Building record 4666/1/1 - Church of St. Mary the Virgin, Gayton

Church built in the 14th and 15th centuries. The building was restored, the vestry and organ chamber added and chancel rebuilt in 1883 by M H Holding. The tower was restored in 1910. built of coursed limestone rubble and coursed squared ironstone, with lead roofs. The church consists of a chancel, north chancel chapel, south vestry and organ chamber, nave, north and south aisles, south porch and west tower.

{1} Church. C14 and C15, with older origins. Restored, vestry and organ chamber added and chancel rebuilt 1883 by M.H. Holding; tower restored 1910. Coursed limestone rubble and coursed squared ironstone; lead roofs. Chancel, north chancel chapel, south vestry and organ chamber, nave, north and south aisles, south porch, west tower. East window has C19 5-light window with curvilinear tracery. Chancel chapel to north and vestry and organ chamber to south continue aisles and flank chancel. Both have C19 3-light Decorated style east windows. Chapel has 2-light Decorated windows to north. Vestry and organ chamber have similar C19 windows to south and chamfered priest's door. Nave has 4-bay clerestory of 2-light windows with 4-centred heads, mostly renewed C20. North aisle has 3-light Decorated west window with sexfoil to head of central light and trefoils to heads of flanking lights. Double-roll-moulded north door. A 2-light Decorated window to east of door with sexfoil head and ogee-headed lights and 3-light window further east with ogee-headed lights, quatrefoils and mouchettes to head. Offset buttress between aisle and chapel has stone-roofed projection in angle to east and blocked roll-moulded door to west partly in aisle wall, cut back at this point to give access with chamfered relieving arch above recess. South aisle has 2- and 3-light windows, all renewed C19. C13 south door with pairs of shafts, moulded capitals and many-moulded arch in porch rebuilt C19. 3-stage west tower has west door with plain jambs and triangular heady small lancet window above. Similar window to south higher up, 2-light windows to middle stage with plate tracery and 2-light paired bell-chamber openings. Battlemented parapet and corner pinnacles. Plain stone-coped parapets to rest of church. Hood moulds to all windows. Interior: chancel has reredos with C16 linenfold panelling, probably re-used, and piscina with cusped and chamfered ogee-arched head. C19 two-bay arcade to vestry and organ chamber and arch to north chancel chapel. Double-chamfered chancel arch with polygonal responds. Nave has 3-bay arcades with octagonal piers, polygonal responds, moulded capitals and double-chamfered arches. Perpendicular roof to nave with moulded principals, ridges and purlins, partly renewed. Piscina to north chapel with ogee-arched head,and also at end of south aisle. Circular font with intersecting arcading. 6 C15 stalls in chancel said to come from St. James Abbey near Northampton with carved arm-rests and misericords representing the Virgin of the Misericord, a lion and a dragon fighting, a seraph astride two figures, three seated female figures, Christ in Majesty, Christ's Entry in Jerusalem and small praying figure with another on horseback below. C15/early C16 screenwork in vestry, much repaired. Jacobean pulpit with 2 tiers of blank arches; pulpit door re-used in bottom half of low-side window. C14 stained glass to north-west window of chapel including arms. Painted glass roundels in chapel windows with coats of arms, 3 of which are dated 1632 and smaller c17 roundels said to came from Church of St. Madeleine, Beauvais; given by W.H. Fox Talbot of Laycock Abbey. C19 stained glass east and aisle windows. Monuments: oak effigy of knight said to be Sir Philip de Gayton, d.1316, an tomb-chest with ogee-headed crocketed panels in ogee-arched recess between chancel and chapel, which is crocketed and has pinnacles and finial. Stone effigy of lady said to be Scholastica, daughter of Philip de Gayton and wife of Godfrey de Meaux, who died 1345, in many-moulded tomb recess. Minature effigy of girl reset in same recess above, of Mabilla, daughter of Thomas de Murdak and Julianna, daughter of Philip de Gayton: found 1830 in chancel wall, Stone coffin lid with foliated cross in chapel. Early C16 chest tomb in recess on south side of chancel with depressed arch and battlements with Purbeck marble slab and matrix of brass in back wall, possibly to Robert Tanfield, d.1504. Alabaster chest tomb with incised slab representing Francis Tanfield, d.l558, and his wife Bridget, d.l583 and their 18 children; chest with shields in lozenges. Attributed to the Roileys of Burton-on-Trent. Incised slab to Lady Jane Harrington, d.1662. Brass plates mounted on wall to William Houghton, d.1600, with verse, and Mary Breton, d.1704. Large C18 marble monument to Lockwood family by Robert Blore with long inscription framed by columns. Wall monuments to Richard Kent, d.1753, and Richard Kent, d.1780, both vertical ovals with cartouches of arms and signed W. Cox, Northampton. (Buildings of England: Northamptonshire, 1973, pp.221-2; Kelly's Directory for Northamptonshire, 1928; Guide leaflet).

{7} Two medieval stone coffin lids were found during repair works, there is a drawing of one dated June 1882;

{8} Ironstone parish church in village centre dating from C13; the base of the tower is Norman. Restored in 1827-28, by Reverend Dr Butler, a ceiling inserted and the interior was plastered; a further restoration in 1874 by E F Law, and 1881-83 by Matthew Holding when the upper stages of the tower were rebuilt. The nave roof needs re-covering and repairs to rainwater disposal are needed.

{10} Possible Romanesque font; The inclusion of tracery-like elements, and the deep hollow of the moulding at the bottom of the tub, suggest that this font is early 13thc. in date, although it has typically 'Romanesque' motifs. It is related to other Romanesque fonts in the area (eg: Grafton Regis, Chacombe), and probably represents the tenacity of local sculptural traditions. Pevsner posed the question: 'is it a remodelling of a Norman font, or an example of archaism?'

{11} Four undated photos, three in colour, also photo dated 22.10.1978.

{14} The shield of arms of the Gayton family is present in the north chancel chapel as well as roundels and heraldic glass. Some of the roundels are Netherlandish, of C16 date. Several are dated 1623 and 1643 and come from the church at Ste-Madeline at Beauvais.

{15} Sketches, notes, print, sketch of section of church seats;

<1> Clews Architects, 1980s, Database for Listing of Historic Buildings of Special Architectural Interest: Northamptonshire, 8/42 (checked) (Digital archive). SNN102353.

<2> List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest ("Greenback"), F09 (unchecked) (Catalogue). SNN45262.

<3> Bridges J., 1791, The History and Antiquities of Northamptonshire, p.264-65 (unchecked) (Book). SNN77325.

<4> Pevsner N.; Cherry B., 1973, The Buildings of England: Northamptonshire, p.221-2 (unchecked) (Series). SNN1320.

<5> Glynne S., 1859, Church Notes of Sir Stephen Glynne, 42 p.75 (unchecked) (Manuscript). SNN39492.

<6> , THE PARISH CHURCH OF ST MARY, (unchecked) (Uncertain). SNN44626.

<7> Dryden H.E.L., 1842-1895, Dryden Collection, DR/25/119/21 (Archive). SNN115.

<8> Historic England, 2016, Heritage at Risk: East Midlands Register 2016, p. 55 (Report). SNN110747.

<9> Historic England, 2017, Heritage at Risk: East Midlands Register 2017, p. 63 (Report). SNN111090.

<9> Historic England, 2018, Heritage at Risk: East Midlands Register 2018, p. 63 (Report). SNN111434.

<10> King's College, London, 2017, A corpus of Romanesque Sculpture in Britain and Ireland, Site 571 (Website). SNN110894.

<11> Photographs of buildings in Gayton (Photographs). SNN112169.

<12> Historic England, Undated, St Mary the Virgin's Church, Gayton, BF107317 (Archive). SNN115779.

<13> Richmond H., 1988, Survey of Northamptonshire Parish Churches (Unpublished Report). SNN1195.

<14> Marks R., 1998, Stained Glass Of Northamptonshire, p. 76-7 (Book). SNN101533.

<15> Dryden H.E.L., 1842-1895, Dryden Collection, DR/25/119/15,17,19,20,22,23 (Archive). SNN115.

Record last edited

Mar 20 2025 4:27PM