St Mary, Dallington, Northamptonshire

I Location

Site Location: Dallington
National Grid Reference: SP 738 618
County: traditional: Northamptonshire
now: Northamptonshire
Diocese: medieval: Lincoln
now: Peterborough from 1539
Dedication: medieval: Our Lady 1537
now (or name of monument): St Mary
Type of building/monument: Parish church

II General Description

: Exterior from SE.

: Nave and W tower from S.

: Interior to E.

St Mary's has a nave with N and S aisles and Perpendicular clerestoreys. The arcades are both of the 13thc. and very similar, of four bays of which the W bays on either side are very narrow. The reset nave doorways are of c.1200; the N unprotected, the S, of two orders with nook-shafts, under a porch. The S aisle was rebuilt in 1877, and the chancel in 1883. On the N side of the chancel is the Raynsford Chapel (now used as a vestry), built in 1679 in a gothic style and containing family monuments of some pretensions. The W tower is of four slightly stepped storeys, the lowest three of c.1200 to judge from a blocked window in the S wall. The top storey is Perpendicular. Romanesque features recorded here are the N and S doorways.

III Exterior Features

1. Doorways

(i) N nave doorway

: N doorway.

: N doorway, E impost.

Single order, pointed. The arch and jambs are chamfered, and the arch springs from impost blocks that are hollow chamfered with an overhanging face carved on its surface with a low roll between quirks.

Dimensions

h. of opening	2.68 m
w. of opening	1.14 m

(ii) S nave doorway

: S doorway, W section.

: S doorway, W capital.

: S doorway, E section.

: S doorway, E capital.

Two orders, round-headed. The two arch orders are plain and square in section with a keeled roll label with short returns at the ends. First order (jamb). Chamfered with plain stops and slender hollow-chamfered imposts, quite plain and partly replaced. Second order (jamb). Cylindrical en-delit nook-shafts on low roll bases with thin roll neckings. The bases stand on raked plinths. Both capitals are stiff-leaf with roll neckings and the imposts are of the same profile as the first order.

Dimensions

h. of opening	2.31 m
w. of opening	1.31 m

VII History

Dallington was held by the abbey of Peterborough in 1086, and by Richard from the abbot. A priest was recorded at that time.

Benefice of St Mary, Dallington.

VIII Comments/Opinions

The capitals of the S doorway point to a date of c.1200, but the overall design must have seemed very heavy and old-fashioned at that time.

IX Bibliography

N. Pevsner, The Buildings of England: Northamptonshire, Harmondsworth, 1961, rev. by B. Cherry, 1973, 356.