Hemington. CHURCH : ST PETER & ST PAUL

I reached Hemington towards the end of an Easter Sunday 2007 churchcrawl and decided to stop here for some lunch. It was an early start as I wanted to be home at a reasonable time. England were taking on Australia later on that day in the Cricket World Cup and hopes were high for an England win. Sadly, these proved to be unfounded!

  I had just cycled from Luddington In The Brooke, with the church there covered in gargoyles and grotesques of the highest quality. Some excellent ones here as well, but these look more modern than at Luddington. Lovely pieces of work these.

  This church of St Peter and St Paul is situated some distance from the rest of the village. The church was locked, but according to a little internet research, it is said to hold oaks stalls that were removed from nearby Fotheringhay church or castle. This church stands right at the side of what we better call a main road. Precious little traffic though meant that it was very quiet and peaceful. One car and two horses went past in the half an hour that I was here!

  The church is said to have been re-built, with the exception of the tower, in 1666 and the tower is older, having been built by Richard Montagu in the early 16th Century. The mark of the Montagu family can still be found on the South wall of the church, and is pictured below left.

  Church grounds are exquisite! The older graves are to be found on the South side and several of these date from the mid 17th Century. Though worn now it is still evident that these were remarkable pieces of work in their day. One in particular caught my eye. Pictured below right, two cherubs carrying holding the image of a face, with the face being on its side!

  Spring blossoms were everywhere, and it really was very pleasant....which is more than can be said for the cricket which I had rushed home to see.