WADENHOE. CHURCH : ST MICHAEL & ALL ANGELS
Unusual and beautiful this one. Perched on top of a hill, with lovely views out over the Northamptonshire countryside, the church of St Michael and All Angels is one of my favourite churches in the part of East Northants. On the approach to the church there is a Sundial, which I believe was put up to celebrate the turn of the Milennium. Very informative Sundial this, as it has markers on it which point across the field, alerting the viewer as to which other church spires can be seen from that high vantage point.
Wadenhoe has some very ancient gravestones, including one of my favourite stones seen on my travels. This is only a tiny stone, dating from the late 17th Century, with most of it having sunk in to the ground over the years. This stone has a row of three human skulls standing proud of the stone. Not to everyone's tase I know, but absolutely glorious in my opinion!
I made two visits to Wadenhoe, making a return trip due to poor lighting conditions on my original visit. On both occasions the church was open, with postcard and information booklet available. On my second trip there was some building work going on, improving the long path that leads up to the church.
Very nice stained glass windows to be found here, and some nice carved heads, with the interior ones at the base of the capitals being particular favourites.
For me though, the one thing that stood out in the interior of this church was a stone tablet in memory of Thomas and Caroline Welch Hunt...the inscription reads as follows... "Sacred to the memory of Thomas Welch Hunt Esq, late proprietor of the estate and manor of Wadenhoe, and of Caroline his wife, eldest daughter of the Revd Charles Eusby Isham, Rector of Polebrooke in this county, who were both cruelly shot by banditt, near Poestum in Italy. On 3rd December 1824. He died on the same day, having nearly completed his 28th year. She died on the morning of the following Sunday, in the 23rd year of her age. After a union of scarcely ten months, affording an impressive and mournful instance of the instability of human happiness. Their remains are interred in one grave at Naples. They were lovely and pleasant in their lives, and in their death they were not divided.
