Building record 1928/1/1 - Church of St John the Baptist, Guilden Sutton

<1> Ormerod, G., 1882, The History of the County Palatine and City of Chester, Ormerod G 1882 2/807-8 (Book). SCH1389.

Church of St John the Baptist, Church Lane. Formed part of endowment of College of St John, Chester & is listed among its possessions 4 Edward IV (1551). It fell into lay hands after the Dissolution & became the property of the Hardware's of Peele & Bromborough.

<2> Department of the Environment, 1971-2005, List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest, /5/10 (Report). SCH1934.

Present building dates to 1815, but nave has C16 work. Brick with lines of vertical timbers & wall plate visible in nave. Welsh slate roof. 5-bay nave & chancel in 1 range, S porch & octagonal louvered bellcote. Dentil brick cornice. Windows of nave & chancel simple & have semi-circular brick heads. E window, lancet shaped with 2 wooden mullions. Internal: Plain with raised chancel & wooden chancel screen. Partly exposed kingpost trusses with diagonal braces, all heavily cusped. Circular stone front dated 1635 & doorway with twisted balusters dated 1698. The former chancel blew down in 1802 & it is reported that Sir J T Stanley of Alderley rebuilt the church by 1810 when he sold the living. Full architectural description.

<3> Gifford and Partners, 2002, St. John's Church, Guilden Sutton: Report on an Archaeological Watching Brief, R2448 (Client Report). SCH4417.

An archaeological watching brief was undertaken between July and September 2001 at St. John's Church, Guilden Sutton, to monitor works for a new toilet and associated drainage, also lowering the floor of the chancel. A lead coffin within a brick vault and four grave slabs were recorded, as well as an assemblage of pottery dating from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Other features around the church relating to earlier episodes of church use prior to its reconstruction in 1815 were also observed.