KINGS CLIFFE. CHURCH : ALL SAINTS & ST JAMES
Mid February 2008, and a day that seemed more like early April. This was the first trip out on the cycle of the year and I have to admit that I got a little carried away by the Spring like weather, ending up cycling over 30 miles..rather than the 10 miles or so "Warm Up" that I had expected to do when I set out. End result here was a considerable number of aches and pains on the Saturday evening.
This really was a gorgeous day. This was the seventh, and final church of the day. My main reason for re-visiting this church was to re-shoot the interior, which fell foul of some atrocious light conditions the last time that I was there. I also wanted to re-shoot all of the gargoyles here with the new camera.
I noticed a couple of things that I missed on my earlier trip here. Firstly, a "WR" had inscribed his name in to the South Porch in 1701...therefore, whoever says that vandalism is a modern occurrence is possibly not correct!! I have seen this quite regularly in Lincolnshire, but not as often in East Northants. Secondly, I missed a superb ancient grave, pictured bottom left of this page. A tiny double grave with initials SB on one side of the grave and RB on the other. The date of 1686 is the same for both but who they were, and the manner of their passing (both at the same time?) sadly lost in the mists of time...
Very high quality gargoyles, on both the North and South walls. The gargoyles on the South wall appeared to be older than those on the North. Was particularly fond of one playing a set of pipes and a dog like animal with a particularly fine set of teeth! A complete set of photographs of the gargoyles and grotesques from this church can be found on my second web site, the link for which can be found on this sites home page.
The oldest part of this church is the tower which, according to the history leaflet available in the church, dates from the first part of the 12th Century. The spire was added in the 13th Century, with the rest of the church mainly dating from the 15th Century.
Kings Cliffe's most famous son was born in the village in 1686. William Law was an important theologian whose major work "A Serious Call To A Devout And Holy Life" is still read today. He retired back to the village of his birth in 1740 and is buried in the churchyard.
The church was open and welcoming. As mentioned earlier there is a leaflet available detailing the history of the church. Postcards are also available. This is one of the friendliest villages that I have been to whilst compiling this site. I can remember coming here with my father years ago, when he used to deliver coal in the area, and liking this village even as a child.
Nice to have a chat to two fellow church enthusiasts, who were exploring this church at the same time as I was there. Always good to have a brief chat with someone with similar interests.
