Building record 4264/3/1 - Church of St Peter & St Paul

Parish Church. Early and mid C14, C15, tower 1809. Coursed and squared ironstone and limestone with ashlar dressings and lead and slate roofs. South tower, nave with clerestory and aisles, north transept, chancel, south porch.

{1} Parish Church. Early and mid C14, C15, tower 1809. Coursed and squared ironstone and limestone with ashlar dressings and lead and slate roofs. South tower, nave with clerestory and aisles, north transept, chancel, south porch. 4 stage tower has ironstone clasping buttresses, plinth and 3 string courses, coped parapet and 4 corner pinnacles. To south, a chamfered pointed doorway. Above, on each side a round headed louvred bell chamber opening with hood mould linked to string course. To north a parapeted porch with, to east, a C15 3-light window with 4-centred arched head. 4-bay nave has hipped roof behind parapet with coped gables and crosses. On each side, 4 hollow chamfered round headed double lancets with hood moulds. Buttressed west end has a central Geometrical triple lancet with hood mould, and above it an empty niche. Angle buttressed 3- bay aisles have chamfered plinths and coped parapets. Each has above the doorway a segmental pointed double lancet, flanked by single mid C14 triple lancets with segmental pointed heads. All the windows have hood moulds. Diagonally buttressed and parapeted north transept has to north and to east a triple lancet with Tudor arched head and hood mould. In the northern angle, a C19 canted parapeted stair turret. 3-bay chancel,C14 and C15, has string course, coped parapet and gable with cross. 2 diagonal buttresses to east, 2 to north,and a single central one to south. North side has a central C15 triple lancet with segmental head and hood mould, flanked to left by a Tudor arched doorway with decorated spandrels, hood mould, and a beaded C18 plank door. East end has a stepped sill band and a C15 panel-traceried triple lancet with segmental pointed head and hood mould. South side has to left a C15 flat headed triple window and to right a blocked C13 lancet. Both have hood moulds. Restored C14 south porch has sill band and coped gable with gabled kneelers. Plain moulded doorway with hood mould. South side has a chamfered single lancet. Interior has 2 stone benches, scissor braced roof and triple roll-moulded doorway with hood mould. C18 beaded plank door. C14 4-bay arcades have quatrefoil west piers with stiff leaf capitals and clustered east piers with moulded capitals. Double hollow chamfered arches with hood moulds, mask and fleuron stops. Early C19 hipped roof. Aisles have plain and hollow chamfered arches at the east ends, that to north with a central drop. Both have segmental headed doorways with hood moulds and restored lean-to roofs, that to south with moulded tie-beams. North transept has double hollow chamfered arch, screened off to form vestry, and to south east a moulded rood stair doorway. Restored hipped low pitched roof with moulded cambered tie- beams. Tower chamber has to east a C13 piscina and to its right a 4- centred arched C15 piscina with bracket. Restored roof with chamfered tie-beam. Chancel has a double hollow chamfered arch containing a restored late C14 traceried and crested screen. Plain low pitched roof restored C19 and late C20. Fittings include roll topped stalls and benches, Gothic desks, oak lectern and octagonal traceried pulpit, all C19. Octagonal font on round stem with 3 round flanking shafts. Memorials include limestone chest tomb with shields in lozenge panels and a canopy with coffered jambs and soffit containing brass figures, crest and inscription to Laurence Saunders, 1545. Large high quality remodelled alabaster wall monument, the central panels with facing kneeling family flanked by shallow niches containing allegorical figures. Above, a crest flanked by decorated spandrels, to the Saunders family, 1588. Part of a C16 brass with Arms and inscription. Large pedimented marble and slate tablet, 1831. Marble war memorial tablet, 1919.

{?}Harrington is an isolated medieval church standing a short distance to the north east of the village and east of the former manor of Harrington. It lies on a slight mound which is presumably natural but the potential for an earlier religious monument should not be entirely discounted as an explanation for the detached location.This was apparently a cruciform church of the 13th century or before. There is no evidence of a late Saxon church.(G.Foard).

{4} A large flat stone appeared in a 1m wide maching cut at a depth of about 0.8m (between the porch and the tower). It was between 14-18cm thick, 75cm wide and of unknown length. It appeared to be resting on a packed mass of small stones. It may have been an architectural fragment (? A lintel) or some other piece (stone coffin lid) reused in later building work.

{7}Trial excavation undertaken upon mound on which St Peters and St Pauls Church sits, no evidence found dating the origin of the mound or the construction of the church foundations.

{11} The Church of St Peter and St Paul dates from the early 14th Century, with rebuilding and additions of early 19th Century.

{12} Parish church of St Peter and St Paul. Early and mid C14, C15, tower 1809. Grade II*

{13} (SP 77838056) St Peter & St Paul's Church

St Peter and St Paul's Church, Harrington, BF107338 (Archive). SNN116318.

<1> Clews Architects, 1980s, Database for Listing of Historic Buildings of Special Architectural Interest: Northamptonshire, 2/32 (Digital archive). SNN102353.

<2> 1976, List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest ("Greenback"), H13 (unchecked) (Catalogue). SNN100754.

<3> Pevsner N.; Cherry B., 1973, The Buildings of England: Northamptonshire, p.251-52 (unchecked) (Series). SNN1320.

<3> Tiles and Architectural Ceramics Society, 2011, TACS (Tiles and Architectural Ceramics Society) Location Database, (unchecked) (Gazetteer). SNN107648.

<4> Unknown, 1996, Harrington Church, 1996, (checked) (SMR Report Form). SNN109441.

<5> Cadman, G., 1991, Chancel Floor Tile, SS. Peter and Paul, Harrington, (checked) (Drawing). SNN109075.

<6> Richmond H., 1988, Survey of Northamptonshire Parish Churches, Harrington (unchecked) (Unpublished Report). SNN1195.

<7> NORTHAMPTONSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGY, 1996, SMR REPORT FORM, (unchecked) (Notes). SNN49385.

<8> Glynne S., 1859, Church Notes of Sir Stephen Glynne, (unchecked) (Manuscript). SNN39492.

<9> DRAWINGS, (unchecked) (Uncertain). SNN57761.

<10> Bridges J., 1791, The History and Antiquities of Northamptonshire, p.36-37 (unchecked) (Book). SNN77326.

<11> PEVSNER N., 1961, The Buildings of England: Northamptonshire (Series). SNN113374.

<12> 1991, List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest, P. 21-22 (Catalogue). SNN44695.

<13> Ordnance Survey, 1955, 1950s/60s Ordnance Survey 6 Inch Mapping Series (SP44NE), 1958 (Map). SNN61128.

Record last edited

Dec 17 2024 11:21AM