at the second stage a niche.
Within a cinque foiled canopy with 3 finials is a standing, worn
figure. The 4 arched bell chamber openings each have 2 arched
and cusped lights surmounted by a further 2 similar lights with
tracery, hood mould and label stops. Under the north opening is
a single clock face. There are 5 rectangular stair lights to the
south side and single similar lights to the west and north sides.
The west wall of the north aisle has a single arched C15 3 light
window with cusped panel tracery with hood mould and single human
head label stop to the left. The 4 bay north wall with 3
gargoyles has 3 similar windows with hood moulds and human head
label stops. In the second bay from the right is a moulded
pointed arched doorway with wooden door with decorative iron
hinges and hood mould with human head label stops. The east wall
has a single similar window, hood mould and human head label
stops. In the clerestory are 8 arched windows each with 3 arched
and cusped lights, reticulated tracery and continuous hood mould.
C15 chancel has in the north wall 2 large gargoyles and 2 C14
style arched windows each with 3 arched and cusped lights, hood
mould and human head label stops, the left window lacks the right
label stop. The east chancel has a single large arched 5 light
window with cusped panel tracery, hood mould and human head label
stops. The south chancel has 2 large gargoyles and 3 C14 style
arched windows each with 3 arched and cusped lights, hood mould
and human head label stops. Breaking into the left corner of
the central window is a double chamfered arched doorway with
sundial to the right. The rood turret has a single rectangular
stair light. In the east wall of the south aisle is a single
arched 3 light C15 window with cusped panel tracery, hood mould
and human head label stops. The 4 bay south wall with 3
gargoyles has 3 similar windows with hood moulds and human head
label stops. Second bay from the left is the diagonally
buttressed porch which has a single ridge cross, 2 crocketed
pinnacles and single gargoyles to the east and west sides.
Moulded and chamfered arched doorway, the inner chamfer being
supported on embattled capitals with hood mould and human head
label stops. Over is a niche with a figure standing under a
double arch decorated with finials. The east and west walls each
have a single arched and cusped light under a flat arch with hood
mould. The interior of the porch has 2 corbels to both the east
and west sides. The timbered roof has C15 bosses. The inner
moulded arched doorway has a hood mould and human head label
stops. In the south-west corner of the south parapet is a
sundial. The west wall has a single C15 arched 3 light window
with cusped panel tracery. The clerestory corresponds to the
north but has 3 worn gargoyles. Interior. 4 bay nave arcades
with octagonal columns and responds, each side with a single
recessed rectangular blind panel, embattled capitals and moulded
arches. The nave side with hood moulds, each with 5 head label
stops. Tall tower arch with concave moulding and embattled
capitals. Early C14 double chamfered chancel arch, the inner
chamfer with moulded impost, hood mould and human head label
stops over. In the east nave wall is a chamfered arched doorway
with wooden door leading to the rood stair, above is a blocked
arch. C17 altar rails with turned balusters. C17 panelled and
decorated pulpit and C17 alms box with iron fittings. Ashlar
font with flying buttresses rising from a base decorated with
fleuron, probably an inverted C14 font, supporting the bowl,
1686, with C17 conical, decorated canopy. The east bay of the
south aisle has the restored and reduced C15 chancel screen with
panel tracery. In the south aisle is the base of a C17 altar
table and in the north aisle the top of an ashlar altar table.
In the nave is a litany desk part constructed with C16 bench end
with decoratively carved head. There is a large C17 chest with
iron fittings. On the north and south walls of the chancel are
single iron brackets formerly for lamps. The remaining furniture
is C19 and C20. Monuments: in the chancel is the alabaster tomb
of John (Judge) Markham, d.l409. Decorated around the sides with
plain shields in roundels. The top with inscription around the
edge and later defacements. In the south aisle is a fine brass,
1419, to Dame Millicent Meryng figuring a lady dressed in
medieval costume. Beside the north wall is a C13 coffin lid with
worn effigy. There are several C17 and C18 floor slabs. In the
east window of the south aisle are some fragments of C15 glass.
East window by Comper, 1896. The C19 nave and chancel roofs with
bosses are supported on corbels.

Listing NGR: SK7431772660

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Church of St. John the Baptist, East Markham at Wikipedia
• Wikidata Q5117245

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  The Listed Buildings and Other Principal Structures at the Royal Gunpowder Mills Waltham Abbey
• 
  [(Bedfordshire, Huntingdon and Peterborough)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1968)
• 
  Herefordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Pioneers of Modern Design: From William Morris to Walter Gropius (Penguin Art & Architecture)
• 
  Devon (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Old House Handbook: A Practical Guide to Care and Repair