CHURCH TRAIL EAST discover romanesque, early english, decorated and perpendicular styles. the trail can be done on foot or by bike and most churches are within easy reach of cafes, farm shops, pubs and other attractions. St. Mary’s Church, Rushden As you approach St Mary, you will see its 172ft tower and spire. The oak pulpit is one of only 35 of these 14th century pulpits left in . Its strainer arch is also remarkable.

This feature and similar structures at Finedon and Canterbury and Wells cathedrals are the only examples of this form of architecture known in England.

The stone font is 14th century and the carving is a mixture of Early English and Decorated styles.

On the outside west wall of the South Transept can be seen a high window through to the South Transept which was blocked up although it is not known why.

Inside the Chancel, on the south side, there is an Early English Piscina (for washing the chalice and paten during Mass) and a Sedilia (seats for the priest and assistants).

The carved Rood Screen is 15th Century and between 1470 and 1490 the last extensive rebuilding took place leaving the building largely as it is seen today.

Open: All year Parking: Designated wider space for people with a disabled badge. Wheelchair access: Wheelchair access / ramp and toilets Toilets: Yes Postcode: NN10 OPG Website: www.stmaryschurchrushden.org

CHURCH TRAIL St. Mary’s Church, Higham Ferrers The town is famous as the birth place of Henry Chichele who was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1414 to1443.

This is a large church with a double nave as well as aisles and a Lady Chapel north of the chancel. It is mainly of the 13th and 14th centuries. Of particular interest is the tympanum above the west door showing biblical scenes in a series of roundels, and the 13th century tower, rebuilt in the 17th century.

Near the church are Chichele’s 15th century foundations, the Bede House where accommodation was provided for 12 poor men and one woman to look after them and the grammar school. In the High Street is Chichele College, a foundation that provided accommodation for eight secular canons, eight clerks and six choristers.

Open: All year Parking: Yes Wheelchair access: Ramp Toilets: Yes Postcode: NN10 8DL Website: www.stmaryhighamferrers.org

CHURCH TRAIL EAST NORTHAMPTONSHIRE St. Peter’s Church, Irthlingborough St Peter’s obtained a licence to become a Collegiate Church in the 1370s, and the tower is linked to the main body of the church by the remains of the College buildings. The College was established to perform masses for the souls of the founder, John Pyel and his wife Joan. Remarkably, the tower was taken down and carefully rebuilt exactly the same between 1889 and1893.

Near to the church is the site of another church, All Saint’s, which had become a ruin by the 16th century and has now completely disappeared.

In the High Street the Market Cross from the 14th century may have been used as a standard measurement of land before enclosure of the open fields.

Open: All year. Normally open Thursday and all day Sunday. Access at other times welcome. Key holder details on door of church. Parking: Yes Wheelchair access: Ramp and toilets Additional facilities: Toilets, baby changing facilities, guided tours, hearing / induction loop Toilets: Yes Postcode: NN9 5SD Website: www.stpetersirthlingborough.org.uk

CHURCH TRAIL EAST NORTHAMPTONSHIRE St. Mary and All Saints, Fotheringhay

This famous Perpendicular style church is a small part of a once great Collegiate foundation dating from 1411. The west tower, north porch and nave survive, but the chancel, cloisters and other College buildings were demolished in the 1550s.

The existing nave is in fact a rebuilding of an earlier structure and the contract for its construction, dated 1434, still survives.

Striking features include the octagonal lantern tower, the two storey north porch and the pinnacles and flying buttresses along the length of the nave. Inside is an impressive fan vaulted tower ceiling, and there is a model showing how the complex once looked. During restoration work in the 1990s a previously undiscovered room was found below the floor of the north porch.

In the village is a great mound, and earthworks marking the site of the castle where Richard III was born in 1452, and Mary, Queen of Scots executed in 1587.

Open: All year Parking: On main road Wheelchair access: Wooden ramp leading down from the gravel into the porch and from the porch into the church. The church door will need to be opened by an able bodied person in order to access the ramp as this door is normally kept shut. Toilets: No Postcode: PE8 5HZ Website: www.oundledeanery.org.uk/parishes/fotheringhay

CHURCH TRAIL EAST NORTHAMPTONSHIRE All Saints Church, Easton on the Hill

An interesting and the earliest feature in this church is a 12th century window that can still be seen in the wall above the south arcade. The church was largely rebuilt in the 13th century and the south wall of the 12th century nave became part of the internal arcade.

The 15th century west tower is of particular note as well as the nave furniture. The benches and box pews date from the 17th and 18th centuries and some have inscriptions.

In the village is the Priest’s House, formerly known as the Old Rectory. This is a rare survival of a Pre –Reformation house provided for a member of the Clergy. It dates from the early part of the 16th century.

Open: All year Parking: No Wheelchair access: Wheelchair ramp Toilets: No Postcode: PE9 3LL

CHURCH TRAIL EAST NORTHAMPTONSHIRE All Saints Church, Polebrook

This Church has an unusual shape with a large north transept and a south west, rather than the more usual west tower. Its style shows features which mark the transition from Norman to Early English architecture.

Round arches, generally associated with Norman work were constructed here in the 13th century, a period normally associated with the use of pointed arches in the Gothic style.

The large north transept contains decorated blind arcading and benches suggesting an important chapel which probably once contained an altar.

The chancel has two ‘low side windows.’ These are sometime incorrectly described as ‘leper windows’, but these low side windows were provided as Chancel ventilators or to throw light into an area where the priest or his assistants might work.

The tower clock is an interesting feature; it has a single hand and records only the hours.

Open: Please check on the day Parking: No Wheelchair access: No Toilets: No Postcode: PE8 5LN

CHURCH TRAIL EAST NORTHAMPTONSHIRE St. Andrews Church, Cotterstock

The large Chancel is the most significant and important feature of this church. It is constructed in the ‘Decorated’ style of Gothic architecture, with large windows of flowing tracery and is associated with the College of John Gifford. He was Rector at Cotterestock until 1317 and then became Clerk to Queen Isabella and Edward III.

The College, founded in 1338 contained a provost and 12 Chaplains and survived into the 16th Century. Its purpose was to pray for the royal family, the soul of Edward II and for John Gifford himself.

The domestic buildings associated with the College stood on the north side of the church, on the site now occupied by Church Farm. Nearby was the Hospital of Perio which was associated with the College, but its location is not know.

In the churchyard, and also in the lane leading to the church are two interesting lamp posts dating from the 19th century.

Open: No Parking: No Wheelchair access: No Toilets: No Postcode: PE8 5HH

CHURCH TRAIL EAST NORTHAMPTONSHIRE St. Andrews Church, Brigstock

The distinctive quoins of the lower part of the tower are known as ‘long and short work’ and together with the attached round tower confirm the Saxon origins of this important church. This part of the church dates from the 10th century.

Inside the building, the huge tower arch with the great ‘through’ stones is also Saxon, and from the tower a triangular headed Saxon doorway provides access to the round stair tower. Holes inside the tower show that originally the staircase was of timber.

In the nave the remains of a Saxon window can be seen above the arches of the north arcade, which was built in the 12th century and follows the line of the Saxon nave. Above the tower arch a blocked doorway can be seen, opening out form the tower into the nave, a feature quite often found in medieval churches for which there is considerable speculation as to its purpose.

Open: 9am - 6pm Parking: No Wheelchair access: Wooden slope for wheelchair access Toilets: No Postcode: NN14 3EX

CHURCH TRAIL EAST NORTHAMPTONSHIRE St. Mary The Virgin, Warmington

This is a fine example of an Early English style church with a large part of the building dating from about 1180 to 1220 with enlargements and alterations taking place in the middle of the 13th century.

The upper stage of the tower and the spire, and on the inside, over the nave, the timber vault, date from this period. A vault of this type from such an early date is a rare survival in a parish church.

The outstanding characteristic of the church is the consistency in its architectural style, and although some features vary, such as the shape of the priers in the north and south arcades, the whole of the building has a regular and formal appearance reflecting the architectural features of the 13th century.

Open: Please check on the day Parking: Removable ramp Wheelchair access: No Toilets: No Postcode: PE8 6TE

CHURCH TRAIL EAST NORTHAMPTONSHIRE St. John the Baptist, Harringworth

An interesting feature is the large burial vault in the north aisle which was added by the Tryon family in the early 18th century with finely detailed ironwork surrounds. The raised section of this vault may have been used as a family pew or private chapel.

Many churches had private chapels and here, the existence of the triple sedilia and piscina in the south aisle, that is seats for the priest and sink for washing holy vessels, as well as the same features in the chancel, confirm the existence of a chapel in the south aisle at some time. In this chapel a staircase to the rood loft can be seen.

On the wall of the south aisle is a fire hook, used locally to pull thatch away from burning roofs, probably from the 19th century.

Open: Please check on the day Parking: No Wheelchair access: No Toilets: No Postcode: NN14 3AH

CHURCH TRAIL EAST NORTHAMPTONSHIRE St. Peter’s Church, Raunds

The magnificent broach spire of St. Peter’s Church dominates the landscape in Raunds and was built from limestone known locally as Raunds marble. St. Peters has its origins in Norman times but much of the church of today is in the Early English style.

Inside, you cannot miss the unique 15th century wall paintings which cover the north wall of the nave. They depict the seven deadly sins and were uncovered during restoration in 1874.

There are further traces of a Rood scene over the chancel arch and other fragments throughout the church. The paintings probably date to about 1420, and they were covered with a lime putty during the Reformation, and only uncovered during restoration work on the church by Sir George Gilbert Scott in 1874.

The nave roof is a lovely piece of late 15th century work, and there is an early 14th century ram’s head font. In the chancel are a pair of memorial brasses. One is to John Tawyer (d. 1470) his wife Margaret, and their 4 daughters. The other shows a female of unknown name, with her four sons. Look out for the beautifully moulded and decorated west door, the south porch with a parvise over the entry arch, and the vestry doorway, dating to about 1270 and featuring lovely Early English ornamentation. In the churchyard stands a cross dating to about 1400, with carvings of the four apostles about the broken shaft.

Open: Please check on the day Parking: No Wheelchair access: Ramp Additional facilities: Hearing / induction loop, guide dogs welcome, baby changing facilities. Toilets: Yes Postcode: NN9 6JB CHURCH TRAIL EAST NORTHAMPTONSHIRE St. Peter’s Church,

As the Nene River loops around Oundle you can see the tall spire of St. Peter’s Church, a prominent view across the water meadows. St. Peter’s Church in Oundle has the tallest spire in the county, standing a magnificent 210 feet high.

St Peter’s, which was built on the site of an earlier church and monastery, was founded by St Wilfred of Northumbria in the 7th century. A pre-conquest coffin lid is the only surviving relic of an earlier church.

Originally, St Peter’s was a small Norman Church with a central tower, which was enlarged in the 13th century with later additions and alterations in the Decorated Perpendicular styles. The interior was first restored in 1864 and contains a coloured pulpit, beautifully carved screens as well as memorials and stained glass windows.

The 15th century lectern, shaped in the form of an eagle is said to be from Fotheringhay Church. It was lost when roundheads threw it into the River Nene during the Civil War. Fortunately, it was later retrieved and returned to the Church.

The architecture of the church is mainly Early English, though some parts are in the Decorated and Perpendicular style.

Open: 9am - 5pm Parking: Yes, disabled space by the church Wheelchair access: Yes Toilets: Yes Postcode: PE8 4AL

CHURCH TRAIL EAST NORTHAMPTONSHIRE CHURCH TRAIL EAST NORTHAMPTONSHIRE