Tag Archives: The Church of St John the Baptist

The Church of St John the Baptist Stanton Suffolk

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Nine and half miles north east of Bury St Edmunds on the A143 on its way to Great Yarmouth lies the village of Stanton with its two churches, All Saints which is located in the village centre and our destination, if we can find it, The Church of St John the Baptist.

I am not very optimistic, I spent years traveling past Stanton in an other life time and did not know of its existence, it is not visible from the A143 and the sat nav takes you right into the village rather than left where St John the Baptist Church sits but fortunately we found ourselves on Old Barningham Road where you can see the tower beyond the trees.

The Church of St John the Baptist is under the care of The Churches Conservation Trust

“This evocative, partially ruined flint church has a bold tower and fabulous fourteenth-century windows. The churchyard is an oasis of trees in unhedged farmland and the floor of the roofless nave and chancel is carpeted with grass. An idyllic spot to stumble across.”

As described on the web site of: The Churches Conservation Trust

Although no longer in use now for obvious reasons it still holds a spiritual quality and perhaps any prayers said in the churches roofless nave have a direct route to Heaven!

Keyston

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The Church of St John the Baptist Keyston is a challenge,

  1. Getting there without setting tyre rubber on the A14.
  2. Taking a photograph that does the building justice.

Keyston lies on the very westerly edge of the county of Cambridgeshire or Huntingdonshire, if your preference is for the historic rather than the modern and are prepared to defy the 1974  Local Government edict.

It sits to the east of the town of Thrapston in Northamptonshire, which boasts connections with George Washington’s family, the first president of the United States of America  and west of Huntingdon the birth place of Oliver Cromwell.  In the North lies the village of Titchmarsh with all its associations  with the poet John Dryden and is with easy reach if you are prepared take your life in your hands and cross the A14 which carries its traffic incessantly between Felixstowe, the Midlands and beyond.

Our visit to Keyston in Huntingdonshire is purely of a metaphysical inspiration as John Donne, lawyer, renowned preacher, poet and soon to be become Dean of St Pauls Cathedral was awarded the living of Keyston  in the early part of 1616.  He held this post until 1621  when he resigned it shortly before he was appointed Dean of St Pauls.

The Church of St John the Baptist Keyston

The Church of St John the Baptist, Keyston, Huntingdonshire

“Thou hast set up many candlesticks, and kindled many lamps in me; but I have either blown them out, or carried them to guide me in forbidden ways.”

John Donne