St. John the Baptist Church, Knaresborough, UK

St. John the Baptist Church in Knaresborough is one of the oldest in the town. Its origins date back to 1114 when King Henry I put the original church under Nostell Priory. Scottish raiders reduced much of the church to ruin in 1318. Edward III's wife Phillipa was given the castle, town, forest, and honour of Knaresborough as a wedding gift and she financed rebuilding of the church. Most of the current building dates from the 1300s, though aisles were added 100 years later. The church still operates as a Church of England parish.

St. John the Baptist Church, Knaresborough

Other side of the church

Clearly a later addition

The graveyard outside seems sparsely populated for such an ancient church. Perhaps there's a story there.

L wonders why such an empty church graveyard

The entrance was inviting though the sign by it showed they were still participating in the local arts festival which had ended the day before our visit. That explains the odd decorations inside the church.

Church entrance

Seaside show means...

...seven odd boaters riding the pews

The rest of the church is quite nice though dark and sombre.

Nave

The church organ looks like it is floating on the left side of the main altar. It also is near one of those tombs that seem standard with churches dating back to the middle ages.

Organ over piano

Unidentified tomb, probably a cleric

The baptismal font has an elaborate ironwork for raising and lowering the lid.

Baptismal font with some more arty decorations

The stained glass is nice and appears to be from several periods. Unfortunately, the lighting was not cooperating with my camera, but I did enjoy the windows.

The sea theme was started long ago, apparently!

Jesus and two female disciples

Jesus separates goats and sheep

The high altar at the back is nice with a large window of Jesus and four apostles.

Main altar

The church is worth popping in if you happen to be visiting Knaresborough!