A HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE 



but the lead of the nave roof overhangs. Between 1836 

 and 1849 alterations, chiefly in the chancel, were 

 carried out by the 2nd Marquess of Northampton,' 

 and in 1870, during the incumbency of Lord AJwyne 

 Compton, the building was extensively restored under 

 the direction of George Edmund Street.- The tower 

 was repaired in 1935. 



The outer doorway of the north porch is of late 

 12th-century date, but there is no other work of this 

 period, and the doorway is not in its original position. 

 Whether it belonged to an earlier building on the site 

 or was brought here from elsewhere cannot now be 



□ I2ffl Century late 



□ 14.1 Century 

 EZjI5ffl Century 

 El Modern 



middle order with lozenge moulding, in each case 

 on both the wall and soffit planes. The inner order 

 has a simple quarter-round on the edge, and the hood 

 an enriched indented moulding. All three orders rest 

 on nook-shafts, the capitals of which are carved with 

 stiff plantain-like leaves, the jambs between the outer 

 shafts being enriched with round studs. The two 

 larger shafts on each side have been renewed, and the 

 arch generally has been much restored, especially 

 the outer orders.* 



The north porch, of which the doorway forms the 

 'frontispiece', is sometimes claimed to be of the 13 th 



Tower 



10 5 o 



10 



20 



30 



40 



50 



Scale of Feet 



Plan of Castle Ashby Church 



determined.' The existing structure can only be re- 

 garded in the light of a 14th- and 1 5th-century rebuild- 

 ing. The north aisle is of the former period, but in the 

 1 5th century the nave arcades were entirely rebuilt, 

 the south aisle added or widened, and the present chan- 

 cel, south porch, and tower erected. In the main, 

 therefore, the building is of i 5th-century date, though 

 the windows of the north aisle are excellent examples 

 of 14th-century work. 



The outer north doorway, which is characteristically 

 Transitional in style, has a wide semicircular arch of 

 three orders, separated by lines of four-leaved orna- 

 ment, the outer order enriched with chevron and the 



century, apparently on the evidence of its plain pointed 

 lateral windows and one, wholly restored, above the 

 arch. These windows are, however, of a rather rough 

 and nondescript character,' and in the upper part of 

 the east wall, originally lighting a chamber, the floor 

 of which has been removed, is an unrestored single- 

 light window with trefoiled ogee head off. 1400. The 

 present doorway from the aisle to the porch is appa- 

 rently of the same period,* and the porch is probably 

 not earlier. Access to the porch-chamber was from the 

 north aisle by a circular stone stair, which is still in 

 position. 



The chancel is of three bays, marked externally on 



* The work then done is referred to in 

 the description below. 



^ In his notes on the restoration Lord 

 Alwyne Compton wrote : 'The walls and 

 windows needed no change except that the 

 old windows of the tower under the belfry 

 storey on east, north, and south were re- 

 stored. The roofs were in bad condition, 

 those of the chancel and nave very mean 

 and poor. These were made good, their 

 pitch raised, also the walls of the nave 

 raised a little, the former roof having been 

 close upon the arches. The aisle roofs were 

 only restored.' The total cost of the res- 



toration was 'something over ,{^4,500', of 

 which the 3rd Marquess of Northampton 

 paid ,^3,200. The tiled flooring was de- 

 signed by Lord Alwyne Compton, whose 

 share in the restoration of the church is 

 described by the present Marquess of 

 Northampton as 'perhaps rather too revo- 

 lutionary' : Hiit. of the Complons (1930), 

 281. 



3 Various theories have been put for- 

 ward as to the provenance of the doorway. 

 The doubts as to its having belonged 

 originally to the church are mentioned in a 

 pamphlet on Castle Ashby by S. S. Cam- 



pion, first published in 1874. 



■* The doorway is figured, and details 

 given, in Sharpe's Chs. of the Nene Valley, 

 plates 62 and 63. The opening is 4 ft. 6 in, 

 wide, and the total outside width of the 

 arch, including the hood-mould, about 

 10 ft. The height, to the intrados is 

 6 ft. 10 in. 



5 That in the west wall has a hood- 

 mould and the head is in one stone; the 

 head of the east window is in two stones 

 and there is no hood. 



^ It has a continuous casement mould- 

 ing. 



234 



