WILLYBROOK HUNDRED 



NASSINGTON 



6l ft. Of its chancel no evidence remains. The 

 west wall of the nave shows early work to nearly the 

 full height of the present nave roof, and from the 

 plan and the existence of a doorway high in the wall 

 it appears that the early church had a west tower, 

 parts of the walls of which may still exist, cased with 

 later masonry, though no architectural features of the 

 date are to be seen in the north, west, or south walls 

 of the present tower. In the 12th century a north 

 aisle was added to the nave, the bases of a north 

 arcade of this date having been found below the floor, 

 south of the line of the present arcade. 



Towards the end of the 1 2th century the east 

 arch of the tower was inserted, and it is possible 

 that the tower was rebuilt at this time, as the 

 head of a semi-circular arch remains over the pre- 

 sent west doorway, and may belong to the period 

 in question, and two string-courses on the west front 

 have a section which would also suit this date. In 

 the 13th century the nave was practically rebuilt, with 

 north and south aisles and a south porch.' The 

 west front of the church was also altered in the 

 early part of this century, a new west doorway being 

 inserted and the western chambers built. 



The south aisle of the nave was rebuilt' in the early 

 part of the 14th century, its south wall being set 

 outside the line of that previously existing, and the 

 western buttresses of the tower appear to belong to 

 this time. 



In the 15th century the octagonal top of the 

 tower and the spire ^ rising from it were built, and at 

 a later date in the same century the clearstory and 

 roof of the nave were added. Towards the close of 

 the century the chancel was rebuilt, out of centre with 

 and wider than the nave. It had probably been re- 

 built at least once before, and the irregularities in its 

 plan are such as might easily arise from the methods 

 of rebuilding usual in the middle ages. 



The chancel has an east window ' of five cinque- 

 foiled lights with quatrefoiled tracery and a low four- 

 centred head, and a window at the west end of the 

 north wall of three lights with intersecting mullions 

 forming quatrefoiled tracery under a four-centred 

 head, as in the east window. In the south wall are 

 two windows of the same kind, the sill of the eastern 

 of the two being carried down to form the sedilia. 

 There is sufficient space for the usual three seats, and 

 the western third of the sill is 6 in. lower than the 

 rest. East of the sedilia is a square recess, with no 

 drain, and in the north wall is a second recess, to the 

 west of which is a blocked doorway with a low four- 

 centred head, formerly leading to a vestry on the 

 north of the chancel, now destroyed. 



The ground falls slightly towards the east, and the 

 floor levels follow it, as there is one step down from 

 the nave to the chancel, and a second ' at the line of 

 the altar-rails, the altar itself being raised on four 

 steps. The chancel arch is of two chamfered orders 

 with half-octagonal responds and moulded capitals and 

 bases. It is set centrally with the nave and not with 



the chancel, and its date is about 1240-50. The 

 nave arcades are of the same design but with three 

 orders to the arches, and give an example of that not 

 unusual feature, that the workmanship of one arcade, 

 in this case the north, is much superior to that of the 

 other. The chancel arch itself is affected by it, for its 

 north respond is of the same workmanship as the 

 north arcade, and the south respond as the south 

 arcade. The probable explanation is that the north 

 arcade was first undertaken, and that by the time it 

 had been built, with the north respond of the new 

 chancel arch, a pause in the work was made for lack 

 of funds, and when the south arcade and south respond 

 of the chancel arch were undertaken they had to be 

 built with a strict regard to economy, and inferior 

 workmen were employed in consequence. 



The scale of the nave and height of the aisles seems 

 to demand a clearstory, but whether this formed part 

 of the original design or not, no evidence remains 

 that it was ever built. The existing clearstory 

 belongs to the latter part of the 15th centur)-, and has 

 windows of three cinquefolled lights under four- 

 centred heads. There are three on the north, and 

 five on the south, spaced evenly in the wall, without 

 reference to the bays of the arcade below them. The 

 north aisle is of the date of the north arcade, and like 

 it is of excellent detail and workmanship. The east 

 window is of three lights with uncusped tracery formed 

 by the intersection of the mullions, and has jamb- 

 shafts and a moulded rear-arch. Under this window 

 on the north side is a square locker. 



In the north wall are six windows, the first two 

 from the east having three lancets under an enclosing 

 arch, with jamb-shafts, while the other four are of 

 two lights under an arched head, the spandrels over 

 the lights being pierced. Between the first and 

 second windows from the west is the north doorway, 

 with a round arch of two orders. The details seem 

 earlier than the wall in which they are set, the inner 

 order having an edge roll, and the outer a keeled roll 

 between hollows, with rosettes at intervals on the 

 label, while the nook-shafts have foliate capitals of 

 early type, like those of the tower arch. The seg- 

 mental rear arch is pointed, and the roll-moulded 

 string which runs at the level of the window sills is 

 continued round the arch. In spite of the early- 

 looking detail, the doorway may be contemporary 

 with the rest of the aisle.' 



The south aisle is a few inches wider than the 

 north aisle, but otherwise of the same dimensions. 

 Its east window is an insertion of the date of the 

 chancel, with three cinquefolled lights under a four- 

 centred head, but the three windows on the south 

 are of the date of the rebuilding of the aisle, r. 1330, 

 with net tracery, the first two from the east having 

 three lights and the other two. West of the windows 

 is the south doorway, with continuous mouldings of 

 the same date as the windows. It opens to a south 

 porch of the first half of the 13th centur}-, with an 

 outer archway of two orders, having lines of dogtooth 



* There may have been aisles in the I 2th 

 century, but the evidence is not sufficient 

 to settle the point. See below. 



"^ After a tire, traces of which were 

 found in 18S5. (Information from Caoon 

 Barrett.) 



^ There is a record of the building of 

 the spire here in the 17th century, and in 

 view of the parallel at Oundle, where 

 the 17th-century spire might easily be 



taken for mediaeval work, the Nassing- 

 ton spire may not have existed before that 

 time. But the evidence of construction 

 and detail points perhaps to the rebuild- 

 ing of an old spire rather than the addi- 

 tion of a new one. 



* This window was much altered in 

 1SS5, being raised some 2S in. and each 

 light narrowed 3 in. The tracer)* is a 

 modern copy of the old work. 



^ Before 18S5 the nave, chancel, and 

 sanctuary were on the same level, but this 

 was not the original arrangement. 



* Instances of this conservatism in door- 

 ways arc not uncommon. At Tansor, 

 3^ miles to the south, the north doorway 

 of the nave has details which seem earlier 

 than the wall in which it is built, but are 

 probably contempcrary. 



589 



