Church of St John the Baptist, Axbridge

The Church of St John the Baptist stands in the small Somerset town of Axbridge. The present building began in the early 15th century on the site of an earlier church from about 1230. Its walls are limestone with trim of Doulting stone, and the steps are made from puddingstone, a local dolomitic conglomerate. A tall crossing tower, finished around 1400, rises above the nave. Inside, the tower holds six bells, one cast in 1723 by Edward Bilbie of the famous Bilbie bell-founding family. The church is filled with notable features from different ages. A statue of St John the Baptist stands on the east side of the tower, while a crowned figure on the west may represent Henry VII, placed there after 1485. Medieval painted panels survive on the north aisle ceiling, and among the carved bosses a Green Man appears, leaves growing from his face. The nave roof is Jacobean, dated 1636, and the building was restored in the 1880s by John Dando Sedding. Outside, the churchyard contains a Commonwealth war grave of a Dorsetshire Regiment soldier from the Second World War. The tower’s height and the mix of stones show how the church grew over centuries. Visitors find quiet spaces beneath the painted panels and bosses, and the crossing tower offers a view over the town. The Green Man and the possible king add human detail to the stonework.