SNN101198 - Survey Of The Historic Fabric At The Church Of St James The Great, Gretton, Northamptonshire

An opportunity for recording the exposed interior fabric of the chancel at the church of St James the Great, Gretton, was provided by ongoing renovation works which necessitated the removal of panelling which had been masking the lower part of the structure for several centuries. A blocked twelfth century triple arched sedilia was recorded on the southern side of the chancel together with the remains of three blocked lancet windows dating to the thirteenth century. There was also evidence for remodelling of the stonework below the nave/chancel archway. On the north side, two similarly blocked windows were exposed, together with a third low level window possibly re-used as a funerary monument. Both walls exhibited clear evidence of rebuild or lift associated with the windows added in the eighteenth century., when the panelling was introduced from Kirby Hall by the Hatton family, who also introduced the vault to the chancel and erected funerary monuments on the chancel walls. Remains of plaster pre-dating this episode were noted in several places, but the current whitewashed plaster dates from c.1710, introduced after the organ was fitted in a specially constructed loft.