St John the Baptist Church, Finchingfield
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| St John the Baptist Church | |
|---|---|
 St John the Baptist Church, Finchingfield | |
 St John the Baptist Church | |
| 51°58′06″N 0°27′11″E / 51.96835°N 0.45318°E | |
| Location | North Essex |
| Country | England |
| Denomination | Anglican |
| Architecture | |
| Heritage designation | Grade I |
| Administration | |
| Province | Canterbury |
| Diocese | Chelmsford |
| Deanery | Braintree |
St John the Baptist Church is an Anglican church in the village of Finchingfield, North Essex. The church was originally built in the 12th century with a nave, chancel, and tower. A major renovation and expansion of the building took place in the late 13th and 14th centuries. The church was restored in the 19th century. There are a few surviving Norman features, including the tower and west doorway. It is a Grade I listed building.
The church is located in the village of Finchingfield, North Essex. It was constructed with flint rubble with limestone and clunch dressings. The church comprises a chancel with two-bay north and south chapels, a nave with a clerestory and five-bay aisles, a 12th-century tower, and a 19th century south porch. The surviving Norman features of the church are the tower, the tower arch and west doorway and the 3-bay arcading at the two corners on the eastern side of the church's interior.[1]
The chancel has a 15th-century piscina. The font is supported by carved angels and quatrefoiled panels with shields of arms decorating each side. There is an early 15th-century oak chancel rood screen and a 14th century screen at the west end of the south chapel. The burial monuments include an altar tomb with black marble slab of Richard Marriot (d. 1703) and an altar tomb with brass inscription to Robert Kempe, (d. 1524). The burial monument of John and Elizabeth Berners (d. mid-1500s) have brass figures of the couple set into a marble slab. They stand facing each other with hands raised in prayer, dressed in heraldic clothing—he in a tabard, she in a mantle.[2]
The east window in the chancel is 19th century. Windows on the north and south walls date to the late 14th century, They both have cinquefoil-shaped windows with tracery set in a pointed arch. The clerestory has restored windows originally dating to the late 14th century. The stone corbels from the late 14th century are carved with heads of saints, a king, a queen, and others. The tower has three levels, a battlemented top, and an 18th-century wooden lantern. The original roofs are lead, while the newer north and south chapels have red clay tile roofs.[2]
