So DIVINE I wanted to move in.

No building has made me believe that there just might be a God as much as this one.

Let me deliver to you a tiny package SO magical that you never need read fantasy fiction again, I have no doubt that it has great stories to tell.

Name: St John The Baptist

Where: Inglesham, Wiltshire (walkable from Lechlade-on-Thames, Gloucs)

I first discovered this church at age 14, miserable and causing trouble along the Thames path & canal with fellow country-bred, bored teenagers.

Little did they know that whilst hanging about in my Stan Smiths I was already fixated on this isolated lime-washed structure built, as we see it today, in 1205.

Ive been driving past a sign for the church on the main road from Lechlade to Highworth for weeks, I decided to nip in the car the other day to see if its door was open for a half hour gander.

Turning off the main rd I headed down a single track with just a glimpse of what could be a church roof.

I was struck at just how isolated the building is, with just a farm and a large house adjacent to it, it stands near to Inglesham Lock on flat unspoiled land.

I noticed firstly and examined a clever twist in the iron handle on the entrance door, a simple yet sympathetic design, no doubt an Arts & Crafts addition.

With the Daphne Dog at my feet, I was surprised that the door opened, going down steps I see a notice board with paperwork from the 'Churches Conservation Trust' (CCT), my suspense for years at what might be inside I suspect may be rewarded terrifically.

I walked in with my mouth hanging open and began a running-commentry to myself (the norm when my eyes are excited), it started something like this.....'WOW', followed by...... 'WOW'.

The box pews hit me first, light oak, very unusual for Cotswold churches, and other counties come to think of it. The oak is so light in colour that it appears limed, most churches have the very austere, dark, rich, red-blushed oak varnish favoured firstly by the late medievals and Tudors, right through to the Victorians who made it more austere than ever before.

Taking a closer look at the pews I spot original gorgeous hinges that resemble sort of abstract wings.

I coulldnt believe the surviving wall paintings, the discovery of these was never ending, they are painted sections of almost every wall. My favourite artwork is at the altar, a stripey design in oxide red resembling old French linen has been applied from the floor to dado height, above it remnants of big, bold medieval calligraphy that you only ever stumble accross in history books, see above. The wall paintings are a collection spanning 600 yrs I've learned, amazing.

I opened up a small oak chest to be nosey and I found an old poster by the CCT. Reading it I discovered that William Morris was responsible for the church retaining its phoenominal original interior. Morris lived at Kelmscott, just 10 miles away from Inglesham so it made sense that he too stumbled accross this gem, probably like me he took an inquisitive stroll one afternoon seeking more inspiration. He campaigned to save it from unsympathetic alterations during major restoration carried out in 1888-89.

Thank goodness for William Morris.