St John the Baptist Church, Chipping Barnet

St John the Baptist
Tomb of Thomas Ravenscroft in Chipping Barnet Church

St John the Baptist is the Church of England church for Chipping Barnet.[1] It is a Grade II* listed building.[2]

History

The church was built in 1560 and stands in what was the centre of the town. It was erected by John de la Moote, abbot of St Albans, about 1400, the architect being Beauchamp. Playing on its antiquity, it continues to call itself "Barnet Church", although this is not an official title. It is in fact the parish church of Chipping Barnet only, whilst Christ Church is the parish church of High Barnet.

St John the Baptist, the ancient parish church of Chipping Barnet, consists of a nave and aisles separated by clustered columns which support four pointed arches; a chancel with an east window of good Perpendicular tracery; a vestry, built in the reign of James I by Thomas Ravenscroft; and at the west end, a low, square embattled tower. In 1679, James Ravenscroft (son of Thomas) established a charity, which provides funds for the repair and maintenance of the tomb of Thomas Ravenscroft and his wife Thomasina.[3] The church was extensively renovated by William Butterfield in 1871/2, at which time the tomb of Thomas Ravenscroft was moved from the chancel to a newly built chapel.[4]

Status

The living of Barnet is a curacy, held with the rectory of East Barnet till the death of the last incumbent in 1866, when the livings were separated. The parish of Chipping Barnet, served by St John's Church, was provided with a chapel-of-ease in Victorian times; subsequently Chipping Barnet parish was split in two, and the chapel-of-ease (on Bells Hill, Barnet) raised to the status of a parish church, dedicated to St Stephen.

References

External links

Media related to St John the Baptist, Chipping Barnet at Wikimedia Commons

Coordinates: 51°39′11″N 0°12′04″W / 51.65317°N 0.20100°W / 51.65317; -0.20100


This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Tuesday, February 02, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.