Monument record 626/1/0 - Possible medieval chapel at Thrupp

Daventry Priory maintained a chapel at Thrupp for much of the late medieval period. It was said to be desolate by 1498

{1}For most of the late medieval period Thrupp belonged to Daventry Priory which maintained a chapel there; in 1489 the prior of Daventry enclosed all the land of the village, abandoned the chapel...in a survey of the former possessions of Daventry Priory in about 1530, Thrupp is described as being formerly a town but converted into pasture and having a ruined chapel;

{2} the church was desolate in 1498;

{3}A watching brief undertaken on the excavation of a cable trench along the south side of the B4036 found two substantial stone walls. The first was aligned east to west and was 0.8m wide, surviving to a height of five courses, but had been partially robbed. There was some evidence that there was more than a single phase of building. A second wall was aligned south-west to north-east and was constructed of large ashlar-like stone blocks with a shallow, hexagonal, central, apsidal alcove. It was also heavily robbed-out. The quality of construction of both walls is suggestive of a significant building, probably not of a domestic nature. It is possible that the remains relate to the chapel known to have been located at Thrupp.

{4} The chapel of St. John the Baptist was in a field called the Priory now corrupted to the Biary meadow. [?Briery Orchard - SP 597 655];

<1> Royal Commission on The Historical Monuments of England, 1981, An Inventory of The Historical Monuments in The County of Northampton, (unchecked) (Series). SNN77381.

<2> Steane J., 1974, The Northamptonshire Landscape, p.174-75 (unchecked) (Book). SNN5137.

<3> Young, S. And Kay, F., 2014, Archaeological excavation and evaluation of a cable trench on the B4036 (Daventry to Long Buckby Road) near Thrupp Grounds Farm Northamptonshire, p. 11-16 (Report). SNN110172.

<4> Whellan, 1874, History, Topography & Directory of Northamptonshire, p. 428 (Book). SNN1002.

Record last edited

Apr 4 2019 9:56AM