St John the Baptist's Church, Guilden Sutton

St John the Baptist's Church, Guilden Sutton
St John's Church, Guilden Sutton
St John the Baptist's Church, Guilden Sutton Location in Cheshire
53.2078°N 2.8265°W / 53.2078; -2.8265
OS grid reference	SJ 448 682
Location	Guilden Sutton, Cheshire
Country	England
Denomination	Anglican
Website	https://www.guildensutton-plemstall.church/
History
Status	Parish church
Dedication	John the Baptist
Architecture
Functional status	Active
Heritage designation	Grade II
Designated	1 June 1967
Architectural type	Church
Completed	1815
Specifications
Materials	Brick, Welsh slate roof
Administration
Province	York
Diocese	Chester
Archdeaconry	Chester
Deanery	Chester
Parish	Guilden Sutton
Clergy
Rector	Revd Heather Carty
Laity
Churchwarden(s)	Peter Reid

St John the Baptist's Church is in the village of Guilden Sutton, near Chester, Cheshire, England. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II listed building.^[1] It is an active Anglican parish church.^[2] The church is in the Diocese of Chester, the Archdeaconry of Chester, and the Deanery of Chester. Its benefice is combined with that of St Peter, Plemstall.^[3]

History

The church was built in 1815 on the site of a previous church.^[4] The chancel of the previous church had blown down in 1802.^[1] A bellcote was added during the Victorian era.^[5] The interior was restored in 2001 when the chancel screen and choir stalls were removed, a toilet was provided and the entrance was improved. In 2005, the bellcote was restored after it had been damaged by a deathwatch beetle.^[4]

Architecture

Exterior

The church is built in brick with Welsh slate roofs. Some of the fabric of the 16th-century church is still present in the wall of the nave. Its plan is simple and consists of a five-bay nave and chancel in one range, a south porch, and an octagonal louvered timber bellcote at the west end. The windows on the sides of the nave and chancel are simple and round-headed. The east window is lancet-shaped.^[1]

Interior

This is plain, with a raised chancel. There was formerly a wooden chancel screen. The doorway has twisted balusters and is dated 1698. In the church is a painted memorial plaque to the Whitehead family, which is probably by Randle Holme III. The font is dated 1635; it is round and decorated with a date and a single flower.^[5]

External features

In the churchyard is a buff sandstone sundial. It consists of a column baluster on a square base with a cap in a different stone. The copper plate and gnomon are inscribed with the date 1596 and two sets of lines and numbers. It is listed as Grade II.^[6] The churchyard also contains the war graves of three soldiers, two from World War I and one from World War II.^[7]

See also

• Listed buildings in Guilden Sutton

References

1. Historic England, "Church of St John the Baptist, Guilden Sutton (1229368)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 1 August 2012
2. St John's Guilden Sutton, St Peter's Plemstall & St John's Guilden Sutton, retrieved 16 January 2008
3. Guilden Sutton, St John the Baptist, Church of England, retrieved 8 October 2009
4. Buildings & History, St Peter's Plemstall & St John's Guilden Sutton, archived from the original on 20 December 2013, retrieved 16 January 2008
5. Pevsner, Nikolaus; Hubbard, Edward (2003) [1971], Cheshire, The Buildings of England, New Haven and London: Yale University Press, p. 230, ISBN 0-300-09588-0
6. Historic England, "Sundial in Churchyard of St John the Baptist, Guilden Sutton (1229518)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 1 August 2012
7. GUILDEN SUTTON (ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST) CHURCHYARD, Commonwealth War Graves Commission, retrieved 3 February 2013