BOROUGH OF NORTHAMPTON 



The registers before 1812 are as follows : (1) bap- 

 tisms, marriages, and burials, 1578-1737 ; (2) baptisms 

 and burials, 1737-1797, marriages, 1737-1754; (3) 

 marriages, 1756-1794; (4) baptisms and burials, 1797- 

 1812. The earliest vestrv book begins in April 1736. 



The church of THE HOLT SEPULCHRE,^^ one 

 of the four'* remaining round churches in England, 

 dates from the early 12th century, and probably owed 

 its origin to Simon de Senlis earl of Northampton, 

 by whom it was granted c. Illi to the monastery 

 of St. Andrew.' Like other churches of this type, 

 it was built in imitation of the church of the Holy 

 Sepulchre in Jerusalem, and consisted originally 

 of a circular nave and small oblong chancel, which 

 probably ended in an apse. About 1180 the north wall 

 of the chancel was pierced by arches to form a chapel, 

 and towards the close of the 13th century a second 

 aisle was thrown out on the same side. The present 

 south aisle dates from the first half of the I4lh 

 century, and about 1400 the whole of the upper 

 part of the circular nave was taken down, pointed 

 arches placed upon the Norman columns, the tri- 

 foriura destroyed, and a new clearstory built. At the 

 same time a massive west tower, surmounted by a 

 spire, was added, and the present south porch built, 

 the fabric then assuming more or less the aspect 

 it retained till the 19th century. The original chancel 

 had, however, been lengthened some time during 

 the medieval period,* but towards the close of the 

 l6th, or beginning of the 17th century, when the 

 fabric was much neglected, the extended east end 

 was demolished, and the outer north aisle was re- 

 moved.' 



In 186064 a new chancel with north and south 

 aisles, designed by Sir Gilbert Scott, was added to the 

 east of the old one, which then became the nave, 

 and the outer north aisle was rebuilt.* The Round 

 was restored in 1868-73, but the general work of 

 restoration was not concluded till 1879, when the 

 chancel was consecrated. In 1887 a vestry and organ 

 chamber were built at the east end of the outer 

 north aisle. The church, therefore, now consists 

 of a modern chancel with north and south aisles, 

 or chapels,^ nave 46 ft. by 18 ft. 6 in., with north 

 and south aisles respectively 17 ft. 6 in. and 16 ft. 6 in. 

 wide, outer north aisle 17 ft. 10 in. wide, the old cir- 

 cular nave, or ' Round,' now used as a baptistery, 

 south porch, and west tower II ft. 10 in. by 14 ft.* 

 all these measurements being internal. 



The church is built throughout of ironstone, 

 and all the roofs east of the Round are covered with 



modern slates ; the nave and aisles are under separate 

 higli-pitchcd roofs. Before i860 the old chancel 

 and its aisles extended about 40 ft. east of the Round, 

 with three flush end gables separated by buttresses ; 

 the south aisle had been modernised and the tracery 

 of its south windows removed.' All the roofs are 

 modern. 



Though the Round has suffered many changes, 

 and some of its original features have been destroyed, 

 it remains in plan substantially unaltered and its 

 geneial proportions can be readily detected. It 

 consisted of two stories, the upper, or clearstory, 

 supported on an octagonal arcade of eight massive 

 cylindrical piers which divided the central space from 

 a circular groined aisle or ambulatory 10 ft. 6 in. wide. 

 The internal diameter of the Round is 58 ft. 10 in.' 

 and the outer wall, which is about 25 ft. high 

 and 4 ft. 4 in. thick above the phnth, was pierced 

 by two tiers of roimd-headed windows, the lower 

 lighting the aminilatory and the upper opening 

 into a triforium above its groined roof. In aU pro- 

 bability there were smaller round-headed windows 

 in the circumference of the original clearstory, 

 which would be covered with a conical roof. Of the 

 lower tier of windows only one, on the south side 

 to the west of the present porch, is still in use, but 

 there are rcm.iins of tlirce others, two on the north 

 side, and one to the east of the porch. The perfect 

 window is about 9 ft. above the present ground level, 

 its sill resting on a simple stringcourse which ran 

 all round the building. The opening is 4 ft. in height 

 and 15 in. wide, with plain jambs, hoodmould, 

 and wide internal splay, the head of which has a 

 band of cheveron ornament on the edge of the plaster 

 soffit. Of the upper windows two remain on 

 the north side, immediately over a second string- 

 course 10 ft. 4 in. above the first. These windows 

 are without hoodmoulds and differ in proportion 

 from those below, being 3 ft. 9 in. high by 20J in. 

 in breadth. Above them a third stringcourse forms 

 the base of a plain parapet. The wall was strengthened 

 by a series of wide shallow buttresses of which seven 

 still remain, three on the north and two on the south 

 being in an almost perfect condition, while two others 

 on the south are cut away below for the porch walls. 

 These buttresses are from 4 ft. to 4 ft. 6 in. in viidth, 

 with a projection of 8 in. and die into the wall just 

 below the topmost stringcourse, the two lower 

 strings being carried round them. The main story 

 of the Round was thus divided horizontally into 

 three stages and vertically into a series of bays, that 



" The following dcicriptlon it based 

 upon the account of the church in Cox 

 and Scrjeantson's Htst. of Cb. of the 

 Holy Sepulchre, Aoribamfl. (1897). 



" Or five, if the ruined chapel in 

 Ludlow Cattle it included. 



■ From the fact that in the gift of the 

 churches of Northampton Co the monks of 

 St. Andrew's recorded in the confirmatory 

 charter of 1 108 the church of St. Sepulchre 

 is not mentioned, it has been assumed that 

 the building was not then finished. Begun 

 about 1 100, the work may have been 

 interrupted by civil war and not com- 

 pleted until after 1108 : Cox and Serjeant- 

 ton, op. cit. 23-15. 



' ' lo extending the church in 1861 

 a tile pavement »as discovered outside 

 tlie then east end, showing that the 



church had formerly extended further 

 eastward ' : ibid. 54. 



' The outer aisle may have been taken 

 down in 1634, the churchwardens' 

 accounts showing that a considerable 

 amount of work was done in that year, and 

 a vestry resolution indicates that it was 

 chiefly on the north aisle. All east 

 of the Round fell into disuse except for 

 parochial purposes of a quasi-civil nature. 

 The communion table wat brought into 

 the Round, which ultimately became 

 filled with seats and pews : ibid. 54. 



* The restoration of the church was 

 first considered in 1845, but nothing was 

 done till 1851, when it wat undertaken 

 «t a memorial to the lecond Marquis of 

 Northampton, though the work of enlarge- 

 ment was not begun until i860. The 



building was re-opened in August 1864. 

 The pews and galleries in the Round were 

 removed at this time : ibid. 70-71. 



' The north aisle is now used at a 

 morning chapel, and the south aisle it 

 the Warriort' Memorial Chapel. 



* The greater dimention is from west 

 to east. 



' Probably in 1739 : Cox and Serjeant- 

 son, op. cit. 61. Before i860 there were 

 only two windows in the south wall with 

 a doorw.iy between, the position of which 

 may still be seen below the middle window. 



* The church of the Holy Sepulchre, 

 Jerusalem, is 67 ft. in diameter, the Temple 

 Church, London, 58 ft., Cambridge 41 ft., 

 and Little Maplestead 26 ft. Garway, 

 in Herefordshire, «here only the founda- 

 tions remain, was 43 ft. 9 in . 



45 



