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St John the Baptist's, Flitton

Privacy Level: Open (White)
Date: About 1450
Location: Flitton, Bedfordshire, Englandmap
Surname/tag: Line
Profile manager: Wombat Allen private message [send private message]
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Origins

The church dates from the 15th century, but there was a church on the site in 1261, and Flitton is mentioned in the Domesday Book, spelt ‘Flictham’. St John the Baptist's is built from local sandstone, which although does not weather well and is therefore expensive to maintain makes for a beautiful appearance.

The church, which stands on a slight mound on the west side of the village, has a 27-foot (8.2 m) chancel, nave 39 feet (12 m) long with aisles, south porch and west three-stage tower with a projecting rood stair turret; the whole appears to be one built in local ironstone, embattled. It was paid for by Edmund Lord Grey of Ruthin, Earl of Kent, whose family lived at Wrest Park, Silsoe, which is open to the public and well worth a visit.

The porch was once open, housing shields of the De Grey family, but after the Dissolution and the Civil War most were lost, although you can still see many of the rose carvings outside. At some time there would also have been a lynch gate but unfortunately no sign of it remains.

Memorials

On the walls of the north aisle are three fragmentary brasses commemorating: Eleanor Conquest (1434), Elizabeth, wife of Thomas Waren (1544) and Alice, wife of Reginald Hill (1594). There are five bells, two (1902 and 1904) by Bowell of Ipswich, and three (1687) by Richard Chandler of Drayton Parslow.

The natural philosopher George Hadley (1685–1768) is buried in the chancel and King Edward VII visited the church in 1908.

De Grey Mausoleum

The adjacent De Grey Mausoleum is one of the largest sepulchral chapels attached to any English church, and the cruciform mausoleum houses a remarkable sequence of 17 sculpted and effigied monuments, spanning nearly three centuries (1615-1899), to the De Grey family of Wrest Park. The Mausoleum, which is a Grade 1 listed building, was built in 1614 with later additions in 1705 and has its nave set against the north side of the chancel of St John the Baptist and its south transept overlapping the east end.






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