A HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE 



reroofed in 1903.' When the east wall of the aisle 

 was rebuilt it was found that the I jth-century window 

 (since restored) had replaced two others, one of 14th- 

 century date, and one still earlier consisting of two lan- 

 cets. Part of a 13th-century piscina,* then found, is 

 now built into the wall at its north end. 



The chancel is faced with ashlar and has rectangular 

 corner buttresses and a moulded string at sill level inside 

 and out. The roof is modern and covered with grey 

 slates, and is higher than the low-pitched roof of the 

 nave; on the south side an original corbel table with 

 small heads within a hollow moulding carries the gutter. 

 The east window is of five trefoiled lights with geo- 

 metrical tracery in the head, and in the south wall are 

 two three-light windows and one of two lights near the 

 west end, all with Decorated tracery, moulded jambs, 

 and labels; there are two windows of similar type in the 

 north wall. The mullions and tracery in all the win- 

 dows are modern. The piscina and sedilia form a single 

 composition of four trefoiled ogee arches below the 

 easternmost window, within a square hood-mould 

 formed by the lifting of the string; the seats are stepped. 

 At the restoration a flat slab was substituted for the 

 bowl of the piscina, but otherwise the work is sub- 

 stantially original. The priest's doorway has continuous 

 moulded jambs and head, and below the westernmost 

 window is a rectangular low-side opening, now blocked, 

 widely splayed within. ^ There was formerly a sacristy 

 on the north side of the chancel, the blocked doorway 

 to which remains. The chancel arch as rebuilt is of 

 two chamfered orders, the inner on half-round responds 

 with carved capitals and bases. The chancel screen was 

 destroyed in 1843; the present screen was erected in 

 1916. The rood-loft was entered from the north end 

 by a still-existing doorway, the sill of which is level with 

 the spring of the chancel arch. In the chancel the walls 

 are plastered, but elsewhere the internal wall surfaces 

 have been stripped. 



The nave is of four bays and has a modern roof, but 

 the position of the principals of the ancient roof before 

 the erection of the clerestory early in the 15 th century 

 may be seen on the north side. The two 12th-century 

 semicircular western arches of the north arcade are of 

 two square orders with hood-mould, springing from a 

 half-round respond and cylindrical pier, each with 

 sculptured capital and square abacus. The pier was 

 taken down and rebuilt in 1843, but only its base is 

 new. The capital has a well-developed leaf pattern 

 issuing from the mouths of human heads at two of the 

 angles. The west arch retains considerable traces of 

 colour decoration on the inner order. The second arch 

 is supported on its east side by one of the late-i3th- 

 century piers, which consist of four half-round shafts 

 with moulded bases and carry pointed arches of two 

 chamfered orders;* the east respond is a half-octagon. 

 The westernmost pier and the respond have moulded 

 capitals, but that of the other pier is carved with 

 naturalistic oak leaves and acorns in an upright position. 

 The piers of the earlier south arcade consist also of four 

 half-rounds, but the capitals of the two westernmost 

 and those of the responds, which follow the same sec- 



tion, are carved with stiff-leaf foliage; the easternmost 

 pier has a moulded capital. 



The 1 3th-century south doorway has a pointed arch 

 of two orders, the inner with continuous chamfer and 

 the outer moulded, on nook-shafts with foliated capitals 

 and moulded bases; the oak door is ancient with shaped 

 iron hinges. West of the doorway is a contemporary 

 window of two lancet lights, and at the east end of the 

 aisle a two-light window with forked muUion. The 

 three-light ogee-headed windows in the south wall east 

 of the porch are 14th-century insertions. The west 

 windows of both aisles have modern Perpendicular 

 tracery. 



The tower is of rubble and of four stages, the three 

 lower constituting the original structure. The windows 

 of the former bell-chamber in the third stage are now 

 blocked, and exhibit no architectural detail, but consist 

 of three round-headed lights on each side. The west 

 doorway is a 15th-century insertion, but above it is a 

 two-light window with forked mullion ; a single clasping 

 ashlar buttress at the south-west angle seems to be a 

 comparatively modern addition. The lower stage north 

 and south is blank, but in the second is a single lancet 

 without label; the later top story has a battlemented 

 parapet with angle pinnacles and gargoyles in the 

 middle of each face. The double bell-chamber win- 

 dows are of two trefoiled lights with quatrefoil in the 

 head and transom at mid-height, and the tower arch 

 is of two chamfered orders with hood-mould. There is 

 no vice. Since 1 840 the tower has been strengthened 

 by iron clamps, two to each of the three lower stages. 



The clerestory is pierced on the south side by five 

 four-centred windows of two cinquefoiled lights and 

 has a plain parapet; the four modern windows on the 

 north side are small quatrefoils. The pointed north 

 doorway is of two chamfered orders on moulded im- 

 posts, and the transeptal vestry has a broad flat gable to 

 the north. It is open to the aisle by an arch of two 

 chamfered orders springing from keel-shaped responds 

 of 13th-century date with moulded capitals and bases, 

 and its walling also appears to be ancient, but it pro- 

 bably represents a later rebuilding with old materials. 



The font has a circular basin of unusual form and 

 has been called Norman. It was dug up in the church- 

 yard and restored to the church in 1838, being placed 

 on a modern pedestal. 



There is a good Jacobean oak pulpit, and other fit- 

 tings of the same period include two chairs in the 

 chancel (one with long panelled back and claw feet), 

 a solid panelled screen fiUing the vestry arch, and a 

 churchwardens' pew. A former oak communion table 

 (1704) is now at the west end of the church; there is 

 also a dug-out oak chest in the south aisle. 



When the chancel screen was destroyed an elaborate 

 tympanum of spars and plaster was pulled down and 

 re-erected above the tower arch. It consists of a large 

 oblong panel dated 1 66 1, with the royal arms in the 

 middle, flanked by the badge of the Prince of Wales 

 and an emblem of roses and thistles. ^ The lower part 

 of the chancel screen was used to make a reading-desk.* 



In the chancel are a number of inserted floor-slabs 



^ The north clerestory windows date 

 from this time. The roof is a lean-to of 

 20 ft. span with spaces cut out for the 

 clerestory windows. The lead on the old 

 roof was dated 1637, 



^ This has been called a 'Norman' 

 piscina, but the recess as rebuilt is com- 

 posite j it has a trefoiled head and one of 



its jambs has a plain chamfer; the other 

 consists of three small shafts and is a 

 I3th-centur\' fragment. 



5 Assoc. Arch. Soc. Reports, xxix, 4.41. 

 It has hollow-chamfered edges, and is 

 closed by a single stone. A four-centred 

 arch was built across the opening inside 

 when the chancel was restored (1861). 



* The outer order of the second arch 

 from the east has a hollow moulding. 



5 It has also the motto 'Fear God, 

 Honour the King' and the names of the 

 churchwardens. The tympanum was a re- 

 painted pre-Reformation structure; Harvey 

 and Cox, Eng. Ch. Furniture, 8g. 



6 Ibid. 128. 



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