Church of St John the Baptist, Frome

The Church of St John the Baptist stands in Frome, Somerset, on a rocky platform between two streams. Its present form grew between the late 12th and early 15th centuries, replacing an earlier timber church founded by Aldhelm around 685. The tower and spire rise above the town, marking the site where William of Malmesbury noted a church in the 1120s. Fragments of masonry from the 8th or 9th centuries were found and built into a hagioscope near the entrance. Excavations in 2021 placed the first church beneath the eastern half of today’s nave. The church is worth the journey for its layered history and the reforms of Vicar William James Early Bennett. In 1852 Bennett ended pew privileges, divided the parish into twelve districts and founded schools and charities. Charles Edmund Giles led the restoration, installing stained glass by Charles Eamer Kempe and statues by James Forsyth. Forsyth carved a unique stone Via Crucis along the north steps, depicting seven Stations of the Cross. The controversial priest also revived the holy well beside Gentle Street, still dressed each May. Inside, the nave has seven or eight bays and retains Norman fragments at the tower base. The font, recovered from beneath the west floor, now stands in the St Nicholas Chapel baptistry, surrounded by a Clayton & Bell pavement showing the seven virtues and seven deadly sins. Brass gates and a metal screen by John Webb Singer guard the chancel and Lady Chapel, where a gas lamp feature remains. Outside the east end lies the empty tomb of Thomas Ken, one of the seven bishops who refused the 1689 oath, honoured with a feast day in the Episcopal Church.