Description

BLAKESLEY CHURCH STREET
SP6250 (East side)
10/31 Church of St. Mary
17/05/60 (Formerly listed as Church of
the Blessed virgin)

GV II*

Church. Tower of c.1300, body of church C14 and C15, early C16 south chancel
chapel. Restored 1874. Chancel rebuilt 1897 by firm of Law and Harris. Coursed
squared ironstone and limestone, lead roofs, except for plain-tile roofs of
chancel and tower. Chancel, vestry and organ chamber, south chancel chapel,
nave, north and south aisles, south porch, west tower. 2-bay chancel has 3-light
geometrical east window and 2-light Decorated style windows north and south.
Blocked, chamfered, priest's door to south; vestry and organ chamber to north,
continuing north aisle, with vestry door to east and 3-light Decorated style
window to north. South chancel chapel has 3-light arched mullion east window
with cut spandrels and similar 4-light window to south. Nave has four-bay
clerestory with straight-headed windows with cinquefoil-headed lights and
battlemented parapet. North aisle has 2-light straight-headed windows to north
with ogee-headed lights and many-moulded north door. South aisle has 2-light
straight-headed windows to south with pointed trefoil-headed lights and
one-light west window with cinquefoil-headed light. Roll-moulded south door in
south porch with double-chamfered doorway, 2-light straight-headed window to
east with pointed trefoil-headed lights, and 2-light straight-headed window to
west. 3-stage west tower has 3-light Perpendicular west window, one-light
chamfered window to west and south stair-turret with ridged stone roof to
south-east, 2-light bell-openings with trefoils to heads and cusped heads to
lights, corbel table, battlemented parapet and pyramidal roof. Diagonal offset
buttresses to west angles of tower and south aisle and chancel chapel, angle
offset buttresses to chancel, and buttresses, mostly offset, between bays of
north and south aisles. Plain stone-coped parapets to chancel and aisles.
Windows and doors all have hood moulds. Interior: chancel has alabaster reredos,
and double-chamfered arch to south chancel chapel. Fine Decorated chancel arch
with foliage capitals. Nave has 3-bay arcades with continuous double
sunk-quadrant mouldings. Tower arch has triple responds, the main one with
fillet, and triple hollow-chamfered arch. A blocked door above tower arch with
Caernarvon-arched head. Perpendicular roof to nave with moulded ties, ridge and
purlins supported on angels making music. C19 stained glass east and west
windows. Painted wood table of Kindred and Affinity. Brass to Mathew Swetenham,
d.1416, Bowbearer to Henry IV. Painted alabaster wall monument to William Wattes
d.1614 with 4 headless kneeling figures in 2 tiers.
(Buildings of England: Northamptonshire, p.106 Kellys Directory for
Northamptonshire, 1928; Blakesley Then and Now, P.B. Kingston, 1983, pp. 13-16).

Listing NGR: SP6270550471

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17545509

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  The green guide for historic buildings: how to improve the environmental performance of listed and historic buildings
• 
  Kent: West and the Weald: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Lancashire: Liverpool and the South-West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Old House Care and Repair
• 
  Maintaining and Repairing Old Houses: A Guide to Conservation, Sustainability and Economy
• 
  Hampshire: South (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)