A HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE 



The west end of the south aisle is of 13th-century 

 date, and retains two windows of that period, a single 

 lancet in the west wall, and a double lancet with single 

 hood-mould in the south wall west of the porch.' The 

 south doorway is also of this date; it has a pointed arch 

 of two square orders on moulded imposts, the outer 

 jambs being chamfered and the inner square. The 

 chancel and nave were rebuilt about 1350 and the tower 

 somewhat later, though the upper part may have been 

 reconstructed in the 15 th century when the clerestory 

 and the porch were added. In 1845 the chancel was 

 restored, its roof heightened, and a vestry built on the 

 north side: the nave was restored and re-roofed in 

 1889, a west gallery removed, the tower arch opened 

 out, and the vestry turned into an organ-chamber. 



There is not sufficient evidence to determine the 

 extent of the 13th-century church, but a portion of 

 string-course in the east wall of the south aisle, similar to 

 that of the west end, suggests that the aisle was then the 

 same length as now. The south aisle is 2 ft. wider than 

 the north. 



The building is of rubble, with modern slated low- 

 pitched roof to the chancel and embattled parapets to 

 nave and south aisle. The north aisle parapet is plain. 

 The chancel has a modern east window of three lights 

 and on the south side two square-headed three-light 

 windows. The north wall is blank except for a modern 

 arch to the organ-chamber. Below the south-west 

 window are the remains of what may have been a low- 

 side window.- There is a piscina but no sedilia: the 

 chancel arch is of two chamfered orders on responds 

 composed of three half-rounds with moulded capitals 

 and bases. A wrought iron screen and gates, of 17th- 

 century domestic workmanship, were fixed at the 

 chancel arch in 1921. 



The nave arcades consist of three pointed arches of 

 two chamfered orders, springing from piers composed of 

 four half-rounds with small attached shafts between, 

 with moulded capitals and bases. The capitals on the 

 north and south sides differ in design and the responds 

 are simple half-rounds. The two windows in the south 

 aisle resemble those in the chancel, but only one retains 

 its 14th-century tracery. In the north aisle are two 

 pointed windows of two cinquefoiled lights with 

 quatrefoils in the head, and a three-light window with 

 modern reticulated tracery. The east window of the 

 aisle, which has reticulated tracery, now opens to the 

 organ-chamber. The north doorway is blocked. The 

 clerestory has four square-headed windows of two 

 trefoiled lights on each side. 



The tower is of three stages with moulded plinth and 

 fiat clasping buttresses two-thirds of its height. The 

 west window is modern, but on the south side is an 

 original quatrefoil opening within a circle. The pointed 

 bell-chamber windows are of two trefoiled lights with 

 quatrefoil in the head. There is a vice in the south- 

 west angle. The tower arch is very lofty, of two 

 moulded orders to the nave, the inner resting on half- 

 round responds with moulded capitals and bases. The 

 tower was repaired in 1922. 



The font is of 14th-century date with circular 

 moulded bowl and modern shafted stem. The staples of 



the cover remain. At the west end of the south aisle are 

 the remains of a wall painting discovered in 1889. ^ 

 Recently numerous other paintings have been dis- 

 covered, mainly of 14th-century date. Adjoining the 

 earlier find is a much-defaced subject which probably 

 portrays the Incredulity of St. Thomas. Near the south 

 door is the Resurrection. In the nave are various frag- 

 ments mostly of post-Reformation date. In the north 

 aisle is a finely executed Martyrdom of St. Thomas of 

 Canterbury, depicted with an unusual fidelity to 

 historical detail. Other subjects are St. Catherine 

 before the Emperor, a group of Apostles, and several 

 scenes difficult to identify. On the splays of the win- 

 dows are single figures of saints, including St. Andrew, 

 while the soffits of the window arches are decorated 

 with a bold scroll pattern in red. There are many 

 evidences of later schemes superimposed on these 

 paintings. The work is of considerable artistic merit, 

 the figure drawing and manipulation of the draperies 

 being most accomplished. The pulpit and other fittings 

 are modern, but some Elizabethan woodwork is pre- 

 served on the sill of the east window of the south 

 aisle.'' There are also fragments of the 15th-century 

 rood-screen. A Jacobean altar table, removed from 

 the chancel in 1933, has been placed in the south 

 aisle. 



There is a scratch dial adjoining the south doorway, 

 A piece of lead, formerly on the nave roof, on which is 

 cut a man's head and date 1666, has now been framed 

 and hangs in the church. The royal arms of Queen 

 Anne, dated 171 1, on canvas, hang over the chancel 

 arch. In the sanctuary is a 17th-century oak chest. 



There are four bells, the treble by Henry Penn of 

 Peterborough 1703, the second a recasting by Taylor 

 in 1899 of a late medieval bell inscribed: 'Huius sancti 

 Petri', the third by Edward Newcombe of Leicester, 

 and the tenor by Taylor of Loughborough 1899.5 



The plate consists of a silver cup and paten of 1834 

 given by Robert Onebye Walker, a silver-gilt paten 

 given about 1920, and a silver-plated flagon. There are 

 also two pewter plates and a pewter flagon.* A silver 

 chalice and paten were presented in 1934 by the Con- 

 fraternity of the Blessed Sacrament. A Sacrament house 

 was cut in the north wall of the chancel in 1933 and 

 framed with old v\-oodwork from a reredos formerly in 

 the chapel of Magdalen College School, Brackley. 



The registers before 1 8 12 are as follows: (i) all 

 entries 1559—99, baptisms 1600—40, 1662-1762, 

 marriages 1600-39, 1662-81, 1695-1705, 1716-54, 

 burials 1600-41, 1662-1762; (ii) baptisms and burials 

 1764-1812; (iii) marriages 1755-1812. In 1638 sixty 

 persons are recorded to have died of the plague. The 

 churchwardens' accounts begin in 1776. 



The stump of an old cross, formerly in the rector's 

 paddock, at the corner of the road leading to Walgrave, 

 was removed to the churchyard in December 1885 and 

 placed opposite the porch. 



The church of Holcot evidently be- 



ADVOWSON longed to the fee held by David I in 



the 1 2th century, for it passed to Roger 



Murdack, who was King David's tenant in Edgcote 



(q.v.) under Henry II. In 1223 Roger's son and heir 



* The west wall of the aisle was rebuilt, 

 stone by stone, in 1935 and new tracery 

 for the two-light window inserted. 



2 Assoc. Arch. Soc. Reports, xxix. 



3 The painting represents the Ascen- 

 sion, the Descent of the Holy Ghost, and 

 (?) the Coronation of the Blessed Virgin. 



* The panels are similar to those in the 

 pulpit at Isham church. 



s The inscriptions on the older bells are 

 given in North, Ch. Bells of Northants. 

 308 ; that on the second has been retained. 

 Edward Newcombe was casting 1570- 

 1616, but this bell is undated. The tenor 



128 



was given by Frances Mary Montgomery 

 and was placed in the tower, with a new 

 chiming clock, in Februarj', 1900. Pre- 

 viously there had been three bells. 



6 Markham, Ch. Plate of Northants. 

 159. 



