---
title: "St John the Baptist, Little Somerford"
description: "Located in Little Somerford, Wiltshire. Built c.1300; C15 west tower and porch; restored c.1860. Diocese of Bristol. Grade I. Early Decorated with Perpendicular tower style."
category: "Church"
tags: ["Church","Church of England","Wiltshire","Little Somerford","Grade I","Decorated","Robert Lorimer"]
canonical: "https://thebritishgazette.com/post/st-john-baptist-little-somerford"
pubDate: "2026-09-06T02:03:59.358Z"
dateModified: "2026-09-08T15:59:46.197Z"
location: "Little Somerford, Wiltshire"
country: "England"
county: "Wiltshire"
town: "Little Somerford"
address: "Little Somerford, Wiltshire, SN15 5JW"
postcode: "SN15 5JW"
built: "c.1300; C15 west tower and porch; restored c.1860"
denomination: "Church of England"
dedications: ["John the Baptist"]
diocese: "Bristol"
grade: "I"
style: "Early Decorated with Perpendicular tower"
materials: "Rubble stone with stone slate roof; ashlar-fronted porch"
website: "http://woodbridgegroup.co.uk/"
openingHours: "Normally open."
parish: "Little Somerford"
listEntryUrl: "https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1300525"
gridReference: "ST 967 843"
accessNotes: "Level access to the main areas"
---

# St John the Baptist, Little Somerford

St John the Baptist is a Grade I parish church on The Street in Little Somerford, Wiltshire, in the Diocese of Bristol. The first record of a church here is 1251; the present building is of about 1300 with a fifteenth-century tower.

## Overview

Historic England describes an Anglican parish church of about 1300 with a fifteenth-century west tower, restored about 1860, in rubble stone with a stone slate roof and coped gables. Nave and chancel stand in one range, with a south porch and a thin west tower. The late fifteenth-century porch is ashlar-fronted, with a sundial and a four-centred arched entry. The chancel has a three-light east window with reticulated tracery.

The listing calls the fifteenth-century boarded tympanum exceptional: concealed until 1983, it is painted with two censing angels and the Ten Commandments on a deep red ground. A large royal coat of arms dated 1602, formerly over the screen, now fills the tower arch. The timber chancel screen is basically fourteenth-century. The pulpit is dated 1626; nave pews are cut-down seventeenth-century box pews. A 1928 tower screen is by Sir Robert Lorimer. The three bells were recast in the eighteenth century.

## Further Information

- [Historic England list entry 1300525](https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1300525)
- [Wikipedia: Church of St John the Baptist, Little Somerford](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_St_John_the_Baptist,_Little_Somerford)