---
title: "St John the Baptist, Cirencester"
description: "Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire. Built Chancel c.1115; nave rebuilt 1515–30; west tower early C15; south porch c.1490. Diocese of Gloucester. Grade I. Perpendicular Gothic (wool church) style."
category: "Church"
tags: ["Church","Church of England","Gloucestershire","Cirencester","Grade I","Perpendicular Gothic","Wool Church","George Gilbert Scott"]
canonical: "https://thebritishgazette.com/post/st-john-baptist-cirencester"
pubDate: "2026-09-06T01:29:26.703Z"
dateModified: "2026-09-07T20:34:12.391Z"
location: "Cirencester, Gloucestershire"
country: "England"
county: "Gloucestershire"
town: "Cirencester"
address: "Market Place, Cirencester, Gloucestershire, GL7 2PE"
postcode: "GL7 2PE"
built: "Chancel c.1115; nave rebuilt 1515–30; west tower early C15; south porch c.1490"
architect: "Restored 1865–67 by Sir George Gilbert Scott"
denomination: "Church of England"
dedications: ["John the Baptist"]
diocese: "Gloucester"
grade: "I"
style: "Perpendicular Gothic (wool church)"
materials: "Coursed squared limestone and limestone ashlar; stone slate and lead roofs"
website: "http://www.cirenparish.co.uk/"
openingHours: "The church is open every day of the year and welcomes thousands of visitors a year as well as its regular worshiping community who all see the church as a source of peace and prayer. Tours are available throughout the year and on special days the Tower is open to visitors who are prepared to climb the narrow steps to the top in order to enjoy a panoramic view over the town."
parish: "Cirencester"
listEntryUrl: "https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1206356"
gridReference: "SP 023 020"
accessNotes: "Level access to the main areas. Accessible toilets nearby"
---

# St John the Baptist, Cirencester

St John the Baptist’s is a Grade I parish church on the Market Place, Cirencester, Gloucestershire, in the Diocese of Gloucester: one of the largest Cotswold wool churches, open daily and known for its three-storey south porch and late Perpendicular nave.

## Overview

Historic England lists the church, attached railings and gates (1206356, Grade I, 14 June 1948). The listing traces a long fabric history: chancel of about 1115, enlarged c.1180 and 1240; St Catherine’s Chapel from a twelfth-century north chancel aisle; Lady Chapel of c.1240 rebuilt in the mid-fifteenth century; Chapel of St John the Baptist from a twelfth-century south chancel aisle; Trinity Chapel of 1430; aisled nave of c.1120 and c.1240 with the nave rebuilt 1515–30; south porch of about 1490; and an early fifteenth-century west tower. Materials are coursed squared limestone and limestone ashlar, with stone slate roofs to the chancel and older chapels and lead to the nave and Trinity Chapel.

The south porch was restored in 1831–33. Sir George Gilbert Scott directed a complete restoration of 1865–67, removing eighteenth-century galleries and box pews. Wikipedia and the parish record a Cotswold-stone church about 180 feet long with a three-stage tower about 134 feet high. The porch, built by Cirencester Abbey as an administrative range, was only joined to the church in the eighteenth century and served as the town hall after the Dissolution. Surviving fittings include a fifteenth-century pulpit, a fourteenth-century octagonal font recovered from the abbey grounds, and the silver-gilt Boleyn Cup of 1535.

## Further Information

- [Historic England list entry 1206356](https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1206356)
- [Cirencester Parish](http://www.cirenparish.co.uk/)
- [Wikipedia: Church of St John the Baptist, Cirencester](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_St_John_the_Baptist,_Cirencester)