St John the Baptist Church

Porthcawl, United Kingdom

St John the Baptist Church was probably built in the 1180s as the first rector was installed in 1189. It was refurbished by Jasper Tudor, Duke of Bedford in 1485–95 and again in 1825–27 by the rector Rev. Robert Knight who added the vestry and altered the stone pulpit. The building was restored by John Prichard and John Pollard Seddon in 1860–61 and an organ chamber was added in 1885. More restoration work in 1903 and 1927 included reflooring the nave, reroofing the porch and installing oak stalls in the chancel. A meeting room and vestry wing were added in 1993.

The plan of the building is a tower in the west, nave, south porch, chancel, north-eastern chapel and northern wing. The church is built of roughly coursed grey rubble with grey or yellow ashlar dressings and has a slate roof with stone apex finials. The large and defensive west tower has wide-angle buttresses at each corner and a saddleback roof with embattled and corbelled parapets only on the northern and southern sides. The stone-tiled coping is topped by a weathervane. The northern and southern faces of the tower have four storeys of small round or square openings, although one on the south face is trefoil headed. The eastern facade has large shouldered openings above a corbel table that probably supported a wooden platform. The western side of the tower has a face corbel, reputedly of Saint John the Baptist, above a louvred gable opening, a clock and a three-light window above the ornate western doorway.

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Details

Founded: c. 1180
Category: Religious sites in United Kingdom

More Information

en.wikipedia.org

Rating

4.8/5 (based on Google user reviews)

User Reviews

chris morgan (2 years ago)
Great old church worth a visit and a beer on the green.
Janet Lewis (2 years ago)
Attended a christening in this lovely church, the vicar was excellent and conducted a lovely service, I would def go back for a service conducted by him. His connection with all attending and the service was excellent.
Mark (That Welsh Bloke) (3 years ago)
A beautiful 12th century church in the heart of the old port of Newton. Wonderful old pubs and green with children's play area bordering the church. I'm proud to have family buried here
Cheryl Walker (4 years ago)
Beautiful church
Adrian Perrett (4 years ago)
Lovely place to meet family and friends.
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