Photographs of the Church of
St John the Baptist, Little Maplestead

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St John the Baptist, Little Maplestead is one of the four or five circular churches existing in England. It originally belonged to the Knights Hospitallers of St John of Jerusalem. The earliest part of the current building dates from 1335, and was extensively restored in the Victorian era. The west end, the Nave, forms a circle 80 feet in diameter and has a peristyle consisting of eight clustered columns, supporting pointed arches. The whole building is 70 feet long and the chancel has a semicircular apse.
The limestone font is probably Norman and predates the Church. It was originally a square bowl and had angles cut away to form an octagon in the 16th century.