Betjeman’s Best British Churches

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Richard Surman. Betjeman’s Best British Churches

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BETJEMAN’S BEST BRITISH CHURCHES

UPDATED BY RICHARD SURMAN

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St Lawrence was begun in the mid-14th century by wool merchant John Curteys, who, with his wife, is buried in the chancel. This church must be an example of work carried out by masons based on jobs in the neighbouring county of Northamptonshire, but working here on a slightly tighter budget. All the Nene Valley features are to be seen, though delightfully out of scale, particularly in the tower and spire which are lavishly ornamented. The interior is rich and complex: a fine nave roof; the remains of a suitably horrific Doom painting; old pewing and some colour still on capitals and arches. The building provides the county’s best instance of the luxuriant spirit of the 14th century.

The church stands by the manor house and a number of pleasant houses in the village. Externally it is very picturesque; of flint and brick with a dormer window in the nave roof. An exquisite E. window has three double-shafted lancets. The church is principally renowned for its series of 13th- and 15th-century wall-paintings, which include St Christopher, a vivid Martyrdom of St Catherine and a Crucifixion.

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