2
Nov

Preston Capes – St. Peter and St. Paul.

   Posted by: churches   in Daventry District, Northamptonshire

St. Peter and St. Paul - Preson Capes preston capes 27092008-09

Dating back to the early 13th century the parish church of St Peter and St Paul is built from the local ironstone which was quarried nearby, and limestone. Much of the church was restored in 1853. Remains of the base of what is thought to be an earlier Anglo-Saxon preaching cross is to be found in the south east of the church yard. The head of the cross is thought to be that seen in the external south wall. In the late 11th century a small priory of Clunic Monks (never more than four), a dependency of the Abbey of Cluny in France, was established in Preston Capes. It was later abandoned due to noise from the nearby castle of Hugh de Leicester, sheriff of Northamptonshire. Being unsuitable for a monastery the monks moved to Daventry.

When the church was restored in 1853 a Victorian stained glass window was installed, the remains of which survive in the top tracery. This was later replaced by plain opaque glass. However this was replaced by an engraved window by Annabel Rathbone and is a memorial to George St John Ravenshear who died in 1972 at the age of ten and whose face appears as that of St George, in the middle bottom pane. The window was provided by Norman St John-Stevas, who used to live in the vicarage next door to the church.

preston capes 27092008-06

The pews in the nave are Victorian copies of the those in the chancel which are medieval and have traceried panels and poppyhead bench ends.

preston capes 27092008-10

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This entry was posted on Sunday, November 2nd, 2008 at 9:43 pm and is filed under Daventry District, Northamptonshire. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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