Elkstone is an upland village lying in a lonely depression in the hills, and shut off from the rivers Churn and Dunt, by a ridge which rises to the height of over 900 feet. We first came across the Old Rectory, right next to the church of St John. The large old fashioned rectory looks as though it could laugh at the utmost rigours of which a Cotswold winter could be capable. Once safe within its walls let the wind howl in the chimney, and the rain pelt against the window panes as it will; it is but to cast another log upon the fire and to take down another volume from the well-lined shelves.

Next door, the church is remarkable. An example of the church’s earliest masonry is the north wall where there is evidence of a very narrow Norman doorway, now blocked in. What’s called the Corbel Table, which shows the original hight of the eaves before the walls were raised and the perpendicular windows inserted, is a fascinating collection of human faces, stags, and winged horses.

The minute you enter the church you can see where the original tower used to be, between the nave and the Chancel. The absolutely beautiful shallow Norman arches, in so many churches replaced with stronger Gothic arches to support subsequent high towers and spires, here in St Johns remain just as they always were. They remind me clearly of the church at Iffley, a suburb of Oxford city, where a church of this design still has its original tower.
The little stone staircase that used to give access to the tower now leads to a very unusual chamber above the central section of the church. As a result of all the adjustments needed after the original tower came down, a space was created above the vaulting of the Chancel. This space, not being needed for any sacred purpose, was used, highly unusually, as a pigeon loft.