The village of Ruyton-XI-Towns acquired its name in the 12thc, when the castle was built and it became the centre of a group of eleven manors. It is in the N of the county, 7 miles SE of Oswestry and 9 miles NW of Shrewsbury. The church is on a raised site,, dominating the centre of the village, with the ruins of the castle at the W end. St John's consists of a 12thc chancel extended E c.1300, with a N vestry added in the mid-19thc; a 12thc nave with a 14thc N aisle and a S porch, and a 15thc W tower. The N aisle was rebuilt in 1845; the chancel wasrestored in 1862 and the rest of the church in 1868. Romanesque features recorded here are the nave and chancel S doorways.

The 2 manors of "Udeford" and Ruyton were held by Leofnoth in 1066 and by Odo from Roger, Earl of Shrewsbury in 1086. The two manors were assessed at 1½ hides and there was woodland for 40 pigs and 5 fisheries. The church was built as a chapelry of Baschurch in about 1140. It became an independent parish in 1230.

The segmented arch of the S doorway tympanum is reminiscent of the tympana at St Mary's in Shrewsbury and at Lilleshall. The List Description compares the chancel doorway with that at Knockin.