Church of St John the Baptist, Frome

Church of St John the Baptist, Frome
St John the Baptist, Frome
Denomination	Church of England
Churchmanship	Broad Church
Website	www.sjfrome.co.uk
History
Dedication	St John the Baptist
Architecture
Heritage designation	Grade II* listed building
Administration
Parish	Frome
Archdeaconry	Wells
Diocese	Bath and Wells
Province	Canterbury
Clergy
Vicar(s)	Revd Colin Alsbury

Coordinates: 51°13′47″N 02°19′14″W / 51.22972°N 2.32056°W / 51.22972; -2.32056

The Church of St John the Baptist, Frome is a parish church in the Church of England located at Frome within the English county of Somerset. It is a Grade II* listed building.

The first church on the site was built by Aldhelm in the late 7th century. Major building work was undertaken in the 12th, 13th and 14th centuries with little remaining of the Norman and Saxon structures. In 1852 the controversial priest William James Early Bennett was appointed as the vicar and undertook major changes both in the organisation of the parish and the fabric of the church.

The restoration by C. E. Giles included stained glass by Charles Eamer Kempe and statuary by James Forsyth. The entrance to the church passes a holy well and stone-sculptured Via Crucis (Way of the Cross) depicting seven scenes from the Stations of the Cross. It is unique in the Anglican church in England.

The parish church of St John the Baptist, with its tower and spire, was built between the late 12th century and early 15th century replacing a Saxon building that had stood since 685 AD. The first church had been established when Aldhelm obtained a grant from Pope Sergius I to establish a foundation of mission priests to spread the faith in Selwood Forest. By the second half of the 11th century the church was under the control of Regenbald. Nothing remains of the original church apart from some fragments of masonry. The fabric of the current church was built in the 12th, 13th and 14th centuries but largely rebuilt in the 19th.