|
|
- 1. St Botolph, Barton Seagrave, Northamptonshire, England
-
-
Parish church St Botolph's consisted originally of nave and chancel with a central tower, all of the early 12thc. Original nave windows, now blocked, are visible on the N and S walls inside. To this nave was added a 13thc. S aisle, two bays long, and this was rebuilt by Carpenter and Ingelow in 1878 as a second nave with a second, broad chancel to the E. The original nave received a clerestorey of trefoil lights in spherical triangles, probably c.1300. The central tower retains its narrow E and W arches, with important carved capitals, but the space beneath it has been converted into a vestry and organ loft, with the original chancel serving as a small chapel. Inside this is splendid wall arcading with naturalistic foliage capitals of c.1300. When visited, the second nave and chancel to the S had been arranged for a concert, with the stage in the chancel and auditorium occupying both the original nave and the new one. The plain font may be 12thc. On the exterior, some herringbone masonry is visible in the N walls of the tower and chancel. Early 12thc. sculpture survives on the N nave doorway, with its figural tympanum, and the elaborate windows on the N wall of the tower, nave and chancel. The 12thc. tower itself is of three storeys, undivided by string courses; the bell-openings are of the early 14thc., and the parapet still later.
- 2. St Kyneburgha, Castor, Northamptonshire, England
-
-
Parish church St Kyneburgha's is described by Pevsner as the most important Norman parish church in the county (i.e. Huntingdonshire). An aisleless cruciform church was built in the early 12thc. and dedicated in 1124. In the 1220s a S aisle was added and the chancel replaced; in the 1260s the S transept was replaced by a large chapel with an E aisle; and early in the 14thc. a N aisle was added. A broach spire was added to the tower around 1350, and the nave clerestoreys were inserted in the mid-15thc. The tower is of ashlar, the rest of the church of stone rubble.
- 3. Holy Trinity, Hinton-in-the-Hedges, Northamptonshire, England
-
-
Parish church The nave has areas of herringbone masonry in its W wall to either side of the tower, which suggests a date before c.1100. The tower itself is 12thc., unbuttressed and of rubble. Apart from the 12thc. features described here it has a plain round-headed window in the W wall, ground storey. A two-bay N aisle was added to the nave towards the end of the 12thc. The chancel is basically 13thc. but much restored. It has a N vestry. There was a major restoration by S. I. Neuman in 1976-90, but certainly a 19thc. one before that. Features included here are the tower bell-openings and corbels, the tower arch the N arcade, and a font that must be 13thc. but retains some 12thc. features.
- 4. St Peter, Maxey, Northamptonshire, England
-
-
Parish church St Peter's has an early 12thc. nave and W tower. Aisles were added to the nave in the mid (N arcade) to late (S arcade) 12thc. The original clerestorey is still visible in the aisles, but the roof was raised and new windows installed in the 14thc. The top storey of the tower is 15thc. The chancel and its arch date from the 13thc., and there is a large N chapel, added in 1367. Attached to the S of the chancel is a 13thc. treasury. The church is faced with irregular ashlar blocks. Described here are the corbels, bell-openings and arcading of the tower, the tower arch and the nave arcades.
- 5. St Peter, Northampton, Northamptonshire, England
-
-
Parish church St Peter's is the finest 12thc. church in the county, and its capital sculpture is one of the highlights of the Romanesque in England. There is no structural division between nave and chancel, and the exterior treatment is uniform throughout the length of the building except for the low W tower. Nave and chancel are aisled and decorated externally at clerestorey level with blind arcading and a corbel table. Within there is no chancel arch; the division between nave and chancel being marked by a low step and the position of the choirstalls. The chancel arcades are of three bays, and both aisles are now used as vestries. In both nave and chancel the clerestorey windows are fairly regularly spaced, but their spacing is greater than a bay but less than two, so their positions vary in relation to the piers. The chancel has no provision for vaulting or roof support whereas in the nave every second pier has a respond on the nave side, running up the wall to a capital at the top, and a transverse arch respond on the aisle side. The nave aisle arches are gone now, but arch springings are sometimes visible. Intermediate piers are cylindrical. The nave arcades are five bays long (two and a half double bays), and the beginning of another bay at the W end of either arcade indicates that the nave was originally longer. It was shortened from six bays in the 17thc. when the W tower was rebuilt approximately 3m E of its original position. There are N and S nave doorways, the N under a porch.
- 6. St Nicholas, Twywell, Northamptonshire, England
-
-
Parish church St Nicholas' was an early 12thc. cruciform church without aisles. The N transept has been removed, but its arch is visible inside and out. The S transept was overbuilt by a S aisle, but the arch remains as bay 1 of the S arcade, including its E respond and capital. The remainder of the S arcade is 13thc. A 14thc. clerestorey was added on both sides of the nave. The N nave doorway remains from the early 12thc. campaign; the more elaborate reset S doorway could be slightly later. Plain 12thc. windows survive in the chancel N wall, the nave N wall, the W tower W wall, and reset in the S aisle W wall. The chancel can thus be dated to the 12thc. too, although its S windows indicate a remodelling c.1300. It has a S chapel now housing the organ and vestry. Finally the 12thc. W tower is of three storeys with much-altered bell-openings and a corbel table. A parapet with quatrefoil frieze and battlements was added in the 15-16thc. there was a spire which collapsed in 1699.
- 7. St John the Baptist, Wakerley, Northamptonshire, England
-
-
Parish church St John's has a clerestoreyed nave with N and S aisles or chapels, just two bays long and situated at the E end, in what Pevsner calls a transeptal position. The arcades are 14thc.-15thc., and they have been pierced through 12thc. walls; on the S side a 12thc. window can be seen above the arcade pier. The chancel arch is now pointed, its arch decorated with chevron, but presumably it was originally round. The figural and foliage capitals are important sculptures by the Castor workshop. There are 12thc. blind arches to either side of the chancel arch, probably, according to Pevsner, originally reredoses for side altars. The chancel has been rebuilt, perhaps in the 15thc. At the west, the tower is 14thc. in its lower parts and 15thc. above, with a crocketed spire rising behind a battlemented parapet. Romanesque sculpture is found on the chancel arch; in the corbels now in the S aisle and more re-set outside in the E wall of the S aisle; and in sections of string course set in the interior of the S aisle and the exterior E walls of both aisles.
- 8. St Mary, Wansford, Northamptonshire, England
-
-
Chapel of ease St Mary's has a nave with a two-bay N aisle without any windows and a S doorway under a porch. The square-ended chancel has a N vestry and organ chamber, and there is a W tower with a broach spire with two tiers of lucarnes. An 11thc. window in the W wall of the nave indicates an early date for the core building. The S doorway dates from the early 13thc., and the N arcade and tower are slightly later. The S porch is dated 1663, and at that date too the S nave wall was rebuilt. The clerestoreys to N and S were presumably added at that time too. At some point, probably in the 15thc., the chancel fell down, and the E nave wall was rebuilt without a chancel. Until the new chancel was built in 1902 on the old foundations, St Mary's was claimed to be the smallest parish church in England. Construction is of stone rubble and ashlar. The church boasts an exceptional font of the 1120s, which is the only feature described here.
|