Externally, the Church of St John the Baptist is grey and drab, its plain, pebble-dashed walls and its blue slate roof, conveying a Victorian impression. Yet this is a Norman church, perhaps even Saxon in plan. It existed in 1090, as verified by a document witnessed by it’s then priest, Ulfus, at the Hospital of St John in Pontefract.

Joseph Hunter, In Volume I, "The History and Topography of the Deanery of Doncaster", published in 1828, writes:

"The Church of Adwick is the purest specimen remaining in this deanery of the original village church. It has no tower, no side aisles, but simply a nave and a chancel, with a little shed in which two bells are hung. The simplicity of the structure and the narrow lancet-shaped windows show it to be the original fabric erected in the time of Swein".