Tuesday, June 14, 2011

St Mary, Welford, Northamptonshire



















A handsome exterior and quite a large church, the west tower and nave and aisles of standard outline but with a slightly taller chancel and a much taller and wider south chapel. The south chapel tower and clerestory are all Perp., the aisles have Dec windows. Inside however the south arcade is EE and the north arcade Victorian like the aisle: however the tomb chest and recess are original work. Large and squat organ case nearly fills the west end of the nave, looking like it was perhaps made for somewhere else and brought here. Alternatively would it have fitted in the south chapel? Matching Jacobean screens to both side chapels, and another under the tower behind the organ. In the south chapel now used as a vestry and office, a memorial to Francis Saunders, a large marble surround with shields and allegorical figures on the broken pediment and a centrally placed brass plate incised with many kneeling family members including a baby in a crib. Two medieval bench ends are incorporated into the reader's desk in the chancel, but my favourite feature was the EE font.

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