the domesday book recorded that hagley had a priest. the original wooden church dedicated to saint john the baptist was eventually rebuilt in stone under the de hagley family, of which there are still traces. these include a mediaeval tomb, now incorporated into the north wall; a stone with an incised lion set into the back wall of the lady chapel; and two sandstone angels added to the 19th-century porch. from 1747 dates louis-françois roubiliac’s memorial to lucy lyttleton; there is also an oval immersion font from this period which was discarded after the virtual rebuilding of the church in gothic style by george edmund street in the second half of the nineteenth century. it was then too that a red sandstone tower and spire were added to the building.