It is possible that the building dates to the 12th century. The font certainly appears to date to that era. There are 15th-century carved parclose screens and some remaining 15th-century glass. There is a double-decker pulpit and several bits of surviving medieval and post-Reformation wall paintings.
The interior furnishings are attractive and of a good standard, with funerary monuments from medieval to Victorian, several examples of medieval carving, and Jacobean pews of limed oak.
St John's is not in regular use and is in the hands of the Churches Conservation Trust. Nicklaus Pevsner, who must be accounted to know a thing or two about historic architecture, called St Peter's "the most rewarding church in the East Riding".