St John the Baptist Church, Avon Dassett, Warwickshire

Address:
Avon Dassett, Southam, Warwickshire, CV47 2AH
How to find us | Access information
Opening times:
Open daily
  • Overview
  • Map
  • What's nearby

A masterpiece of the Gothic Revival

This Victorian church, with its soaring spire, is a masterpiece built in fourteenth-century Gothic style and is set amongst trees in the Avon Dassett hills - a lovely place for a walk.

Charles Buckeridge built it in golden Hornton sandstone in 1869 to replace a medieval church, which east window he reset in the west wall of the tower.

The high-ceilinged interior is inspiring and the style throughout is largely fourteenth century. The chancel remains a good example of a properly furnished sanctuary of the period, with oak altar and choirstalls, three stone seldilia and a grey Purbeck marble reredos with a cross at the centre. A recess in the north wall of the chancel contains the fine tomb of a deacon, thought to be Hugo who died in c.1240.

In 2009, as part of our 40th birthday celebration, we released a special recording of the 110-year-old bells from this church. The bells were able to ring again on 21 February, for the first time in 30 years, thanks to the restored bell tower, completed via a £700,000 restoraton project.