St John the Baptist's Church, Chester

St John the Baptist's Church, Chester
St John the Baptist's Church, Chester, from the northeast
St John the Baptist's Church, Chester Location in Cheshire
Coordinates: 53°11′20″N 2°53′08″W / 53.1890°N 2.8856°W / 53.1890; -2.8856
OS grid reference	SJ 409,661
Location	Chester, Cheshire
Country	England
Denomination	Anglican
Website	Parish of Chester
History
Dedication	John the Baptist
Architecture
Status	Parish church
Functional status	Active
Heritage designation	Grade I
Designated	28 July 1955
Architect(s)	R. C. Hussey, John Douglas
Architectural type	Church
Style	Norman, Gothic, Gothic Revival
Completed	1886
Specifications
Materials	Sandstone
Administration
Parish	Chester, St Peter with St John
Deanery	Chester
Archdeaconry	Chester
Diocese	Chester
Province	York
Clergy
Rector	Fr. David Chesters OBE
Assistant priest(s)	Revd. Canon Tony Boyd
Laity
Reader(s)	Keith Allen
Organist(s)	Jeremy Jones
Churchwarden(s)	Blair Wilson, David Rogers
Parish administrator	Rachel Barlow

St John the Baptist's Church is in Vicar's Lane, Chester, Cheshire, England. It lies outside the city walls on a cliff above the north bank of the River Dee. The church is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade I listed building. It is an active Anglican parish church in the diocese of Chester, the archdeaconry of Chester and the deanery of Chester. Its benefice is combined with that of St Peter, Chester.Alec Clifton-Taylor includes it in his list of 'best' English parish churches, and it is considered to be the best example of 11th–12th century church architecture in Cheshire.

The church was reputedly founded by King Aethelred in 689. In 973, the Anglo Saxon Chronicle records that, after his coronation at Bath, King Edgar of England, came to Chester where he held his court in a palace in a place now known as Edgar’s field near the old Dee bridge in Handbridge. Taking the helm of a barge, he was rowed the short distance up the River Dee from Edgar’s field to St John the Baptist's Church by six (the monk Henry Bradshaw records he was rowed by eight kings) tributary kings.

During the 11th century, Earl Leofric was a "great benefactor" of the church. In 1075 Peter, Bishop of Lichfield moved the seat of his see to Chester, making St John's his cathedral until he died in 1085. Peter's successor moved his seat to Coventry, and St John's became a co-cathedral. The building of the church continued on a large scale until the end of the 13th century and continued as a collegiate church of secular canons. Owain Glyndŵr and others made their depositions at the Court of Chivalry inquiry into the Scrope v Grosvenor controversy held here on 3September 1386. After the Dissolution, much of the east end of the church was demolished and some of it remains as ruins to the east of the present church. Since the Dissolution, it has been a parish church. Parish registers began in 1559, and in 1581 the parishioners obtained a grant of fabric from Queen Elizabeth I to restore the nave as a parish church. In 1645 Chester was besieged by Parliamentary forces who used the church as a garrison.