St John the Baptist is an ancient parish and has had a somewhat complex history.
The boundaries of the ancient parish were slightly different to those of today.
An ancient church, which was probably built around the middle of the 12th
century stood about a third of a mile north of Newport
Arch, on a gentle rise near what is now Bishop Grosseteste College. Traces of its foundations have been found on both sides of the road there. The
parish in the middle ages was largely barren heath-land, and any settlement in
it would have been farms and scattered dwellings. From 1304, the parish was
without its own vicar, but the vicar of the adjacent parish of Dunham
(Dunholme) was responsible for providing a chaplain to officiate at St John’s. The church was demolished in 1545, when it was ordered that “St John’s Church in Newport, now decayed, shall be taken down, the lead, stones,
utensils, plate, jewels, ornaments and bells to be sold for the use of the
common chamber.”
