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Search terms: Fonts, Northamptonshire

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 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.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. 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.
7. 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.
8. 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.
9. 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.
10. 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.
11. 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.
12. 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.
13. 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.
14. 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.
15. 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.
16. 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.
17. 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.
18. 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.
19. 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.
20. 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.
21. 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.
22. 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.
23. 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.
24. 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.
25. 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.
26. 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.
27. 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.
28. 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.