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I Location

II General Description

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.

III Exterior Features

1. Doorways

(i) N nave doorway

Round-headed, two orders with tympanum.

First order. Plain square jambs supporting a tympanum made up of eight irregular panels in two registers with thick mortar courses between them. The lower register has three panels, joggled like a lintel. In the centre is an elongated human head with broad brow tapering to a long narrow chin. The outline and features are indicated by roughly incised grooves; the eyes are almond-shaped with grooves above for eyebrows, the nose triangular and the mouth small, closed and smiling slightly. To left and right of this are long, roughly rectangular panels, each carved with most of a passant lion. The lions are affronted to either side of the human head, but the L lion grips a human head in its long jaws. Each beast is curtailed at the rear, so that on the left the back leg is missing altogether and on the right only the paw remains. In each case too, the tail curves down and over the back; the mane is indicated by a double row of incised loops; the mouth is open and the ears are pointed.

The upper register is of five panels. The two to the left show a pair of affronted goats. The first, a small, triangular panel, shows only the head (facing slightly downwards), with long horns and beard, and a long neck. The second is a tall trapezium, showing a similar goat rearing up above its companion, its head raised slightly and a foreleg waving towards it like an arm This goat has ears as well as horns and a fine reeded beard. The three remaining panels are chip-carved: the first and largest, in the middle of the upper register, is rectangular with a three by three design of saltires in squares; the next with a design of octofoils in squares, two units by two and a half; the last small and triangular with the saltire-in-square design again.

Second order. Short en-delit nook-shafts on inverted cushion bases with projecting shields. The bases are raised on a high plinth course. The E capital is of the volute type, with its volute broken, and a single scallop-shell high on each face. It has a cable necking and quirked hollow-chamfered impost. The W is also a volute capital, but with a crude human face mask on each face. The faces have pointed chins, bulging, almond-shaped eyes and straight mouths. The necking is broken but no carving is visible on its surface, and the impost design is the same as on the E jamb. The arch has an angle rolland face hollow, and outside this another low step with a thin angle roll, an order of uncarved voussoirs, and a label resting on the ends of the long impost blocks, with a row of cable towards the intrados and a row of saltires in squares on the face.

Dimensions

2. Windows

(i) Chancel, N window.

Two orders, round-headed.

First order. Plain, continuous and chamfered.

Second order. En-delit nook-shafts on tall attic bases. Block capitals with roll neckings and abaci. The capitals are similar and decorated with leaves in relief. Each leaf is outlined by a heavy roll, and has a single central roll for a spine. There are five on each capital; a single pointed leaf on the angle, and a pair with their tips turned away from each other on each face. The imposts are hollow chamfered with quirks above and below the chamfer. The arch has an angle roll and face hollow, then a slight step with an angle roll towards the intrados.

(ii) Tower, N window.

Two orders, round-headed.

First order. Plain and continuous.

Second order. En-delit nook-shafts on bulbous bases. Corinthianesque volute capitals with a row of fluted leaves below the volutes and plain roll neckings. Imposts are chamfered with a row of saltires in squares on the chamfer. Arch as window (i), second order.

(iii) Tower, W window.

Round-headed.

The W face is visible inside the church, above the W tower arch. It is plain, continuous, blocked and probably rebuilt.

(iv) Nave, N window

Two orders, round-headed, blocked and curtailed below capital level.

First order: Plain, continuous and chamfered.

Second order: The arch is the same as windows (i) and (ii). The E jamb is replaced, with a square-section jamb supporting a 19thc. chamfered impost with incised zigzag on the chamfer. All that remains of the original W jamb are the capital and impost, like those of window (ii).

(v) Nave, S window.

Round headed.

The upper parts of both faces are visible inside the church on either face of the S arcade. The exterior is plain and continuous with an angle roll; the interior unmoulded.

IV Interior Features

1. Arches

b. Tower/Transept arches

(i) Tower arch

Central tower, W arch

Round-headed, two orders to W only.

First order: Plain and square with an unmoulded, square-section arch. The impost is quirked hollow chamfered with a row of cable below the chamfer and a thin roll above it.

Second order. Coursed nook-shafts on inverted cushion bases with volute capitals. The N capital has its volutes emerging from a vertical stem in low relief rising up the centre of each face. The S has the volutes on each face linked by a loop of stem with a central stem rising vertically above it. Both capitals have plain roll neckings and imposts continuous with those of the first order. The arch has an angle roll and face hollow, then outside it a low step with a thin angle roll and a hollow-chamfered label with two rows of billet on the chamfer.

Central tower, E arch.

Round-headed, two orders to W only. Identical to the W arch except that the imposts have a plain roll below the hollow chamfer, rather than cable, the capital designs are different, and the arch is more heavily restored. The N capital is a Corinthianesque volute capital, like those of the tower N window (III.2.(ii)), except that figural sculpture is introduced between the volutes at the top of each face. On the W face is a pair of small human faces, side by side, and on the S face the front part of a dog-like beast in left profile. The S capital is decorated with birds in relief. A pair of large affronted birds have their bodies diagonally across the two faces and their beaks meeting at the top angle to form a pseudo-volute. Behind the bird on the W face, the front part of a smaller bird enters fro the S edge of the capital with its beak immediately behind the main bird's head. On the N face of the capital is a smaller bird behind the main bird, its body also diagonal but positioned upside down. None of these birds has open wings, the wing feathers are indicated by parallel reeding. The N embrasure is more heavily restored than the S. Most of the imposts on the N are replacement blocks, and the Second order base is a replacement.

V Furnishings

1. Fonts

(i)

At W end of nave. The bowl is a conical tub, with the tall upper rim chamfered to the vertical, and a lower drum rim chamfered in to meet the bowl. It stands on a chamfered drum base. The bowl is lead lined and there are lock repairs on the rim.

Dimensions

VII History

Barton Seagrave was held by Robert from Geoffrey de Mowbray, Bishop of Coutances in 1086. No church was mentioned, although the monks of Peterborough claimed to have been given the vill before the Conquest. RCHME argues that Peterborough was granted the church by the lords of Barton in the 1140s, and the earliest reliable document attesting to this dates from 1148-66.

Benefice of Barton Seagrave with Warkton.

VIII Comments/Opinions

Pevsner suggests that the head on the N tympanum is that of Christ, but the position between lions surely makes Daniel likelier. Position is irrelevant, of course, if, as Pevsner asserts, the tympanum is wrongly assembled, but the fact that the three panels carved with the two lions and the head are joggled to fit together seems suggestive of a lintel position. The raised upper rims of the two panels carved with goats indicate that they too are in the correct relative positions; only the chip-carved panels seem out of place. Pevsner dates the Norman work c.1120-30 on the basis of the decorative features found on the doorway, windows and tower arches. They could even be slightly earlier - all are found at Ely before c.1120, and the volute capital design was becoming old-fashioned by then. Zarnecki dates the tympanum c.1100, and assumes that it all belongs together.

IX Bibliography