St John
Baptist Danbury
Church Guide Book – St John Baptist,
Danbury
In
June 2000, after months of research, two members of St John’s
congregation published a guide book for the church. The book includes a
‘tour’ of the church building, and an account of the church’s history.
A
Guide and History: The Parish Church of St John the Baptist Danbury,
by Mary Satre Kerwin and Glenda Griffin, is illustrated with historic
photographs and contains an extensive bibliography.
The guide book is A4 size and has 60 pages. A few copies of the book are
still available at the back of the church.
The History of the Church Building
St John’s is built on a hill top, its spire
visible for miles around. Long before there was a church on the site,
this vantage point was utilised for a hill fort, and parts of these
early fortifications can still be traced. Historical accounts of the
area refer to the ‘Danbury Camp’, and archaeology has established that
Danbury was occupied at least as early as 500BC.
If there was originally a wooden, Saxon church on
Danbury Hill no trace of it has been found. The oldest part of the
existing building is the north aisle, thought to have been a chapel
endowed by the St Clere family in 1290 “for the soul of William de St
Clere”. Signs of earlier inhabitants of the site were incorporated into
the new building – the lower part of the north wall shows traces of
Norman workmanship, which in turn includes fragments of Roman brick.
Some decades later a tower and spire were raised –
but did not last long. Records show that they were destroyed in 1402,
probably by a storm or a fire. (The congregation of the day thought the
destruction was the work of the devil!) The present tower, spire and
nave were rebuilt after this, and the vestry added, and therefore date
from the 15th century. There may have been stained glass in
the windows, but none survives from that time.
No further major work to the church is recorded until
1776 when the existing south aisle was rebuilt. It is not clear why
this was done, but records of the time indicate that the church was “in
great want of reparations”. More than 100 years later, in 1847, a
visiting architect wrote damningly of the decaying and dilapidated state
of the interior of the church, while also recording that some
restoration work was being undertaken.
A much larger restoration took place in 1866-67,
resulting in the church being closed for more than a year. The
well-known architect George Gilbert Scott was employed to undertake the
work, which cost over £3000! Major work was undertaken, including
replacing and remodelling the south aisle (again!), raising the floor of
the chancel and removing an interior false roof. Most of the pews date
from this period, being modelled on the few remaining 15th
century pews at the back of the church. Records show that, during the
extensive work, features of the older building which had been hidden
were rediscovered and restored.
After Gilbert Scott had finished his work, the
renovated and beautified Church of St John Baptist, Danbury, remained
largely unchanged for many decades until May 1941, when a German bomb
fell near the unlucky south wall. Extensive damage was caused to the
south east corner of the church and the roof. The organ and east window
were destroyed. It took until 1952 for permanent repairs to be carried
out.
Early in the 21st century the church was
officially designated a Grade 1 Listed building. Maintaining this major
piece of Danbury’s heritage is a constant challenge, to both the
Christian community to which it is home and to the village. Much time
and hard work has been dedicated to the necessary extensive
fund-raising. Major projects in modern times have included repairs to
the tower (1982), renewal of the church lighting (1996), replacement of
the leaking roof and redecoration of the interior (2003-04), and
refurbishment of the church organ (2005). The people of St Johns, and
of the village of Danbury, will undoubtedly continue to work to meet
future challenges in preserving their much-loved Parish Church.
History
