St John the Baptist's Church, Harrietsham

St John the Baptist's church
Location within Kent
Coordinates: 51°14′43″N 0°41′05″E / 51.24541°N 0.684828°E / 51.24541; 0.684828
Location	Harrietsham, Kent
Country	England
Denomination	Anglican
Architecture
Status	Parish church
Functional status	Active
Heritage designation	Grade I
Designated	26 April 1968
Administration
Deanery	North Downs
Archdeaconry	Maidstone
Diocese	Canterbury
Province	Canterbury

St John the Baptist's Church is a parish church in Marley Road, Harrietsham, Kent dedicated to John the Baptist. It was begun in the late 11th century or in the 12th century and works continued to the 15th century. The church is a Grade I listed building.

Construction of the church was begun in the late 11th century or in the 12th century and continued in phases until the 15th century. The church is constructed mostly of local rag-stone and has plain tiled roofs.

The late 15th-century west tower comprises three stages with diagonal buttresses on the external corners and a taller attached stair turret on the south-east corner. String courses separate each stage and a battlemented parapet forms the top of the walls on each side and the top of the stair tower. The west side contains a three-lighted traceried window in the first stage positioned above the small west door. The second stage contains small lancet windows on the three outward-facing façades and the third stage contains two-lighted belfry windows on each side.

The 14th-century nave is flanked on each side by aisles added in the 15th century. The external walls of both the aisles are rag-stone and flint with pieces of tufa. Both aisles feature a moulded string course below a battlemented parapet with corner gargoyles. Each aisle contains two 15th-century three-lighted arched windows in the long side and a window in the west end, each with hood moulds. Towards the west end of the south aisle is the south porch with three-centred arched internal and external doorways and a crown post roof. On the east corner of the south aisle is a polygonal rood stair turret with a battlemented top.