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1. St Mary, Gayton, Northamptonshire, England

Parish church (benefice of Pattishall with Cold Higham and Gayton with Tiffield)
Gayton is a substantial village towards the S of the county, 4 miles SW of Northampton. Gayton stands on a hill with the church and manor house at the NE edge of the village. St Mary's comprises a W tower, an aisled nave with a clerestorey and a square chancel with N and S chapels. The tower is of three storeys; the lowest 12thc. with plain lancets, the next with plate-traceried 13thc. windows and the top storey with flowing bell-openings and a battlemented parapet. The upper part, however, is 19thc. The nave has aisles with three-bay arcades of c.1300. The chancel has a large 14thc. E window. The N chapel has the tomb of Sir Philip de Gayton (d.1316) in the arch to the chancel, and that of his daughter Lady Scholastica de Meaux (d.1354) with effigies of her and her baby against the N wall. The S chapel now houses the organ. The font is the only Romanesque feature.
2. St Mary with St John, Great Brington, Northamptonshire, England

Parish church
St Mary's is famous above all for the Spencer Chapel, 'one of the great storehouses of costly and self-confident monuments of the 16thc., 17thc. and 18thc.' (Pevsner). This is the N chancel chapel, and was added by Sir John Spencer (d.1522) whose tomb is the earliest contained there, and who also rebuilt the chancel. The outer wall of the chapel, with a polygonal apse facing N, was rebuilt by Blore in 1846. The nave is six bays long with N and S aisles and clerestoreys. Both arcades are 14thc., but the N, lower and with plain chamfered arches, is apparently earlier than the S which has hollow chamfers. The west tower is 13thc. with a later battlement. The body of the church is of roughly course stone, and the eastern arm and Spencer Chapel of ashlar. The only feature described here is the Purbeck font, and that is probably 13thc. but included since it relates to a standard 12thc. type.
3. St Michael and All Angels, Great Creaton, Northamptonshire, England

Parish church
St Michaels has a nave with a S aisle, added in 1857, and no clerestorey, chancel with a N organ niche, and a short 14thc. W tower. The S arcade is of three bays and there is no nave doorway on this side. The N doorway, under a porch, is of c.1200 and is the only Romanesque feature of the church.
4. St Nicholas, Great Doddington, Northamptonshire, England

Parish church
St Nicholas' has an aisled nave with clerestoreys, chancel and W tower. The nave arcades, aisle windows (where original) and N and S doorways all date from the early 14thc. The S doorway is protected by a porch. The chancel is of a similar date, but the short and stocky three-storey tower is 12thc. in its lower parts, with a round-headed window in the W wall. The W doorway is a 13thc. insertion, and the diagonal buttresses are also later additions. The tower was re-pointed in 1685, according to an inscription on the S face. The saddleback roof described by Bridges was replaced in 1737. The present rooflines are owed to the restoration of 1871. The only piece of Romanesque sculpture is a scallop capital reset in the jamb of the S nave doorway.
5. St Mary Magdalene, Geddington, Northamptonshire, England

Parish church
Geddington is famous above all for the Eleanor Cross in the centre of the village. St Mary Magdalene lies just to the NE. Its nave is Anglo-Saxon, with arcaded decoration surviving on what was originally an exterior wall in the N aisle. Both faces of a splayed window pierced in this wall in the 12thc. can still be seen. The wall was pierced again for an arcade when an aisle was added in the late 12thc. The arcade is of 2½ bays, and Pevsner suggests that the original intention was to extend the nave to the E, pulling down the Anglo-Saxon E wall, but this was not done. By the time the S aisle was added in the 13thc., any such intention had been abandoned, since its arcade is of three complete pointed bays. The chancel was rebuilt later in the 13thc. and remodelled in the 14thc. This remodelling included the addition of the S chapel, and appears to be dated 1369 by inscription. Stylistically this seems 50 years too late - Pevsner goes into detail on this issue. There is also a N chapel - now housing the organ. The W tower is Perpendicular, with a spire with two rows of lucarnes. The only Romanesque sculpture is in the N arcade, and in loose stones clearly replaced from that arcade during a restoration.
6. St Leonard, Glapthorn, Northamptonshire, England

Chapel of Ease
St Leonard's has a four-bay clerestoreyed nave, the arcades divided into two two-bay sections by a short stretch of wall. In the N arcade all the arches are pointed and the capitals moulded; in the S the E bays are similar, but the W bays have round arches. Nevertheless both arcades are 13thc., but for two features. The base of N pier 3 is a reused, inverted multi-scallop pier capital (or, as Pevsner suggests, a pair of respond capitals), and chevron voussoirs have been cut down for reuse in the E arches of the S arcade. For the rest, the chancel is 13thc. and there is a low W tower, late 13thc. in its lower parts and Perpendicular above.
7. St Helen, Great Oxendon, Northamptonshire, England

Parish church
St Helen's stands alongside the busy A508, the main road from Northampton to Market Harborough, from which a short and extremely steep track provides access, clearly not the original means of approach. Its location, in open fields 0.4 miles N of the present village of Great Oxendon can only be explained by assuming that it also originally served medieval Little Oxendon, now a deserted village 0.5 miles to NW. The small size of these two holdings given in Domesday adds weight to this assumption. The present village of Little Oxendon lies 0.5 miles to the W of the church. The rolling countryside provides a convincing explanation for the abnormal height of a tower built to be seen from both medieval settlements. The church has an aisled nave, chancel and W tower. The nave has no clerestorey and three-bay arcades, the N 14thc. with pointed arches carried on quatrefoil piers with ballflower on the moulded capitals; the S 13thc., similar but with cylindrical piers and no ballflower. The nave doorways are 14thc. and protected by porches, the N porch blocked to form a vestry. The chancel arch is 14thc. too, but largely replaced; the chancel is very plain. At the W end the tower arch is tall and Perpendicular. The tower itself is extremely tall and of four storeys with a battlement. The two lower storeys are buttressed and the upper ones are set back in steps. The W tower window is Perpendicular while the bell-openings have replaced heads. The font is Romanesque, and is the only feature described here.
8. All Saints, Great Addington, Northamptonshire, England

Parish church
All Saints' has an aisled and clerestoreyed nave with 13thc. three-bay arcades, an early-14thc. chancel with a contemporary N chapel, now housing the organ, and a 19thc. N vestry. The W tower is also early 14thc. with a later parapet. Romanesque interest centres on the S porch entrance, an elaborate reset work of the late 12thc. The plain and slightly later N doorway is also included.
9. St Mary, Grafton Regis, Northamptonshire, England

Parish church (benefice of Blisworth and Stoke Bruerne with Grafton Regis and Alderton)
Grafton Regis is in the SE of the county, less than half a mile from the river Tove (Great Ouse) that forms the border with Buckinghamshire. The village extends along minor roads running E from the A508 Northampton to Buckingham road, and the church and manor house are sited at the eastern end of the village, close to the river and the Grand Union Canal. The church comprises: a W tower; a nave with a S doorway in a porch; a N aisle with a 13thc. arcade, and a square-ended chancel with an organ chamber/vestry on the N side. The slightly pointed, chamfered arches of the N arcade, and the more steeply pointed chancel arch, have sawtooth labels. The church was repaired and re-roofed in 1840, and many of the furnishings were replaced in 1889. More restoration was required by the 1970s, and work on the tower, roof and windows was eventually completed in the following decade. The only 12thc. feature is the font.
10. St James, Grafton Underwood, Northamptonshire, England

Parish church
St James's has a nave with three-bay N and S aisles, the N arcade late 12thc., the S c.1200. The chancel and its arch are 13thc. and there is a N chapel. The E end of the chancel is all 14thc., so it may have been extended. At the W end is a 13thc. tower with a recessed Perpendicular spire with two rows of lucarnes. A stained glass window at the E end of the S aisle was dedicated in 1983 to the 384th(H) Bombardment Group of the 8th US Airforce, which was stationed at Grafton Airfield during World War II. The nave arcades are the only Romanesque features.
11. St Andrew, Great Billing, Northamptonshire, England

Parish church
St Andrew's has a clerestoreyed nave with four-bay N and S aisles. Of these, only pier 2 of the N arcade is 12thc., so the original nave was probably only two bays long. This was extended W and E in the later 13thc. or early 14thc., and the lower parts of the tower and the chancel date from this period. A chapel was added to the N of the chancel in 1687. The rest of the chancel was largely rebuilt by E. F. Law in 1867. The tower had a spire that fell in 1759, and the upper parts were rebuilt shortly afterwards, along with parts of the nave damaged by the collapse. The only Romanesque feature is in the N nave arcade.
12. St Mary, Grendon, Northamptonshire, England

Parish church
St Mary's has an aisled and clerestoreyed nave with four-bay arcades. In each arcade the two western bays are 12thc., and the two eastern bays 14thc. The short 12thc. nave seems to have been lengthened eastwards in the 14thc., and the clerestorey was added at that time. There are two doorways: the 12thc. S doorway is elaborate and protected by a porch; the 13thc. N doorway very plain and unprotected. The chancel and its arch are also 14thc. The W tower is 15thc. (money was left for the fabric of the 'campanile' in 1453) and of five storeys, the two lowest with ashlar bocks in alternately brown ironstone and grey limestone courses. Above this the ashlar is newer and appears 19thc. The clock is dated 1862. The nave, aisles and chancel are faced in stone rubble. Romanesque sculpture is found in the W bays of both arcades and the S doorway.
13. St Bartholomew, Greens Norton, Northamptonshire, England

Parish church (benefice of Greens Norton with Bradden and Lichborough)
Greens Norton is a substantial village in the S of the county, a mile NW of Towcester and less than a mile from Watling Street, the main Roman road running NW out of London. The church is in the village centre. It has a W tower with a spire, an aisled nave and a two-bay chancel. The easternmost bay of the nave is separated from the two western bays by heavy piers which appear to represent the end of an aisleless Anglo-Saxon nave. They include long and short work and carry a cross wall with a blocked, triangular-headed window. A continuous hammerbeam roof over the E bay of the nave and the chancel renders the liturgical divisions of the church ambiguous. The only Romanesque feature is the font.
14. St James the Great, Gretton, Northamptonshire, England

Parish church (benefice of Gretton with Rockingham and Cottingham with East Carlton)
Gretton is a village in NW Northamptonshire, on high ground overlooking the river Welland that flows a mile to the W and forms the border with Rutland. It is a substantial village in the Rockingham forest, a royal hunting ground created by William I, but by no means entirely wooded even then. The church is on its northern edge. St James's has a 12thc. nave (one original window visible in each side wall), with aisles added later in the century - the N earlier than the S but not by much. The arcades are two bays long, but the arches to the N and S transepts, dating from the 13thc., add an extra bay at the E, and a narrow W bay with steeply pointed arches connects the nave to the Perpendicular W tower. The clerestorey is a later addition (RCHME suggests that much of it dates from the 1893 restoration). The N doorway is blocked; the S is under a porch. The 14thc. chancel is distinguished by a four-light E window with reticulated tracery, reset at some stage with its sill shortened, so that the lights are distorted. The chancel was raised on four steps in the 18thc. to provide a vault for the Hatton family. The exterior is faced with grey rubble laid in courses, except the tower, which is of ironstone ashlar. Romanesque sculpture is found in the nave arcades.
15. All Saints, Hargrave, Northamptonshire, England

Parish church
The largely 13thc. church has a W tower with a broach spire, an aisled nave of four bays, a N transept and a square-ended chancel. The tower was rebuilt in 1868-70. The only feature described here is the S doorway, protected by a porch.
16. St Andrew, Harlestone, Northamptonshire, England

Parish church
St Andrew's has an aisled nave with clerestoreys, an aisleless chancel and a W tower. The tower may date from the 12thc., although the present windows are 13thc. work. The bulk of the rest of the building is dateable thanks to the estate book of Henry de Bray, who owned the manor (see Pevsner, Forrest). The chancel was built by Magister Ricardus de Het, the vicar, in 1320, and the remainder of the church in 1325, Henry providing the stone and timber. The only later work is the clerestorey of c.1500 and the geometrical E window by Sir G. G. Scott, who restored the church in 1853. The only earlier work is the font, described below. The church is fascinating above all for its decorative features including the reticulated ogee-headed windows, securely dated as noted above.
17. All Saints, Harpole, Northamptonshire, England

Parish church
All Saints' has an aisled and clerestoreyed nave with four-bay arcades of c.1300 and a Perpendicular clerestorey. The S doorway, reset under a porch, is 12thc., but the N doorway is 13thc. The chancel is also 12thc., with an original priest's doorway, although Perpendicular windows were added on the south. The chancel arch is 12thc. but remade with a pointed arch c.1300. On the N of the chancel is a chapel of the late 13thc., now housing the organ, and there is a vestry to the E of this. The W tower is 13thc. except for a later parapet. The tower is of rubble; the remainder of ashlar. Romanesque features are the S nave and chancel doorways, the chancel arch, and an elaborately carved font.
18. St John the Baptist, Harringworth, Northamptonshire, England

Parish church
St John's has a clerestoreyed nave with four-bay aisles. The arcades are early 14thc., and some of the S aisle windows date from the same time. Those in the N aisle are 19thc. replacements. The nave doorways are both of c.1300, but the S doorway has had a Tudor four-centred arch inserted and is under a 13thc. porch, while the N is unprotected. The chancel arch is of c.1300, but the chancel itself is Perpendicular with an east window of five lights. The W tower dates from the end of the 12thc., and the broach spire from the early 14thc. Romanesque features here described are the late 12thc. tower arch and bell-openings, and a fragment of an arcaded font bowl.
19. St Botolph, Helpston, Northamptonshire, England

Parish church
St Botolph's has an aisled, clerestoreyed nave with N and S doorways, the S under a porch; aisleless chancel with a N boiler-room, and a W tower with a spire. The tower, 12thc. in its lower parts, was rebuilt in 1864-65 under the direction of Edward Browning, and at that time Anglo-Saxon foundations were discovered. The S aisle, with its two-bay arcade, was added in the early 13thc., and the N in the mid 13thc. The S doorway, under a 14thc. porch (rebuilt in 1901), belongs stylistically to c.1200, but might be contemporary with the S arcade. The N doorway has been blocked, probably in 1864-65. Around 1300 short bays on corbels were added at the E end of each arcade, and the chancel rebuilt. The chancel windows are dated 1609. At the W end, the aisles flank the tower, but the tower arches to N and S are 19thc. copies of 12thc. work. The tower's lowest storey is square; a chamfer in the 2nd storey produces an octagonal plan, which is maintained for two further storeys. On top is a short stone spire with a single row of lucarnes. Construction is of ashlar except for the chancel, of roughly coursed stone. Romanesque features are the tower arch responds and capitals (the arch is later) and the S doorway.
20. 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.
21. St Peter, Isham, Northamptonshire, England

Parish church
St Peter's has a nave with N and S aisles of three bays. In each arcade the arches of the two W bays, and the westernmost pier and respond are 12thc. (the N stylistically earlier than the S); the eastern arch, pier 1 and the east respond belong to the later 13thc. The remodelling is visible on the outside too, with big ashlar blocks at clerestorey level at the west end and smaller, roughly-shaped blocks to the east. The clerestorey itself is 14thc. The chancel also belongs to the 13thc., and the nave aisles have been extended eastwards alongside it forming chapels; the S screened off as a vestry and the N walled off from the nave aisle. The N and S doorways are both protected by porches. The west tower has one 13thc. lancet, but is otherwise apparently of the early 14thc., with a Perpendicular parapet. 12thc. sculpture is found in the west bays of the arcades.
22. All Saints, Kettering, Northamptonshire, England

Parish church
All Saints, William Street seems an unlikely candidate for inclusion in this database. It was begun in 1926 by E. Turner and E. J. May who designed a red brick and blue tile church in a stripped Early English style. The nave was tall with elegant triple lancets in the aisles, and the chancel elevated with twin lancets in the side walls. An octagonal bell tower on the S side of the chancel resembles nothing more than a factory chimney. Only the chancel, the first two bays of the nave and part of a third bay were built, however, before the money ran out and the nave was closed by a wall at the W end. The original plan was for a five-bay nave with a vestibule at the W. In the wake of Vatican II (1965) the liturgical arrangements were dramatically changed. The nave was separated from the chancel with a pair of extremely ugly corrugated aluminium doors, and an equally unattractive ceiling was inserted halfway up the aisle windows. All the furnishings were stripped out of the nave, producing a square space with no obvious liturgical references. The chancel became a small, detached chapel, reached through the N vestry. Finally in recent years three parallel rooms have been added at the W end, each with its own hipped roof. The walls are of red bricks, not dissimilar to those of the original church but laid in stretcher bond. The roofs, unaccountably, are tiled in red, and the vertical triple gable of the abbreviated original nave and aisles is finished in dark red brick with a large Latin cross picked out in yellow on the central gable. The housing-estate effect is completed by a block-paved car park in front, apparently the preferred option for churches situated in urban residential areas. Uncomfortably placed in the SE corner of the nave is the font from the church of St Denis, Faxton demolished in 1958.
23. All Saints, King's Cliffe, Northamptonshire, England

Parish church
All Saints' is a cruciform church with a 12thc. crossing tower. The tower arches have been replaced; those to east and west in the 13thc., those to north and south in the 15thc. Nave and transepts are 14th-15thc., the nave aisled with four-bay arcades and clerestoreys, all Perpendicular. Both nave doorways are under porches, the north with a datestone of the 1660s. The tower was heightened in the late 13thc., and a broach spire added, with new bell-openings straddling tower and spire. Romanesque sculpture is found in the original bell-openings, the west opening now inside the nave.
24. St John the Baptist, Kingsthorpe, Northamptonshire, England

Parish church
St John's has an early 12thc. nave to which three-bay aisles were added c.1170-80. One of the original nave windows is visible on either side. A clerestorey was added in the 14thc. The nave doorways are both 14thc., the N now leads to a modern octagonal parish room, while the S is under a porch. The chancel is 12thc. too; again one of the original windows is visible on the N, with a two-bay N aisle added at the same time as the nave aisles. It is possible, as Thorneycroft suggests, that there was a similar arrangement of the S side, but if so it is difficult to see why this was entirely rebuilt in the following century whereas the N arcade was simply augmented. At some time in the 13thc. the N aisle was extended by one bay, and a three-bay S aisle added. This is now a chapel, while its counterpart on the N is taken up by the organ and vestry. The chancel was lengthened in the later 14thc., and a crypt added under the extension. The west tower is 14thc. work, and refaced in its upper parts. It has an octagonal ashlar spire with three sets of lucarnes. There was a complete restoration in 1863, by Slater of Carlton Chambers, London. This included the replacement of the chancel arch and east wall, the rebuilding of the nave clerestorey and the N nave arcade, the rebuilding of the NE corner of the tower and west end of the north aisle, and the rebuilding of the south aisle wall on a new line. It was at this time that the original nave and chancel windows were rediscovered. Construction of the church is largely of ashlar. The Romanesque features recorded here are both nave arcades and the chancel N arcade.
25. St Peter and St Paul, King's Sutton, Northamptonshire, England

Parish church
The church has a tall W tower with a slender spire supported by delicate flying buttresses and decorated with pinnacles and crockets. This late 14thc. work, described by Pevsner as 'one of the finest, if not the finest, spire in this county of spires'. It was partly rebuilt in 1898 and repaired in 1968. To the W of the tower is a Perpendicular porch. The nave aisles extend W alongside the tower. The N nave arcade dates from around 1300, and the S arcade has the same tall, spacious proportions, but in this the piers and arches of a 12thc. arcade have been reused. The chancel arch is also c.1300, but the chancel itself is 12thc., with internal wall-arcading, much restored and with arches that are entirely 19thc., and an external corbel table, completely reset. The font is 12thc., simple and unusually wide.
26. All Hallows, Lamport, Northamptonshire, England

Parish church
From the outside, All Hallows appears entirely 18thc. but for the W tower, the lower parts of which are 12thc.; the upper 13thc. with a battlement and a pyramid roof with a spike added on top. Inside, the nave arcade, of three bays, and the tower arch are 13thc. The first addition to the 13thc. church was the Isham chapel, on the N side of the chancel, added by Sir Justinian Isham in 1672 and built by Henry Jones of Walgrave. The rest was rebuilt following a bequest of Sir Justinian (d.1737) by the architect William Smith of Warwick. The work was completed by 1744. Since then a vestry has been added to the S of the chancel to the design of G. G. Bodley (1879). The only 12thc. work is the plain W doorway, a window above it, and a plain window in the second storey of the S tower wall. Only the W window is described; the other work being completely plain.
27. All Saints, Laxton, Northamptonshire, England

Parish church
All Saints owes a great deal to the restoration by Lord Carbery (d.1894). From the exterior it appears to be a 19thc. church, apart from the late 13thc. W tower and broach spire. Inside, the nave has a three-bay 13thc. S arcade and a 19thc. N arcade. The clerestorey consists of a single central dormer window on each side; clearly an idea of Lord Carbery's. The chancel is 19thc. The S nave doorway, under a porch, is also 19thc. work, but contains reused 12thc. material and is described below. There is no N doorway.
28. All Saints, Little Billing, Northamptonshire, England

Parish church
The interior now presents the curious arrangement of a nave and chancel with a N aisle and N chancel chapel (rebuilt by Lewis Lloyd of Overstone in 1849) but no nave arcade. There was previously a wooden arcade on stone bases, which has been removed. The short tower is in the angle between nave and chancel on the N side, and is attributable to the restoration by E. F. Law in 1852-54. The only feature noted here is the font, an important piece on account of its inscription.
29. St Mary the Virgin, Little Harrowden, Northamptonshire, England

Chapel
St Mary's has an aisled and clerestoreyed nave with three-bay arcades. Of these bay 1 of the S arcade is 13thc. and may, according to Pevsner, have been a transept arch originally. The rest of the S arcade and the entire N arcade are either 19thc. in their entirety or heavily restored work of the years around 1300. The clerestorey windows are 14thc. The S aisle has been extended E alongside the chancel to form a chapel, now in use as an organ loft and vestry. The chancel also belongs to c.1300. At the E end the lowest part of a tower remains, including a 14thc. window. The spire had fallen in 1703, and most of the remainder was demolished in 1967. In its place a bellcote was built on top of the west gable. A date stone of 1601 over the S doorway presumably records a restoration. The church is of ironstone and grey stone in roughly-coursed blocks. The only Romanesque feature is the elaborate late 12thc. S doorway.
30. St Mary the Virgin, Little Houghton, Northamptonshire, England

Parish church
St Mary's has a clerestoreyed nave of three bays with 19thc. arcades. In fact, although both arcades appear the same, the N aisle dates from Buckeridge's 1873 restoration, while the S arcade was only restored at that date. The S aisle extends W halfway along the tower, while the N aisle stops at the tower junction. A vestry has recently been added alongside the tower on the N. At the E end of the nave, the aisles extend to form chapels alongside the chancel, the N deeper than the S. Both have arches from the chancel; the N arch 19thc., the S late medieval.
31. St Mary, Maidwell, Northamptonshire, England

Parish church
St Mary's has an aisleless nave with plain 12thc. N and S doorways, both under porches but the N porch blocked off and converted into a vestry. The chancel is entirely 19thc. (by St Aubyn, 1891), with big niches to N and S. The N niche contains the 1634 tomb of Katherine Lady Gorges (d.1633); the N contains the organ. The west tower is 13thc. and unbuttressed but has shafts at the angles. Its bell-openings date from 1705. The church is faced with grey rubble except for the chancel, of regularly coursed brown sandstone.
32. 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.
33. All Saints, Mears Ashby, Northamptonshire, England

Parish church
All Saints' has an aisled and clerestoreyed nave of four bays with arcades and S aisle windows of c.1300 but Perpendicular windows in the clerestorey and the N aisle. The chancel has a plain 12thc. doorway, and there is another, more elaborate but not much, re-set in the S nave aisle under a Perpendicular porch. A N vestry has been added to the chancel. At the W is a low tower with a bell stage of c.1250-1300. Construction is of irregular stone (aisles and tower) or ashlar (clerestorey and chancel). Included here are the S doorway and the font.
34. St Mary the Virgin, Moreton Pinkney, Northamptonshire, England

Parish church
St Mary's is a church of nave, chancel and W tower. The nave is aisled with three-bay arcades, the N late 12thc., the S 13thc. The roof has been heightened and there is a late medieval clerestorey. The chancel arch is 13thc. as is the chancel stylistically, but it was entirely rebuilt by Sir Henry Dryden in 1846. The tower is of three storeys, 13thc. except for the battlement. The N and S nave doorways are both under porches; the N doorway being contemporary with the N arcade and the N porch dated 1649. Construction is of stone rubble except for the clerestorey and the rebuilt chancel, both of ashlar. Romanesque features are the N doorway, N arcade and font.
35. St Peter and St Paul, Moulton, Northamptonshire, England

Parish church
The church has a complex building history, each phase of which has left traces in the fabric. The earliest discernable form is of an aisleless 12thc. nave (see the round-headed window scar in the N arcade wall above bay 2). The N wall was pierced for this four-bay arcade towards the end of the century, and a N aisle added. The arcade has round-headed, unchamfered arches and quatrefoil piers, but the lower parts of two of the piers are of a different form; one cylindrical and the other octagonal. Pevsner considers this to be a later encasing, designed to alter the arcade design but not completed. The alternative is that the more solid pier forms represent an earlier state of the arcade, but on balance Pevsner's explanation seems more likely, especially in view of the octagonal pier forms of the S arcade. This dates from after 1298, when a good deal of work was carried out (see VII History).
36. St Mary the Virgin and All Saints, Nassington, Northamptonshire, England

Parish church
It is evident that the nave is Anglo-Saxon, since it has a blocked triangular-headed window high in its W wall. A tower was added by the late 12thc. (to which the tower arch belongs), and the reset N doorway dates from the same period. Aisles were added to the nave with four-bay arcades dating from the late 13thc. The aisles have been extended W alongside the tower, incorporating fragments of 13thc. dogtooth, and these spaces are now used as vestries.
37. St James, Newbottle, Northamptonshire, England

Parish church
St James's is of stone rubble, and has an aisled nave with four-bay arcades, the S c.1300, the N a little later. The nave doorways are late medieval, the S under a porch. The chancel is early 13thc. and retains its lancets and piscina, although the E window is 19thc. The W tower is short and unbuttressed, of the late 12thc. but its bell-openings are 14thc. The only Romanesque features are the tower arch capitals and the font.
38. Holy Sepulchre, Northampton, Northamptonshire, England

Parish church
The core of the church is the original circular nave, now called the Round, with an annular aisle and an arcade supported on eight columns with early Romanesque capitals of various designs. The aisle wall retains one original respond with its capital. The columns now support chamfered pointed arches carrying an octagonal clerestorey wall pierced by square-headed double lights. This upper section belongs to a rebuilding of c.1375. To the E of the Round and reached by steps was originally the Romanesque unaisled chancel, terminating in an apse, and this remains as the nave and chancel of the present church. A two-bay N aisle was added to it c.1200. A second N aisle was added later, and in the 14thc. a S aisle was added. As it stands, therefore, the church has four parallel naves, terminating at their E ends with (from N to S) a vestry, the Chapel of St Thomas, the chancel with an apse, and the Chapel of St George, but it will be seen that much of the fabric is 19thc. At the W end, the original W doorway was demolished and a tower with a spire added in the 14thc. By the 17thc. only the Round was in regular use, and the rest of the church fell into disrepair. The choir and the outer N aisle were demolished. In 1851 the tower was struck by lightning, and in that year George Gilbert Scott was engaged to carry out a thorough restoration of the entire church. He rebuilt what had been lost, including the outer N aisle and the chancel with its flanking chapels, and the church was reopened in 1864. The vestry at the end of the N outer aisle was added in 1887. The Romanesque sculpture falls into two groups. The main arcade piers and their capitals belong to the original fabric of c.1110, as does the single remaining aisle wall vault respond. To these must be attached a small tympanum now set inside the aisle wall, and the corbels of the original chancel (now visible high on the inner walls of the S and inner N aisles). The N doorway of the Round is of c.1170-80.
39. St Giles, Northampton, Northamptonshire, England

Parish church
The church of St Giles is a large cruciform building with a crossing tower. The tower is 12thc. in its lower parts and has crossing arches to E and W only. To the N and S are plain walls now; the arches were blocked after the upper part of the tower collapsed in 1613. Rebuilding was from 1616, and included the E bays of the N nave arcade and the clerestorey as well as the tower. The aisled and clerestoreyed nave has arcades of five bays, the three E bays originally 14thc. (and still 14thc. on the S), the two western ones added in 1853-55, when the 12thc. W doorway was reset. The nave aisles extend E alongside the tower, replacing the 12thc. transepts. On the N side of the nave an extra aisle, a bay shorter than the main aisles, was added in the 19thc. The present chapel contains 13thc. lancets in the N and S walls, and is offset slightly to the N from the line of the nave and crossing. It has N and S chapels, both 14thc. The 1853-55 work is by E. F. Law, following a report of 1840 by G. G. Scott. The N transept now contains lavatories and a crèche. Romanesque work is found in the two arches of the crossing and the reset W doorway. The crossing arches were unblocked in 1853-55 and rebuilt on the basis of the remains of the E arch, but the present author has identified no 12thc. work in either arch. They are described below on the assumption that they are a fair copy of at least part of what was there before.
40. Orton, Northamptonshire, England

Originally a chapelry, now owned by the Orton Trust
All Saints was a chapel of Rothwell until 1964, when it became redundant by 1966. It now houses the Orton Trust, founded in 1968 to teach traditional stonemasonry techniques. The nave is 12thc., with a blocked window remaining in the S wall. This now has an aisle of three bays with a 14thc. arcade. There is a 14thc. clerestorey on the S side, but not on the N where the nave is lighted by two tall windows, apparently 19thc. but with Y-tracery. The chancel is 19thc. work, but the plain chancel arch is 12thc. The unbuttressed W tower of three stepped storeys has a plain 13thc. lancet on the S wall and early-14thc. bell-openings. It was extensively restored and the chancel rebuilt in 1887. There is a 12thc. font decorated with human and animal heads.
41. Holy Cross, Pattishall, Northamptonshire, England

Parish church
The church has a W tower (rebuilt 1663), an Anglo-Saxon nave with 13thc. N and S aisles (clerestorey over N arcade only), and a square-ended chancel with a 12thc. chancel arch. There is a vestry at the E end of the N aisle. A plain 12thc. doorway in the N aisle must be reset.
42. St James the Apostle, Paulerspury, Northamptonshire, England

Parish church
Paulerspury comprises a W tower, and an aisled and clerestoreyed nave with N and S porches and an Early English chancel with a two-bay chapel on its N side. Apart from the tower it was largely rebuilt in the 1840s.
43. St Pega, Peakirk, Northamptonshire, England

Parish church
St Pega's has a clerestoreyed nave with N and S aisles and W bell-cote, and a chancel with N chapel and vestry which together extend the N aisle to the E wall as the chancel. The nave is tall and narrow, with long-and-short quoins at the SW angle which suggest an 11thc. date. The N arcade dates from the 12thc., and the S arcade from the 13thc. The N chapel arch and the chancel arch are later 12thc, the latter perhaps in its lower parts only. The exterior is faced with ashlar blocks; regular in the S aisle, irregular elsewhere. Romanesque features are the nave doorways, the S elaborate and protected by a 14thc. porch, the N plain and unprotected; the N nave arcade, chancel arch and N chapel arch; the W bell-cote, and a loose capital now in the N aisle.
44. St James, Pilton, Northamptonshire, England

Parish church
The church has a clerestoreyed nave with N and S aisles; the S arcade13thc., the N apparently a modern copy. The chancel dates from 1862-64. The W tower dates from the end of the 13thc., with Y-traceried bell-openings and a broach spire with two rows of lucarnes. It was restored in 1896. The reset S nave doorway, now under a 13thc. porch, is the only 12thc. feature.
45. All Saints, Pitsford, Northamptonshire, England

Parish church
All Saints has an aisled nave with five-bay arcades, a chancel and a W tower. All of this is by Slater and Carpenter, dating from 1867-68, except the N nave aisle and the W tower, which are early 14thc. The only 12thc. feature is the important S doorway, with its figural tympanum. This is set under a 19thc. porch.
46. All Saints, Polebrook, Northamptonshire, England

Parish church
The church comprises an aisled nave, having a tower with a stone spire on its SW bay, N and S transepts and a square-ended chancel. Romanesque sculpture is found on the S doorway, the arches to the chancel and the N transept, the N nave arcade, and a length of string course and a corbel reused as a water spout on the N porch.
47. St Nicholas, Potterspury, Northamptonshire, England

Parish church
Potterspury church comprises a square, mid-15thc. W tower, a nave with N and S aisles and a square chancel. The three-bay nave arcades are largely 14thc., but the N arcade includes a circular pier with a scallop capital. A piscina and sedilia uncovered on the S side of the chancel in 1991 includes 13thc. waterleaf capitals sprouting crockets, cusped arches and dogtooth. This is too late for inclusion, but the N nave arcade, of the later 12thc., is described below. The church was restored in 1847-48 to designs by R. C. Hussey.
48. St Peter and St Paul, Preston Deanery, Northamptonshire, England

Parish church
This small church is now looked after by the Churches Conservation Trust (formerly Redundant Churches Fund), and a cowshed has been built at the W end. It has a 12thc. W tower with a central pilaster-buttress on each face, a single nave, and a square-ended chancel. The chancel arch is Romanesque, and its extended W imposts are carved with figural motifs.
49. All Saints, Pytchley, Northamptonshire, England

Parish church (benefice of Isham with Pytchley)
Pytchley is a village in central Northamptonshire, 2 miles S of Kettering in undulating farmland. The village clusters round a crossing of minor roads with the church in the centre. All Saints' has a four-bay aisled nave with clerestoreys. The S arcade is all of the late 13thc., with pointed arches, quatrefoil piers and foliage capitals. The first two bays of the N arcade are similar in date, but bays 3 and 4 are 12thc. The N aisle has been widened, and has a small chapel or deep niche in its N wall. The 13thc. S doorway is under a porch. The chancel is broad and appears mostly 19thc., but the date 1755 inscribed on a buttress at the SE corner suggests that the E end is an earlier rebuild. There is a blocked 13thc. door in the N wall and 14thc. sedilia. The W tower was originally of three storeys, and of the late-12thc.-13thc. It was unbuttressed and of rubble with ironstone quoins. A clasping buttress was added at the SW angle, and iron clamps have been installed around the lower parts. The top storey had triple bell-openings, but these were blocked and a Perpendicular ashlar storey was added, with double bell-openings and a parapet with finials. The church was extensively restored in 1843 (chancel arch and E wall of the N aisle rebuilt) and 1861 (chancel renewed). The only Romanesque sculpture is in the N nave arcade.
50. St Lawrence, Radstone, Northamptonshire, England

Parish church
St Lawrence's has a 12thc. W tower and nave to which a tall, hall-church-like S aisle has been added. The arcade is apparently 14thc., and its two E capitals are carved with elaborate naturalistic foliage. There are N and S nave doorways, the latter under a porch. The chancel is early 13thc. to judge from the priest's doorway, although the chancel arch is later.
51. St Mary, Roade, Northamptonshire, England

Parish church
St Mary's has a chancel with a S vestry, a central tower and a nave with a 19thc. N aisle and no clerestorey and a S doorway under a porch. The N nave doorway now communicates with a church hall, added in 1972 to replace the old church institute, dating from 1886, which had fallen into disrepair. The original aisleless nave and chancel are mid-12thc. work, to judge from the small round-headed lancets in the chancel and the S nave doorway, with beakhead decoration. The tower, a substantial structure of stone rubble, is presumably contemporary, but the pointed lancets and the spacious triple arcading on the N and S walls suggest a remodelling around 1200, while the transomed, trefoil-headed double bell-openings of the upper storey must date from the 15thc. The nave roof collapsed in 1660, and in 1669 it was re-roofed and new windows put in the S wall. At the same time one of the tower arches was bricked up, and only a small door provided to give access between nave and chancel. In 1822 the chancel was still walled off from the nave, and was in use as a Sunday School. The partition was eventually taken down in 1840. Meanwhile the nave was repaired in 1822, when the floor level was raised and a gallery was added at the W end. The N aisle was added in 1850. The tower was restored in 1856, and the chancel in 1857 by E. F. Law, including re-roofing with the present high-pitched roof. The nave roof was raised to match the chancel roof in 1864. The S vestry was added in 1879. A major restoration of the tower took place in 1949-50, and in 1950 the interior of the church was restored. A further restoration of the exterior took place in 1981. Features described here are the S nave doorway and the tower arcading.
52. Holy Trinity, Rothwell, Northamptonshire, England

Parish church (benefice of Rothwell with Orton and Rushton with Glendon and Pipewell)
Rothwell is a small town towards the N of the county, 3 miles W of Kettering on the A14, where it crosses the A6 to Market Harborough and Leicester. The church is in the centre of town, and is the longest in the county at 173 feet. Its building history is a complex one and can only be sketched here. The Norman church was cruciform, and the size of the crossing piers indicates that there was once a central tower. The nave is now of four bays, with early 13thc. arcades which have been heightened, possibly when the aisles were widened. The W tower arch, of c.1280-1300, suggests that this was done before that date. The W tower itself is earlier, c.1170-80 in its lower parts, and this includes the arch of the W doorway, re-set on early 13thc. embrasures. The tower was raised by a storey, and a spire added but this fell in 1660, taking with it (according to Bridges) six bays of the church. The tower is now capped by a low pyramid roof with a spike. The Norman chancel wall survives on the S, with a corbel table marking the original height and three round-headed windows below it. Four-bay chapels were added on either side, perhaps in the 13thc., but the two easternmost S chapels have been removed. Further chapels have been removed from the S walls of the S transept, and of the remaining S chapels. The church was lengthened eastwards in the 15thc., and at the same time a clerestorey added to the nave and transept. Construction is of ironstone. The church was extensively restored at the expense of the parish between 1900 and 1906.
53. St Peter and St Paul, Scaldwell, Northamptonshire, England

Parish church
The church has an aisled nave with a clerestorey on the S side only, chancel and W tower. The nave arcades are of two bays and date from c.1300. The N aisle has been widened and extended W ward alongside the tower, probably in the 19thc. The N aisle doorway has been blocked; the S is 19thc. and protected by a porch. The chancel has chapels to N and S, the N chapel two bays long with an arcade of c.1300; the S of a single bay which now houses the organ. The W tower is of three unbuttressed storeys; the lower storeys 12thc. with plain round-headed lancets in the S and W walls, the top storey bell-openings all with replaced heads and probably 13thc. A parapet has been added, perhaps in the 18thc. The church was extensively restored by William Slater and Gillet in 1863, and further repairs were carried out by E. A. Roberts and P. J. Panter of Wellingborough in 1961-66. Romanesque features described here are the plain tower arch and the font.
54. St Andrew, Spratton, Northamptonshire, England

Parish church
St Andrew's has an aisled and clerestoreyed nave with four-bay arcades; the N of the late 12thc., the S 13thc. with pointed arches and moulded capitals. The N and S doorways are 12thc., the N doorway under a porch. The aisle windows are renewed in an early 14thc. style. At the E end of the nave, above the chancel arch, is a large blocked window, apparently 14thc. The chancel has 14thc. sedilia. On the N side of the chancel, and separated from it by a two-bay arcade, is a chapel added by John Chambre between 1495 and 1505, now housing the organ and a vestry. This extends the N nave aisle as far as the E end of the chancel, but is screened from it. There is a 12thc. W tower with a contemporary tower arch. It is of three storeys; the lowest containing an elaborate W doorway and a blind arcade on the W face only, the next decorated with blind arcading, and the topmost with double bell-openings flanked by blind arches and a corbel table at the top. The belfry-stage lancets are Scott's replacements of Decorated windows (see Parker). It has a later recessed spire behind a battlemented parapet. The church was restored by Scott before 1849.
55. St Michael, Stowe Nine Churches (Church Stowe), Northamptonshire, England

Parish church
Stowe Nine Churches is made up of Church Stowe and Upper Stowe (formerly Great and Little Stowe). St Michael's has a nave, chancel and W tower. There are aisles extending from the W wall of the tower to the E wall of the chancel. Inside, this curious arrangement resolves to nave aisles with three-bay arcades and two-bay chancel chapels on either side. All the arcading appears to be 19thc. In the chancel, the N chapel contains a Purbeck tomb, reputedly of Sir Gerard de l'Isle (d.1287), and the S the tomb of Lady Elizabeth Carey (d.1630), with an effigy made by Nicholas Stone ten years earlier. A vestry has been added to the N chancel chapel. In the nave there are N and S doorways, the S under a porch, the N blocked and overgrown. Battlements have been added to the nave, but no clerestorey. The original nave has the tall proportions of the 11thc., and the tower arch is certainly of this period or earlier. The tower has part of an Anglo-Saxon cross shaft built into an exterior angle, and more pieces are inside the church. Also in the tower is a small round-headed W window, splayed towards the exterior. Unfortunately it is covered with render and the stonework cannot be seen, although it has been examined in the past (Taylor and Taylor). It has no buttresses and has been considerably heightened, with a late-medieval bell-storey and a battlement. The core of this too is Anglo-Saxon. The rest of the church is faced with coursed stones. There was a restoration c.1860 described as 'very drastic' (Taylor and Taylor, 96). Features here described are the 12thc. doorway reset in the N aisle and the chancel arch.
56. All Saints, Sutton Bassett, Northamptonshire, England

Parish church
All Saints' is a small two-cell aisleless church with a double bell-cote in the W gable. The nave has a 12thc. S doorway, much restored, and there is a small plain 12thc. window in the N wall of the chancel. The chancel arch responds and capitals are early 12thc., but the arch has been replaced with a pointed head. The interior, including the sculpture, is coated with a thick layer of whitewash. The church was restored in 1861, and the chancel E wall, the nave N wall and the chancel arch completely rebuilt.
57. St Michael and All Angels, Sutton, Northamptonshire, England

Parish church
St Michael's has an early 12thc. nave with a 13thc. bell-cote on the W gable. A S aisle with a two-bay arcade was added at the end of the 12thc., and the nave was heightened and a clerestorey added in the 15thc. The chancel arch is a fine piece by the Castor workshop. To the S of the chancel is a large 13thc. chapel converted to house the organ, and vestry. Construction is of coursed irregular blocks of Barnack limestone. The chancel and S aisle were restored in 1865-68. In addition to the chancel arch the church has a set of 12thc. corbels set high in the S wall of the nave, a small doorway reset in the S aisle wall, and inside a recumbent lion, perhaps from an elaborate doorway.
58. St James, Syresham, Northamptonshire, England

Parish church
St James's has a four-bay aisled nave with a clerestorey of tiny quatrefoil windows and arcades with pointed, chamfered arches, octagonal piers and moulded capitals of c.1450. Unusually the S nave doorway is at the W end of the S aisle, under a W-facing porch. The chancel arch is on corbels, and these appear to be contemporary with the arcades, but the label may be a reused 12thc. piece (see VIII Comments/Opinions). The chancel has a N chapel, now a vestry, but the glazed arch to it from the chancel is modern, as is the vestry door itself. At the W end is a short 13thc. tower with a slate-tiled broach spire. Construction is of grey stone rubble with a band of ironstone in the tower. The font is Romanesque.
59. St Peter and St Paul, Sywell, Northamptonshire, England

Parish church
The church has a nave with a three-bay S aisle extending W a further bay alongside the tower and a clerestorey on the S only, a N transept, and a S doorway under a porch. The ashlar chancel, taller than the nave and with a steeply pitched roof, was rebuilt in 1862. The W tower, dated to the late 13thc. by Pevsner, appears earlier to the present author, and its windows are included in this report. The tower has been certainly rebuilt, as it has a tall plinth course, W-facing buttresses and a 19thc. W stair-turret. The aisle and porch and the N transept chapel too are 19thc. work, largely faced in brick-sized blocks of red ashlar. Inside, it is apparent that the tower arches were dramatically modified when the S aisle was rebuilt by J. Manden in 1870. 12thc. material is present, but the arrangement is extremely quirky. The tower now has arches to the nave and the extended S aisle. The S wall of the tower is pierced by a 19thc. arch, supported by a half-column respond at the W and a cylindrical pier at the E. All of this is 19thc. work, but the E pier has a reused foliage capital of c.1200. Immediately to the E of this pier is another similar, which forms the last pier of the 19thc. S arcade. The E tower arch is also unusual. Its N respond is a semi-quatrefoil with a moulded capital, both 13thc., and on the S it is supported by a quatrefoil pier with a similar capital, the pier positioned alongside the double-pier at the E of the S arch. The SE angle of the tower is thus supported by three piers. A further complication is introduced by the wave profile of the E arch soffit; a motif which belongs neither to the 13thc. nor the 19thc. Described here are the S tower arch and the tower windows.
60. St Mary, Tansor, Northamptonshire, England

Parish church
St Mary's has an aisled nave with a clerestorey. The nave is more or less rectangular in plan, but the arcades to N and S are differently treated. On the S are five uneven bays; the two western bays round-headed and the remainder pointed. The N arcade piers are more regularly spaced, i.e they are entirely out of step with those on the S. In the N there are three round-headed bays at the W end, then two full-sized pointed bays and a short pointed bay, leading to a vestry and partly blocked with a later doorway inserted. These different arrangements bring the two arcades to roughly the same point, and here the aisleless chancel starts, although there is no masonry chancel arch. The liturgical arrangements have been altered at some time, and a chancel step built right across the nave at S pier 1, which is part-way along the first full-sized bay on the north. This bay now houses the organ, and the liturgical changes have brought it into the chancel. The chancel is short and square-ended, substantially 13thc., although on its E wall are the remains of an earlier round-headed window. The W tower arch is 12thc., but a pointed arch has been inserted to reduce its size. The tower itself has a tall lower storey of rubble with plain 12thc. windows, and to which a 13thc. storey has been added. There are N and S nave doorways, both under 19thc. porches. Romanesque work is found in the nave arcades, the tower arch, the N nave doorway and a piscina set in the S nave aisle. The church was restored by Ewan Christian in 1885-87 (N and S porches, N aisle wall), and by H. F. Traylen and F. J. Lenton in 1933-35 (tower).
61. St James the Great, Thurning, Northamptonshire, England

Parish church
The church comprises a two-bay aisled nave with a Victorian bell turret on the W gable and a high, two-bay chancel. The nave, largely 13thc. in date, has been truncated and heavily restored. The chancel arch is Norman and the font may date from c.1200.
62. St Mary, Tichmarsh, Northamptonshire, England

Parish church
From the outside St Mary's has all the appearance of a classic Perpendicular church: faced in ashlar with a W tower with mullioned and transomed windows, quatrefoil friezes and crocketed finials; a clerestoreyed nave with great four-centred windows to aisle and main vessel; similar fenestration to the chancel, and battlements throughout. Thomas Gryndall bequeathed money towards the building of the tower in 1474. Within, however, the nave arcades are seen to be 13thc. and the chancel has a N chapel of similar date with a 19thc. vestry leading off it. The chancel S doorway is an unobtrusive 13thc. opening, quite plain on the outside, but remodelled within to accommodate an arch of reused chevron voussoirs. This is the only Romanesque feature of the church.
63. St John the Baptist, Tiffield, Northamptonshire, England

Parish church
St John's is a simple stone and rubble church with an aisled nave with three-bay arcades, square-ended chancel and an unbuttressed W tower, all to a small scale. Despite its simplicity the tower is early 14thc., and of the rest only the 13thc., N arcade is original, the S aisle and its arcade dating from E. F. Law's restoration of 1859, and the remainder due to H. C. Vernon (1873). It retains a 12thc. font, carved with foliage but unfortunately positioned hard against a pier.
64. St Lawrence, Towcester, Northamptonshire, England

Parish church
St Lawrence's is a large ironstone church with a tall W tower, a clerestoreyed and aisled nave with four-bay arcades, and a chancel with N and S chapels and a N vestry. The S chapel contains the tomb of William Sponne (d.1448); the N now houses the organ. None of this is earlier than the 13thc. (the chapel arcades); the tower is Perpendicular and the windows 14thc.-15thc. Earlier material has been reused, however. Two elaborately-carved 12thc. shafts have been incorporated into the (largely 19thc.) chancel arch; three of the capitals of the nave arcades are recycled 12thc. pieces; and several chevron voussoirs have been incorporated into the masonry above the arcade in the S aisle.
65. 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.
66. St Michael and All Angels, Wadenhoe, Northamptonshire, England

Parish church
St Michael's has a 12thc. W tower of three storeys and a gable, with blind arcading on the N side and much-remodelled bell-openings. The N bell-opening is a 14thc. replacement. The tower also has small plain 12thc. windows in the second storey (W and S faces) and the third (S face), not described in detail. The nave has three-bay N and S aisles with 13thc. arcades, the S later than the N, and 16thc. clerestoreys. The chancel is 13thc., with a S vestry. The exterior is faced with stone rubble. Of interest is the font, certainly 13thc. since it is carved with dogtooth and floral motifs and thus not described in detail here (though illustrated). The sparse disposition of motifs on the bowl and their depth of relief indicate a prodigious volume in wasted stone. Romanesque features are confined to the bell-openings and arcading of the tower.
67. 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.
68. 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.
69. St Mary the Virgin, Wappenham, Northamptonshire, England

Parish church
St Mary's has a three-bay aisled nave with no clerestorey. The N arcade is round-headed and 13thc.; the S, with pointed arches and octagonal piers, 14-15thc. N and S nave doorways are under porches. The chancel is broad with windows of c.1300, but its arch is early 13thc. with an unusual mix of stiff-leaf and moulded capitals. The W tower is tall, slender and Perpendicular. Construction is of stone rubble, part-rendered. Pevsner considers the old font to be a Norman piece and it is therefore included. The operational font is certainly later, dated by Pevsner to the 1660s.
70. St Edmund, Warkton, Northamptonshire, England

Parish church
St Edmund's has an aisled and clerestoreyed nave with two-bay arcades. The tall 15thc. W tower has clasping buttresses and a battlemented parapet. Both nave aisles were extended to the W alongside the tower in 1996-97, to provide offices and a kitchen, and the S aisle was also extended at the E end around the same time, for a vestry. The N aisle had already been extended to the E before 1709 for a Montagu family vault. The nave arcades are 12thc. and very plain, but the pier capitals may be 13thc. Bridges (1791) described a church with a 13thc. chancel and chancel arch, but by the time his work was published it had been overtaken by events. In 1748, John, 2nd Duke of Montagu, replaced the chancel with the present broad Palladian structure, dominated on the exterior by the great E window and on the interior by four enormous Montagu tombs, two of them by L. F. Roubiliac. The chancel was almost separated from the nave by a wall blocking the 13thc. chancel arch, leaving only a small entrance arch. At the same time, most of the windows in the church were replaced, and box pews were added together with a W gallery. The church was restored from 1867-74 when a vestry was added at the E end of the S aisle, and the pews and the old gallery removed (the present gallery dates from 1978). The chancel arch was opened up, and the 13thc. arch rediscovered. It was in such a poor state of repair, however, that it was decided to replace it with the present copy. Duke John's Palladian windows were replaced in a late Perpendicular style, except for the great E window. The chancel was restored in 1981. The 13thc. font was discovered at that time in a field nearby. The only elements considered here are the nave arcades.
71. St Mary the Blessed Virgin, Warmington, Northamptonshire, England

Parish church
St Mary's has an aisled and clerestoreyed nave, the arcades of five bays and now on very tall piers; octagonal on the N side and cylindrical on the S. The piers and the pointed arches date from well into the 13thc., but most of the capitals are reused 12thc. pieces. The remodelling of the arcade is contemporary with the aisle windows, which are also slightly earlier on the S. Both nave doorways are 13thc. and set under 13thc. vaulted porches, but the S is larger and more elaborately carved. The chancel has a Perpendicular S chapel, now used for the organ. The W tower is of three storeys with a broach spire, and largely belongs to the second half of the13thc. Construction is of coursed stone rubble, with ashlar for the top storey of the tower, the spire and the S chapel. The church was restored by Sir George Gilbert Scott in 1875-76. 12thc. sculpture is found in the nave arcade capitals and possibly also in reset corbels high on the interior aisle walls.
72. St Peter and St Paul, Weedon Bec, Northamptonshire, England

Parish church
The only medieval part still standing is the W tower. To the E of this, the nave dates from 1825 and the chancel from 1863 (E. F. Law). The curious arrangement of the nave, with wide aisles carried on timber piers flanking a low barrel-vaulted central vessel, is attributed to the 1860s by Pevsner. An octagonal parish room, known as the Chapter House, was added to the north side of the nave in 1989. The unbuttressed stone rubble tower has three 12thc. storeys and a later battlement. Original features are the plain, narrow lancets of the second storey, the bell-openings, and the rebuilt tower arch.
73. St Mary and St Peter, Weedon Lois, Northamptonshire, England

Parish church
Originally a cruciform church, which still has its central tower and transepts. Herringbone masonry is visible on the lower part of the tower (the upper storey is early 14thc.) and the W wall of the nave. Three-bay aisles have been added to the nave, the S arcade of c.1300, the N a copy of 1849. The crossing has been remodelled, perhaps in the 14thc., and both transepts extended eastwards to form chancel chapels. On the N side the transept now houses the organ and the chapel is now a vestry. The only 12thc. sculpture to survive is the font.
74. St Mary the Virgin, Weekley, Northamptonshire, England

Parish church (benefice of Geddington with Weekley)
Weekley is a small village in the N of the county, just outside the conurbation of Kettering on the NE, and within the ancient forest of Rockingham. It stands on the W bank of the river Ise, overlooking its valley. The church is just outside the village on the N side, and there is a moated site at the SE edge of the village. St Mary's has an aisled and clerestoreyed nave with three-bay Perpendicular arcades; the aisles extending eastwards to form chapels alongside the chancel. The S doorway is of c.1200 and protected by a 19thc. porch. The chancel has one 13thc. lancet, but the chancel arch and the E end were rebuilt by Blomfield in 1873. The S chapel contains the organ now, but the north houses the grand tomb of Sir Edward Montagu (d.1601) and his wife Elizabeth (d.1618) with effigies of both under a canopy, as well as other Montague memorials. In the E wall of this chapel a 12thc. carved stone has been set. At the W end, the tower is 14thc., with a short spire behind the battlement.
75. All Hallows, Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, England

Parish church
All Hallows is a large church of ironstone and grey ashlar with an aisled and clerestoreyed nave, a 14thc. chancel with Perpendicular N and S chapels (the N now housing the organ), and a W tower with a broach spire. The c.1300 nave arcades are of four bays and there is a small S chapel off the east bay of the S aisle. Both nave doorways are under 14tc. two-storey porches. The N chancel chapel has a three-bay arcade towards the chancel, and there is a vestry to the E of it. The S chancel chapel is longer with a four-bay arcade, and an altar at its E end. The tower is of c.1250-1300 with a W doorway of that time. Its upper section and spire are of grey ashlar; the lower section banded with ironstone.
76. St Martin, Welton, Northamptonshire, England

Parish church (benefice of Daventry, Ashby St Ledgers, Braunston, Catesby, Hellidon, Staverton and Welton)
Welton is an extensive village in the W of the county, a mile N of Daventry. It stands on rising ground in the angle between two branches of the Grand Union canal, in hilly pasture land. The village is locally known as the maze, from the labyrinthine street-plan based on a figure-of-eight. The church stands in the centre of this, and the manor site at the southern edge. The nave is Perpendicular, with tall, four-bay arcades, no clerestorey and nave and aisles sharing a single roof. A clerestorey would not anyway be needed, as the big panelled aisle windows provide plenty of light. The line of an earlier nave roof is visible on the tower. The S doorway has a porch, the N does not. The chancel is also perpendicular, with a N vestry in the angle between nave and chancel. The W tower is earlier, dating from the beginning of the 14thc. Inside the nave is a re-set human head corbel which may be 12thc.
77. St John the Baptist, Werrington, Northamptonshire, England

Parish church
Nave and aisles with three-bay, 13thc. arcades and no clerestorey. There is no W tower, but a double bell-cote between nave and chancel. The chancel is aisleless with a 13thc. N chapel, now in use as a vestry. The nave has N and S doorways, the N giving access to a 2001 lavatory block at the W end of the N aisle; the S a reset 12thc. doorway under a medieval porch bearing the dates 1668 and 1892, which refer to restorations. There was a collapse at the NW corner of the nave, and this area, including the W bay of the N arcade, is a copy of the original dating from 1680 (date stone in W wall). A further restoration of the chancel was carried out in 1901-02. Construction is of thickly-mortared rough ashlar blocks with bands of more regular ashlar. Romanesque features described here are the chancel arch, S doorway and bell-cote.
78. St Peter, Weston Favell, Northamptonshire, England

Parish church
St Peter's has a nave with a three bay N aisle and no clerestorey. The N arcade is 19thc., but the N doorway, reset under a porch, is 12thc. The chancel has stepped 13thc. lancets, but also a 12thc. priest's doorway. On the N is a chapel and a vestry by A.A.J.Marshman of 1969-71, much admired by Pevsner. The unbuttressed W tower is 12thc. in its lower parts, with a plain, blocked W doorway in very crude masonry. It rises four storeys, and the topmost has 13thc. bell-openings and a 13thc. corbel table. Above this is a low pyramid roof. The tower arch is plain and late 12thc. The 12-13thc. work is of stone rubble, the vestry of coursed stone blocks, everything else of coursed stone alternating with rubble. Features recorded here are the W tower doorway, N nave doorway and S chancel doorway.
79. All Saints, West Haddon, Northamptonshire, England

Parish church (benefice of West Haddon with Winwick and Ravensthorpe)
West Haddon is a village in W central Northamptonshire, 10 miles NW of Northampton on the road to Rugby (the A428). The village was a medieval market town in the Domesday hundred of Alwardsley and clusters around a crossroads on high ground in the hilly landscape, with the church at its centre and the hall site to the S. The nave is tall, with a big Perpendicular clerestorey and aisles with three-bay 13thc. arcades. There are doorways to N and S, the latter 13thc., under an 18thc. porch. The chancel has a 13thc. piscina and a small 13thc. lancet in the S wall, but the E end is Perpendicular. There is a vestry on the N side. The W tower dates from the 14thc. and had a spire which was taken down in 1648. All Saints' contains an important 12thc. font with figure scenes.
80. St Mary, Whittlebury, Northamptonshire, England

Parish church (benefice of Silverstone and Abthorpe with Slapton and Whittlebury and Paulerspury). Formerly a dependent chapel of Green's Norton.
Whittlebury is a village in the S of the county, a mile from the Buckinghamshire border on the A413 road from Buckingham to Towcester. A large part of the medieval parish was occupied by Whittlewood Forest, where assarting was recorded as early as the 13thc. and probably took place before that. Remains of the forest are mostly to the S and E, forming a ring of discrete woods and copses. The settlement itself was centred on the area of the church, at the N end of the modern village, where finds by the Whittlewood Project indicate Iron Age habitation. The church consists of a 12thc.-13thc. W tower, an aisled nave with no clerestorey, offset from the line of the tower and a square-ended chancel, largely of 1878. Pevsner describes the church as "restored beyond redemption", but it retains some Romanesque features. A datestone suggests that the N aisle was rebuilt in 1638. The church was repaired and refurnished in 1832, and a vestry was added in 1850. The entire church was restored in 1878. The tower arch is included here, although it may be 13thc., and a sawtooth stringcourse above it. The N nave arcade includes a waterleaf capital.
81. St John the Evangelist, Wicken, Northamptonshire, England

Parish church
The square W tower of Wicken church was erected by Robert, Lord Spencer in 1617, but the remainder of the medieval building was taken down in 1753, after it was found to be unsafe. The cost of rebuilding was met by Thomas Prowse, described as the designer of the church on a tablet in the N aisle. It was completed by 1770, and comprises a nave with aisles of equal height, N and S transepts and a square chancel. The church was restored in 1838, and again by Matthew Holding in 1896-97. In the latter restoration the chancel was lengthened to the E, the S transept was added, and a boiler-room built at the W end of the N aisle. The 12thc. font may be the sole relic of an earlier structure on the site.
82. All Saints, Wilbarston, Northamptonshire, England

Parish church (benefice of Stoke Albany with Wilbarston and Ashley with Weston-by-Welland and Sutton Bassett)
Wilbarston is in the NW of the county, within the ancient forest of Rockingham, and 2 miles from the river Welland that forms the border with Leicestershire. The village stands on a hill, separated from its neighbour, Stoke Albany, only by a stream. The Jurassic Way; a long-distance walkway along the limestone ridge between Stamford and Banbury, passes through the village, and the church is on the N edge of the village. All Saints' has an aisled and clerestoreyed nave with arcades of three bays. The N arcade is carried on cylindrical piers with 12thc. half-column responds at the E and W ends, but the pier capitals are 13thc. moulded work, and the arches must date from c.1300. The S arcade is also much modified. Bay 1, perhaps a transept arch originally, is round-headed and substantially 12thc., while the arches of bays 2 and 3 are 13thc. and pointed. All the capitals are moulded, and the piers cylindrical, except that shafts have been added on the E side of pier 1 to match the arch profile (see below). The S nave doorway is 13thc., under a 19thc. porch, and the N doorway is blocked. The chancel contains a 12thc. priest's doorway. The W tower is late 13thc., short and unbuttressed with a broach spire with two tiers of lucarnes. The church is built of yellow stone throughout. The nave was restored in 1884. Romanesque sculpture is found in the two nave arcades and the S chancel doorway.
83. All Saints, Wittering, Northamptonshire, England

Parish church
All Saints' has a nave with two-bay N aisle, a chancel with a N chapel (RAF chapel) and a N vestry off this, and a W tower with a broach spire. The form of the original church is seen in the long and short quoins at the E end of the chancel, and in the massive chancel arch. This is normally assumed to be Anglo-Saxon (eg by Pevsner) but may postdate the Conquest by a decade or so (see VIII below). The N aisle was added in the mid-12thc., the tower dates from the late 13thc., and the chapel to the early 14thc.. Construction is of Barnack limestone, irregularly cut and coursed. Features reported here are the chancel arch, N arcade and font.
84. St Mary the Virgin, Woodford, Northamptonshire, England

Parish church
St Mary's has a clerestoreyed nave with N and S aisles. The arrangement of the arcades is rather complex. There are six bays on the N and five on the S. The two east bays of each arcade correspond. The next pier W of each arcade is a short section of wall with responds to E and W and transverse arches across nave and aisles. W of this there are four bays in the N arcade but only three in the S, although the arcades are of equal length. This is because the S arcade has pointed arches throughout, and the N round arches. Of this ensemble, the earliest work is in the W section of the N arcade, say c.1190-1210. The two E bays of both arcades date from a decade later; pier 1 of each arcade is cylindrical with a moulded capital and the arches on the N are round, but on the S the round arches have been replaced by pointed ones with an unusual double hollow profile. This modification probably belongs to the later 13thc., and from this period too dates the entire west section of the S arcade. The E part of the present nave was, of course, the chancel originally, with chapels to N and S now integrated into the nave aisles. A new chancel was built to the E in the 13thc., but the present chancel is largely of 1866-67, and by James Fowler of Louth. The remainder of the church was restored in the same period, by William Slater of Northampton. The S nave doorway is covered by a porch, which also incorporates a tiny 13thc. chapel, once vaulted, open to the S aisle. The W tower dates from c.1250, and has a 14thc. ashlar broach spire.
85. St Mary, Woodnewton, Northamptonshire, England

Chapel
St Mary's is a cruciform church to which a three-bay south nave aisle, with an arch to the transept, was added in the early 13thc. The nave has a 15thc.-16thc. clerestorey on the S wall only. The N transept now houses the organ, and its arch is 13thc. and pointed, but the transept itself is a modern rebuild. The S transept arch is late 12thc. and round-headed. The chancel belongs to the early 13thc. too, but its S doorway is, stylistically at least, late 12thc., and is included here. The W tower was rebuilt in the 16thc., and its arch is of reused material. The south nave doorway is 13thc., under a porch bearing a date stone of 1662. There is no N doorway. Construction is of stone rubble, much disturbed. Features described here are the S transept arch and the S chancel doorway.
86. St Mary the Virgin, Woodford Halse, Northamptonshire, England

Parish church
St Mary's is an ashlar church with aisled and clerestoreyed nave, Wtower and chancel with N vestry. The nave doorways date fromc.1300; that on the S has a porch, but on the N the doorway now gives access from the church to a small kitchen and lavatory block added in 1999. The tower has diagonal buttresses and reticulated bell-openings indicating an early 14thc. date, and the chancel belongs to the same period. The N nave arcade is generally early 13thc., but one of its capitals is either a reused 12thc. piece or very old-fashioned indeed. The S arcade is 14-15thc. There was a restoration in 1877-78 by Albert Hartshorne of Pinner, when the church was rebuilt except for most of the chancel, the nave arcades, and most of the nave S wall. The rogue capital in the N arcade is all that is described here.
87. St Andrew, Yardley Hastings, Northamptonshire, England

Parish church
St Andrew's has a four-bay aisled and clerestoreyed nave with arcades ofc.1300, the N stylistically later than the S. At the W end the tower is entered by a small 13thc. doorway rather than an arch. The chancel and its arch are 14thc. Construction is of irregular grey stone blocks. The W tower is of three storeys, containing features of the 12thc. but rebuilt. Signs of the rebuilding are most obvious on the W face, which has a central flat buttress extending halfway up the first storey. The wall to the S of this is built in three steps divided by string courses above a plinth course; to the N the wall is not articulated. The tower has 12thc. windows and bell-openings, described below, a string course, and a row of corbels well below the present upper parapet.