Parish Church of Saint John the Baptist, Bettisfield

Explore Our Church

What Can You Discover?

We’ve Something For Everyone

iscover the outside. The tall eight-sided spire with its clock, dominates the church as it is approached through the lytchgate. The church is built of smooth Grinshill stone from Shropshire.   If you stand by the tower and look slightly to the right you will see grins Hill in the distance. The church was designed and built between 1870 -1873, in the decorated gothic style,  by the renowned victorian Architect George Edmund Street.  It was funded entirely by  Lord Hanmer.  Discover the tomb of Lord John and his wife Georgina as the porch is approached.

 

Discover Inside the Church

Discover fleur de lys strap hinges  on the wooden door as you enter.  Inside the  single nave church is light with its pale stone walls lit up from both sides with its clear windows with geometric tracery.  The view up the churh is of consistent design in the whole and in all its small detail.

 Interior of Bettisfield Church in 1910

Discover Grinshill Stone Fitments

The large eight-sided stone font is just inside the door. Baptism is initiation into the fellowship f the church and so  fonts are found at the entry to well designed churches.  At the far end of the nave is the stone pulpi. Beyond under a pointed stone arch, a low stone balustrade leads up steps to the chancel.  Finally behind the altar is a stone reredos.

  

The Octagonal font

 

The Octagonal stone font

The stone pulpit
The angular stone pulpit

Discover Minton Tiles in the Chancel

The lower part of the east wall is covered with high quality embossed tiles by Thomas Minton of Stoke on Trent.  Discover that the design of the reredos, pulpit, choir stalls and screens all reflect  the shape pof the windows: the furnishings and church structure were designed by George Edmund Street as a whole.


Embossed wall tiles by Minton

Fleur-de-lys tiles and geometric design

Discover the chancel

The small niche in the south wall of the chancel is the credence table (which holds the communion vessels) and the larger niche is the sedilla where members of the clergy could sit.  Discover geometric tile patterns on the chancel floor.

East Window
East window

Discover in the East Window

Dicover in the Clayton and Bell East Window Jesus standing above eleven apostles.  In the tracery are the Agnus dei (Lamb of God) and the letters IHC (Jesus) and XC (Christ)

In the lower panels discover events from the Resurrection.

  • The angels appear to Mary by the empty tomb.
  • Peter and John appear running to the tomb.
  • The descent from the cross
  • Jesus speaks to Mary Magdalene in the garden
  • Jesus appears to the disciples in the upper room

West Window
 

Discover Under the Tower

The bell toweris off the south side of the nave just west of the chancel.The ring of three bells was originally hung in 1874.  The heavies weighs 616 punds.  They are hung unusually in a vertical  row of three to fit in this tall narrow spire.  Discover the three ropes rising high into the darkness above.  The tower has been beautifully integrated into the clean lines of the church.  The coloured sallies are have red, white and green stripes, the coours of the Welsh flag.

Discover a Border Lectern

This wooden lectern is designed to rotate between and English and Welsh bible.  It replaces an earlier brasss lectern which was recently rediscovered and is now undergoing restoration.  This photograph of the church interior was taken in 1910 and clearly shows the brass lectern in front of the chancel on the right.

 

Discover the Vestry and Organ

Across the nave in a balancing space the is the vestry divided from the nave by an oak screen with carving repeating geometric detail from the rest of the church. The organ which has two manuals was built by  ?? and is off the side of the chancel behind the wooden choir stalls.

 

Discover the Hanmer Memorial

Discover on the north wall the marble memorial to Georgina, Lady Hanmer, who died in 1880. The quotation is from Psalm 57 verse 8:

Awake up my glory,

Awake lute and harp,

I myself will awake right early.

Above the memorial is carved a harp.  A dedication was added to Lord John Hanmer who died in 1881.  The east window is also dedicated to the Hanmers the benefactors of the church.

Discover John the Baptist in the West Window.

The large west window, depicts in glorious reds and blues, depicts scenes from the life of Saint John the Baptist the dedication saint of our church. Like the east window it is by Clayton and Bell when the church was built in 1873.  Dis cover:

  • The baptism of Jesus
  • The beheading of John
  • The Agnus Dei (Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God)
  • The dove with halo (Holy Spirit)
  • Jesus with cruciform halo
  • The letters IHC (Jesus)
  • The Greek letters A and Ω (God is first and last)