Listed Building: Church of St. Mary the Virgin (1190018)

Church. Early C16, probably completed 1534. Built at expense of Anthony Catesby. Limestone ashlar and lead roofs. Chancel, aisled nave, south porch and west tower. Perpendicular style. Chancel of 1 bay has 5-light east window. Aisles have 3-light windows to east and west ends and 4-light windows to sides. Hollow-chamfered and wave-moulded south doorway with C19 panelled door in shallow porch. The latter has attached shafts to doorway with wave-moulded arch, shields in stylized foliage to spandrels, wave-moulded rectangular surround and hood mould. Porch is battlemented and has panelled stone vault. Tower has 3 stages and is faced chiefly with ironstone ashlar with bands and dressings of limestone. Many-moulded west doorway with attached shafts, a 3-light window above with hood mould and quatrefoil windows to middle stage north and south with moulded lozenge surrounds. Paired bell-chamber openings of 2-lights with transom, traceried spandrels and single hood mould to each pair. Clasping buttresses, set-back to bell-chamber stage, then supporting pairs of tall square pinnacles set diagonally. Quatrefoil frieze to base, above moulded plinth, frieze of cusped lozenges below bell-chamber stage and panelled battlemented parapet with corbel frieze and large gargoyles to centre of sides - two monkeys to south and bearded woolcomber to east. Body of church has off-set buttresses to bays, diagonal off-set buttresses to chancel and battlemented parapets; some original polygonal battlemented lead rainwater heads. Windows to aisles, chancel and above west door have 4-centred heads, similar Perpendicular tracery and hood moulds. Interior: a hall church with no clerestory or chancel arch. Nave has 4-bay arcades, piers with high moulded bases to clear pews and four-shafts-four-hollows section, moulded capitals and double wave-moulded arches. Shafts on angel corbels carrying roof principals and traceried spandrels with shields. Fine original roofs; roofs have carved wall plates with leaf trail and scroll decoration, similar decoration to principals, many-moulded ridge pieces and purlins, stop-moulded rafters and carved bosses. Triple-chamfered tower arch with shafts innermost. Font: octagonal with panelled stem and shields in quatrefoils to bowl. Oak font cover with 5 twisted balusters supporting pyramidal top; probably mid C17. Several groups of benches, substantially original and square-topped with thin buttress-shafts. Wrought-iron candle-holders to benches with flowers of c.1890. Mid C18 communion rail with column-on-vase balusters. Communion table of similar date with cabriole legs. Late C19 reredos of oak with carving in high relief of Last Supper. C18 reredos in vestry with round-arched Commandment boards. 3 funeral hatchments to members of Irby family; oil on canvas. Royal Arms of George II; oil on canvas. C19 stain-glass east and west windows. Monuments: standing wall monument to Thomas Catesby, last of his line, d.1699, erected 1700. Various marbles. Busts of him and his wife on base with relief showing 3 kneeling daughters, small child with a skull and baby in swaddling clothes. Slate inscription panel bears Catesby lineage and has round-arched surround with black marble console keyblock and is flanked by veined marble Ionic columns supporting pediment with cartouche of arms. Standing wall monument to William Irby, 1st Baron Boston, d.1775 by Nollekens. Various marbles. Mourning female figure leaning on urn and holding extinguished torch. Obelisk background. Wall monuments to Mary Irby, d.1792 also by Nollekens, with weeping cherub by an urn. Wall monument in Grecian style to Edward Irby, d.1805 with trophy of arms to base, and signed J. de Vaeri, London. Wall monument to Frederick, 2nd Baron Boston, by W. Pitts with relief of praying family and ascending angel. Other simpler, early C19 and later wall monuments to members of Irby family. (Buildings of England: Northamptonshire: pp459 and 460; VCH: Northamptonshire: Vol 4, pp289-291)

Record last edited

Mar 13 2024 2:10PM