The Corpus of ROMANESQUE SCULPTURE in Britain & Ireland
Northamptonshire (now), "spratton"
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.
Parish church
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.