St John the Baptist's Church

St John the Baptist’s Church stands in the small village of Aldford in Cheshire. Built in 1866 to replace an earlier church, it was designed by John Douglas for Richard Grosvenor, the 2nd Marquess of Westminster. The building mixes late 13th-century style with Victorian craftsmanship, using red sandstone and a grey-green slate roof. A shingled spire rises above the west tower, which has three stages and a recessed octagonal top. The church plan includes a nave with aisles, a chancel with a north chapel, and a south porch with striped stonework. Inside, the walls are faced in ashlar stone, with diapered patterns in the tower and chancel. Polished limestone columns support the arcades, and the pulpit and font are made of marble. The reredos holds five mosaic panels by Salviati, while the east window of the chapel contains 19th-century stained glass by Morris & Co. designed by Burne-Jones. Memorials include a tablet to Frances Jones from 1719 and a monument to Lieut. Job Watson Royle, killed in 1812. The church also holds a benefaction board from 1682–1723 and a list of rectors dating back to about 1300. Outside, the churchyard contains a restored medieval sandstone cross with a carving of the Crucifixion, dedicated in 1901. A sundial with an 18th-century copper plate stands nearby on a sandstone pier. The churchyard walls and oak gates were built around 1866, and a war grave marks the resting place of a World War I soldier. To the north, earthworks and stone fragments remain from Aldford Castle, adding to the site’s layered history.