Duxford: St John
Overview
Grid reference: TL 478 461
The complexity of this church is readily appreciable from the churchyard gate, for at once may be seen Norman features, thirteenth and fourteenth-century features, a Tudor arch over a doorway, and eighteenth century buttresses. The high-pitched tiled roof of the nave contrasts with the almost flat lead roof on the chancel.
Visiting and facilities
Building is closed for worship
Building
Ground Plan Description and Dimensions
Ground plan:
Three-bay nave with north aisle; crossing tower with short spire; chancel with north chantry chapel.
Description of Archaeology and History
Parts of the church date back to Norman times (the south doorway and lower parts of the tower); there was extensive work in the thirteenth-century and later. The nineteenth-century is not represented at all, the latest work which is apparent being eighteenth-century buttressing against the south tower wall.
Exterior Description
The complexity of this church is readily appreciable from the churchyard gate, for at once may be seen Norman features, thirteenth and fourteenth-century features, a Tudor arch over a doorway, and eighteenth century buttresses. The high-pitched tiled roof of the nave contrasts with the almost flat lead roof on the chancel.
The ground stage of the tower is one of the oldest parts, dating from the early twelfth century. Externally there is little evidence of this, for it seems that a transept has been removed at an carly time in the church's history, and its place is now taken by two massive brick buttresses of the mid eighteenth-century.
The second stage is visible on the south, east and north sides, and has a small blocked Norman light in each face. The upper stage is marked off by an iron tie, and is considerably later, probably about 1260. The stone used here is the local hard chalk, or clunch, and has weathered very badly compared with the Barnack stone brought across from Northamptonshire by the Norman builders which retains its surface remarkably well. The belfry windows, of two lights with plate tracery, now very much decayed, suggest the date 1260. The battlements are later and the thin spirelet is of indeterminable age.
The nave is wider than the tower, but retains much Norman work in the walls. It was however thoroughly remodelled in the fourteenth century when the north aisle was added. The quoins of the north-west and south-east corners are of Barnack stone indicating Norman origins, and the south doorway is also Norman work.
The south porch which covers the doorway is probably Tudor in date, with walls of bricks measuring two to two and a quarter inches in width.
The north aisle is not bonded in to the nave, a sure sign of a later addition. It has a low-pitched lead roof and extends beyond the nave along the north side of the tower to join with the chantry chapel north of the chancel. In the west wall, high up, is a small rectangular window which appears to be seventeenth century, having small diamond quarries.
The north chancel chapel is taller than the aisle and faced with more round stones set in deeper mortar. It is a fine specimen of fourteenth-century work, and is much the same in size and shape as the chancel.
The east wall continues the stringcourse to the chancel wall, and also the carved course at parapet level. The tracery is more elaborate, over three main lights, and is characterised by two big vesicas within which are small quatrefoils. The ogee heads to the main lights are much more slender and elegant than in the north windows.
The chancel was built at about the same time (c.1260) as the upper stage of the tower to replace the Norman chancel. The walls now present a mixture of materials and dates.
Interior
Interior Description
The interior of the church is plastored throughout. Two Norman arches open from the tower space to the nave and to the chancel. The north aisle and chapel connect with each other through an arch and also cach with the nave and chancel respectively through arcades. The tower space opens into the north aisle through an arch of the same date as the aisle . Nave, crossing and chancel are floored throughout with bricks and parments on one level and there are five ledger slabs set in the nave floor. At the west end the simple octagonal font stands on a new pedestal surrounded by new stone flags, and similar flags have been laid recently in the north aisle and chapel.
Of Normon features the two tower arches are the most notable. The western one is the more elaborate, with an arch of two orders supported on attached nook-shafts. An additional pair of shafts set between the others are redundant for structural purposes and seen purely decorative. The arch further onst which leads from the tower to the chanco is simpler, of only one order and with single nook-shafts. The imposts are carved with the billet motif and the faces of the responds show signs of painted decoration in the form of stylised scrolls of foliage.
The nave roof is plastored so that no timbers are visible, but it seems to be of simple construction, possibly scissor-braced.
The chancel has a fine roof with massive moulded timbers and carved bosses. It appears to have been concealed above a plaster roof at one time, and has mellowed to a fine pale colour. In connection with the later roof, carved corbels which probably once existed were cut off and the present corbels are mean in comparison with the woodwork of the older roof. The floor, of bricks and panments, has two matrices for brasses and the chancel is distinguished by being two steps higher within communion rails upon spiral-turned uprights. The plain chamfered surround of the south window is carried down as sedilia.
Fixtures and fittings
Bell Frame
Maker
Pickford
5.R
Date
Visit
RW
Description
OFJ
1
Jurisdiction
Number of Bells
Material
Altar
The Altar seems to have seventeenth-century turned legs and a modern top.
Rail
The Communion Rails have a moulded top rail and central gate; the north end returns eastward and is carried on much simpler turned uprights, the main run of uprights being spirally turned.
Font (object)
The font is early, with an eight-sided bowl upon a new pedestal.
Pulpit
c. Early 17th Century
The pulpit has two tiers of panelling with many parts renewed. The upper tier is decorated with applied lozenges. Its small shape and central moulded column support suggest an early seventeenth-century date.
Churchyard
Grid reference: TL 478 461
Burial and War Grave Information
It is unknown whether the building is consecrated.
It is unknown whether the churchyard has been used for burial.
It is unknown whether the churchyard is used for burial.
It is unknown whether the churchyard has war graves.
Environment
Ancient, Veteran & Notable Trees
Caring for God's Acre is a conservation charity working to support groups and individuals to investigate, care for, and enjoy the wildlife and heritage treasures found within churchyards and other burial grounds. Look on their website for information and advice and please contact their staff directly. They can help you manage this churchyard for people and wildlife.
To learn more about all the species recorded against this church, go to the Burial Ground Portal within the NBN Atlas. You can check the spread of records through the years, discovering what has been recorded and when, plus what discoveries might remain to be uncovered.
There are no records of Ancient, Veteran or Notable Trees within the curtilage of this site.
Renewables
| Renewable | Installed |
|---|---|
| Solar PV Panels | N/A |
| Solar Thermal Panels | N/A |
| Biomass | N/A |
| Wind Turbine | N/A |
| Air Source Heat Pump | N/A |
| Ground Source Heat Pump | N/A |
| Ev Charging | N/A |
Species summary
There are no records of species within the curtilage of this site.
Caring for God's Acre is a conservation charity working to support groups and individuals to investigate, care for, and enjoy the wildlife and heritage treasures found within churchyards and other burial grounds. Look on their website for information and advice and please contact their staff directly. They can help you manage this churchyard for people and wildlife.
To learn more about all the species recorded against this church, go to the Burial Ground Portal within the NBN Atlas. You can check the spread of records through the years, discovering what has been recorded and when, plus what discoveries might remain to be uncovered.
'Seek advice' Species
More information on species and action to be taken upon discovery.
Caring for God's Acre is a conservation charity working to support groups and individuals to investigate, care for, and enjoy the wildlife and heritage treasures found within churchyards and other burial grounds. Look on their website for information and advice and please contact their staff directly. They can help you manage this churchyard for people and wildlife.
To learn more about all the species recorded against this church, go to the Burial Ground Portal within the NBN Atlas. You can check the spread of records through the years, discovering what has been recorded and when, plus what discoveries might remain to be uncovered.
Further information
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