WISTOW : CHURCH OF ST JOHN THE BAPTIST
Church Post Code PE28 2QD
Closed to visitors - open on church heritage weekend.
It was early July 2025 and a four church crawl which started in Bedfordshire; with four churches visited and two services attended. Most of the south and east of the country was under a severe weather warning for storms and the day fluctuated between thunderstorms and bright sunshine.
The morning started off with a communion at All Saints at Shillington; a high church service with robed choir. We moved on a couple of miles to the north to St Mary at Meppershall; a café church service that was relaxed and informal; and quite loud at times with a thunderstorm rumbling overhead throughout the service,
We then moved across the county border in to Cambridgeshire, heading roughly 20 miles to the north east to Abbotsley which was kindly opened by request. By the time that we arrived at Wistow, the storms had cleared (for a time at least) and the church was visited in the most beautiful of lighting conditions.
The church of St John the Baptist at Wistow was one of the few that I had never seen inside but there was a historic weekend taking place that weekend with the church open on each day; stewarded with tea and cakes available.
Wistow itself is a Huntingdonshire village which recorded a population of 534 at the time of the 2021 census. There is plenty of history here with the village mentioned in a Royal Charter as far back as 974AD; as part of lands given to Ramsey Abbey. The name ‘Wistow’ is Anglo Saxon and means ‘dwelling place’ and is not to be confused with another Wistow in Cambridgeshire; this one being a modern settlement which can be found four miles to the west of Peterborough.
The village of Wistow is some 17 miles to the south east of Peterborough; with Ramsey being four miles off to the north. Warboys is just over two miles to the south east. The church of St John the Baptist sits on a crossroads towards the east of the village, on slightly raised ground and surrounded by a wonderful old wall which has its own Grade II Listing. On a previous visit parts of this were leaning over at gravity defying angles but some repairs had been affected since then.
There was a church and a priest mentioned here at the time of the Domesday Survey in 1086, but nothing of that original building remains. It is suggested that the church had fallen in to disrepair during the 12th century and was rebuilt during the abbacy of Robert Trionell who was Abbot of Ramsey between 1180 and 1200.
There was building ongoing here either side of the Black Death with the newly built chancel consecrated in 1346 with the remainder dedicated in 1351. Further rebuilding came about during the 15th century with the west tower added during the mid to late 16th century. The chancel was restored during the 19th century and the church was thoroughly restored in the early 1930’s.
When Revd Owen’s study of the church bells in Huntingdonshire was published in 1899 there were four bells in the ring here; which were noted as follows. The first of the ring was cast by Joseph Eayre of St Neots in 1758. This was inscribed ‘Let everything that hath breath praise the Lord’.
The second of the ring was cast by Thomas Norris of the Stamford Bellfoundry in 1642, with the same founder providing the third in 1658. The fourth was cast by William Haulsey of St Ives in 1628 with this having the Latin inscription ‘NON CLAMOR SED AMOR CANTAT IN AVRE DEI’ which translates as ‘Not noise but love sings in the ears of God’.
Owen noted at the time that the bells here were badly in need of rehanging with the tenor of particular concern; noting that the cage was falling apart making it very difficult if not dangerous to ring.
Today there is still a ring of four with the first two of the ring having been recast by James Barwell of Birmingham in 1905.
The church that we see today consists of west tower, nave with north and south aisles and clerestories, north and south porches and chancel. Looking at the church from the south, the flag of St George hung limply to the south of the church on this still; bright and humid afternoon. The three stage tower is battlemented with what appear to be unfilled scaffold holes in the stonework surrounding the tower. A stair turret can be seen to the north east corner, with clock set in to the west wall.
Throughout the exterior are gargoyles and grotesques of high quality. A male human figure looks out through bulging eyes, with close by a bird with long beak has its wings tightly furled against its body. Up high we see a grotesque head with tiny bat like wings with one further alongside with curiously mismatched eyes, sticking out its tongue at anyone who cares to glance upwards. An animal with flowing mane looks out from the south west corner of the nave. A few shots of these are included immediately below but a few more are included at the foot of this page from a previous visit, with the sun going down, giving a really nice light quality.
Entry was through the south porch; with the interior having several displays up showing village history. A couple of ladies were helping with refreshments and one of them kindly gave me a brief tour of a few points of interest when she saw my camera out! There was one problem though; could I manage a second slice of lemon drizzle, having previously had a large slice at Meppershall three hours or so earlier. The answer was yes!
The nave arcades to north and south are each of two bays. An initial look towards the chancel showed a doorway high up to the north of the chancel arch; this allowing access out on to the rood loft and on to the rood itself; a carving of the crucifixion with Mary and John alongside the cross. This is a reminder of pre reformation days when such crosses were part and parcel of our churches before beliefs changed and they were seen as being idolatrous; taken down and destroyed. The doorway giving access to the stairs up to the rood loft was covered by one of the displays set out for the day.
Moving in to the chancel itself the hand of the Victorian restorers is evident. The reredos runs the full width of the chancel, with blind arcading with the exception of the arcades behind the high altar; two of which state ‘I am the bread of life’ and ‘I am the true vine’. The sedilia, the seating for the priests during the Mass, and the piscina, in which the holy vessels used during the Mass were washed, are each medieval survivals. The sedilia is a double, with each seat set under an ogee arch. The piscina has the obligatory bottle of hand sanitiser; dating the photograph taken to 2020 covid year or the post covid years.
The east window is of four lights with stained glass depictions of Jesus carrying his cross prior to crucifixion, the crucifixion, the resurrection which interestingly has the Roman Centurion at prayer in anguish in the foreground and the Ascension.
Elsewhere in the chancel we see two three light windows, showing a series of stained glass panels which include Jesus teaching in the Temple as a 12 year old and Jesus blessing a baby. We also see Jesus teaching in front of a group of people. A child close to Jesus holds out his hands in worship; two women look on intently. For the most part though the men do not seem happy to hear what they are hearing.
The corresponding window shows a child being shown the scriptures; with alongside Jesus talking with Mary and Martha, the sisters of Lazarus. As always, Martha is depicted holding something, in this case a jug, emphasising the fact that she was a doer rather than a listener. As always Mary sits patiently at Jesus’ feet, listening quietly to what Jesus he had to say. The traditional verse from Luke Chapter 10 verse 42 accompanies this which reads ‘Mary hath chosen the better part’
The final panel in this window shows an angel of the Lord pointing upwards towards Heaven as the three Mary’s have found the tomb empty on Easter morning ‘He is not her He is risen’.
The east window of the south aisle shows a depiction of the epiphany; with the arrival of the wise men. The wise men present their gifts; with Joseph alongside but taking a step back. The proceedings below are watched over by a celestial band up in the tracery.
The east window of the north aisle is a depiction of faith hope and charity; with all three depicted with a female character. Faith holds a processional cross whilst hope is shown with an anchor. Charity as always is shown surrounded by children; its importance shown by it being central and raised a little from the other two. I Corinthians chapter 13 verse 13 reads, in the old King James ‘And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity’. Some modern translations have replaced the word charity with love.
A fine 15th century stained glass window can be seen in the west window of the south aisle, which originally was situated in the chancel east window; a fine survival. To the left hand panel we see the annunciation; albeit without the Angel Gabriel. Mary is at her prayer desk, hands crossed across her chest, with the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove descending from above.
To the right we see the resurrection, with the Risen Christ emerging from the tomb, still wearing the crown of thorns; holding a processional cross in one hand, wounds visible of hand and side. Roman soldiers are asleep in front of the tomb whilst others behind peer in to the tomb; with the scene set before a symbolically blood red background. Angels at prayer oversee from the tracery panels above.
A quick glance upwards on leaving the church shows a wall plaque with a winged skull at the bottom; a reminder to those going out in to the world that Man is mortal and will die and therefore to live a good Christian life, trust in God and do not get caught short when your own time comes. In those days of low life expectancy it could be later than you think.
It was great to finally see inside this church; and an enjoyable time was spent with friendly people and some very good cakes. it was time to head home with the sun still shining brightly. As we headed home to the west of Peterborough the sky was dark and threatening and we arrived home a couple of minutes before the next storm hit; the long hot dry spell ending with a vengeance. The church of St John the Baptist at Wistow is a fine church and is well worth taking a look at should you get the chance.
A PREVIOUS VISIT : SUMMER 2014
It’s about the churches; that is obvious, it is why I do what I do. However, it is more than that; it is also about the people met, the food eaten, the gathering together of memories; with one of my most favourite happening at Wistow late of a Sunday evening in the summer of 2014.
David and myself had been in the area and the church of St John the Baptist at Wistow was our last church of the day. The sun was setting and the shadows lengthening; the light quality was lovely. I headed across the main road to the pub car park opposite. The pub has a thatched roof with thatched figures of a dog stalking a pheasant. A pair of blackbirds hopped about on the thatch. The church was forgotten for a time as we waited for the blackbirds to jump on top of the thatched animals. A few minutes later we had photographed one of the blackbirds riding on the nose of the dog whilst the other sat on the pheasant’s head, looking back in the direction of its partner. Simply a joy!
