MAXEY. CHURCH : ST PETER

The end of August 2008, and the Sun was shining, an events worthy of note in itself in the drab, miserable non event that the English Summer of 2008 was rapidly turning in to. The Met Office promised sunshine agter lunch, and so it turned out. I had left home with solid cloud cover, but by the time that I rached the outskirts of Maxey, the Sun was blazing down all it was a healthy 26 degrees!

  The earliest stages of this present church are thought to date from the early 12th Century. However, fragments of tombstones found in the church grounds and housed in the Sweeting Museum within the church suggest that there was a church here in Saxon times. The village and church here were sacked by the Danes in 1013.

  This was a fate that befell more than one village in the area, one of which being Castor. There are similarities between the churches at Maxey and Castor and it is thought that the same architect or mastor mason was responsible for both buildings.

  The church can be found right at the western edge of the village. The church was built to serve the needs of three hamlets, Maxey, Nunton and Lolham. The position of the church would have left it equidistant between the three hamlets.

  A very agricultural scene here with harvesting going on in the fields around the church. The church itself is set in some very pleasing countryside. Some evidence of wealth in days long gone as well with a fair few elaborately carved, though badly weathered, graves and tombs in evidence.

  To the north of the church is an area of woodland, with some man made lakes. Lovely, picturesque area for a picnic. Not the best place to photograph St Peter's church from though when the sun is out!

  The church is set in very large and well maintained grounds. The church is kept locked. It has it's own web site, which can be visited by clicking on the photograph in the bottom right hand corner of the page.