A HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE 



and left the property to his nephew Charles Wake, 

 younger son of his brother Baldwin. Born early in 

 1 70 1, he was a minor at the time of his uncle's death. 

 He took the name and arms of Jones about 1718, and 

 married Elizabeth, daughter and co-heir of Sir Samuel 

 Sambrooke. He died on 22 March 1740 without 

 issue.' Under his uncle's will the property passed 

 to his elder brother Charles who took the name and 

 arms of Jones, and succeeded his grandfather Sir 

 Baldwin Wake as baronet in 1747. Sir Charles Wake 

 Jones, 6th bart., died without issue on 27 January 1755 

 and was buried at Courteenhall.- The manor passed 

 to Sir William Wake, 7th bart., who was the son of the 

 Rev. Robert Wake, Dean of Bocking, Essex, the fourth 

 son of Sir William Wake, 3rd bart.^ The Wake family 



exception of the porches the roofs are all leaded and of 

 low pitch behind straight parapets: in the chancel the 

 lead overhangs the east gable. The south porch is 

 slated and the north porch tiled. Internally the plaster 

 has been stripped from the walls. ' 



The earliest church appears to have been an aisled 

 late- 12th-century structure, evidences of which remain 

 in the north arcade, the south doorway, and elsewhere. 

 In the 13th century the building was largely recon- 

 structed, and in the 14th century the chancel appears 

 to have been rebuilt on its present plan, and the south 

 porch added. The tower is of 15th-century date; 

 a blocked round-headed opening on the east side sug- 

 gests the retention of some part at least of a late- 12th- 

 century tower, but it may be an old feature re-used. 



□ 121 Century late 

 EG 131 Century 



□ I'^l'ffl Century 



EZB 1 5IU Century 

 M17ffl Century 

 H Modern 



Scale of Feet 



Plan of Courteenhall Church 



have held Courteenhall manor in direct descent since 

 that date, the present owner being Major-General Sir 

 Hereward Wake, 13th baronet. 



The church o[ ST. PETER AND ST. 

 CHURCH PAUL consists of chancel, 30 ft. 4 in. by 

 16 ft. 6 in.; nave, 33 ft. 9 in. by 17 ft. 

 3 in.; north and south aisles, 11 ft. 3 in. wide; north 

 and south porches, and west tower 12 ft. square, all 

 these measurements being internal. The north aisle 

 covers the chancel for about half its length. 



The building has been several times restored. In 

 1883 the chancel, nave, and aisles were refloored with 

 red tiles and the pews replaced by chairs, and there 

 were further restorations in 1897 and 1912. The 

 ground falls from south to north, and there is a ten- 

 dency in the building to settle in that direction.* In 

 1895 the north arcade was underpinned and timber 

 buttresses put across the north aisle, the outer wall of 

 which was strengthened. 



The building generally is of limestone rubble, with 

 ironstone dressings to the windows and in the quoins of 

 the tower; the south porch is of ironstone. With the 



The church was extensively repaired under the terms 

 of the will of Sir Samuel Jones (d. 1672), who left 

 ;^i;oo for that purpose and for increasing the number 

 of the bells: to this period the existing aisle windows 

 belong, and the east window was at the same time 

 altered. A north porch may then have been added, 

 but the present porch is wholly restored or modern. 



The chancel is without buttresses, except at the north- 

 east angle, and has a chamfered plinth, and a string at 

 sill level. In the south wall are two 14th-century 

 pointed windows* of three cusped lights, the mullions 

 crossing in the head, and with double wave-moulded 

 jambs. The sill and moulded jambs of the five-light 

 east window are still in position, but in the 17th cen- 

 tury its pointed head was replaced by a square one 

 with round-headed lights,' and this in its turn has given 

 place to the present pointed traceried arch. There is a 

 smaller blocked 14th-century window at the east end 

 of the north wall, and at the south-west corner of the 

 chancel is a tall 14th-century single-light trefoiled low- 

 side window.* Below the westernmost of the two south 

 windows is a priest's doorway, now blocked, with 



* y.C.H. Northants. Families^ 330, 



^ Ibid. 329. ■> Ibid. 331. 



♦ Sir Henry Dryden's MS. in 

 Northampton Public Library. 



5 A water-colour drawing of the in- 

 terior, which hangs in the church, shows 



the walls plastered, plaster ceilings to 

 chancel and nave, square box-pews, and a 

 three-decker pulpit. The drawing is un- 

 dated, but is before 1883. 



^ The sills are 5 ft. 6 in. above the plinth. 

 The mullions are moulded and the hood- 



moulds have mask stops. 



' Shown in tlie drawing of the church 

 before referred to. 



8 Assoc. Arch. Soc. Rep. xxix, 339. The 

 sill is 3 ft. 10 in. above the floor. The open- 

 ing is 14 in. wide splaying internally to 3 ft. 



244 



