NORTHBOROUGH. CHURCH : ST ANDREW
A warm Saturday afternoon in late August 2008. A rarity in the second successive great British wash out of a Summer! The Met Office said that Saturday would start overcast before the sun came out later on. We were promised 26 degrees, and it certainly felt like it as I arrived at Northborough from Etton.
This was a return visit, with my previous visit being back in January 2007. I wasn't going to visit this church at all that day, but Northborough is very close to Etton, so I did a quick detour before heading to Marholm.
What a delight this church was, an absolute must see if you are in the area. In the picture above St Andrews could pass for a castle, from other angles it couls pass for a folly, what is not in doubt is that the South Transept, dating from around 1350, and containing the tomb of James Claypole, is far too large for the rest of the church! Distinctive, unusual, charming and eccentrically English!
Interesting to see the final resting place of Oliver Cromwell's wife, Elizabeth, is to be found in this church. Her memorial slab is virtually worn bare but, according to the memprial plaque put up by the Cromwell Society, she was born in 1598 and passed away in 1665. She lived just a few hundred yards from the church.
In the churchyard are the graves of Martha Clare, wife of the famous Northamptonshire poet, and several of their children. Also in the very well maintained church grounds are some very elaborately carved gravestones. In amongst the usual ornate cherubs I found a Deaths Head Stone, pictured second from the bottom on the right, with skull and crossed bones underneath. Not the best example I have seen by any means but scarce(ish) in this part of the world!
This part of Greater Peterborough is fairly well known for its wall paintings. Northborough is not far from Peakirk, which has some of the finest wall paintings in the area. Inside the church at Northborough there are very small fragments of a repeated pattern on the north wall but more intact wall paintings on the south wall. Two photographs of these can be found at the foot of the page.
I have fallen lucky twice here. I believe that the church is normally kept locked. On my January visit some ladies were cleaning and were pleased to let me in to have a look around. On my return trip a couple were doing some tidying up and polishing prior to a harp concert due to be held in the church the following evening.Again, these people were very pleased to let me in, despite me being a bit on the hot and bothered side after a few hours in the saddle in the heat! Nice friendly people and a pleasure to meet them and see inside their lovely church. This church is a personal favourite of mine out of all the churches that are covered in this site.
