All Saints parish church Norton has a C13 tower, the rest of the church is mostly in the Decorative style of C14.

The font near the entrance is C13 with recut protruding faces.

The stained glass in the north and south aisle windows contain shields and single figures of the St. Edmund, St. Stephen, St. David, St. Patrick, and St. Andrew of unknown the date and maker. However, the east window in the chancel is dated 1847 and signed by Thomas Willement known as “the Father of Victorian Stained Glass”.

The north aisle contains a rustic monument to Elizabeth Verney (d1633) of a kneeling figure. The south aisle has a large alabaster memorial to Elizabeth Knightley (d1602).

The chancel contains two C17 monuments to memebers of the Breton family. A large pink and white marble monument to Nicholas Breton (d1658) and his wife, and a wall tablet to Nicholas Breton (d1624). On the north wall of the chancel is a monument by William Behnes dedicated to Charlotte Botfield. The life size sculpture is that of her son mourning his mother.

Outside on the south wall of the church is a painted sundial and an early medieval mass dial, a crude form of sundial used to determine when to ring the bells for mass, scratch into the stonework.

Tags: alabaster, font, mass dial, monument, scratch dial, sculpture, stained glass, sundial, tomb, tower, willement, william behnes

The parish church of St. Giles, Chesterton, is mostly of an early C14 Decorative design, with some remnants of an earlier C13 church. The church itself is in an isolated field some distance from the village, but near to the old Peytos mansion that was pulled down in 1802. Its isolation makes the inscription on the sundial strange, as there were hardly ever anyone around to loiter.

The porch is c1400, leading to an early C13 south doorway carved with ballflowers. To the east is an early C14 priest doorway.

Inside is the door is a C13 font with a tapering round bowl. The church itself is long and narrow consisting of nave and chancel, without any division between the two. The blocked north door is probably the oldest part of the church being a remnant of the earlier C12 building. It used to be the entrance used by the Peyto family and now incorporates a memorial to the 1914-1918 war.

The North and South chancel window are c1330 inset with Victorian stained glass, the north window incorporates some fragments of C15 glass, the south window is from the Hardman Studios Birmingham (1890). The large window in the south wall of the nave is C15 with modern stained glass.

The chancel also contains a modern piscina inserted into C14 image niche with a ribbed vaulted soffit and crocket enrichment. At the west end of the church are Baroque memorial monuments to the Peyto family. The first memorial is to William Peyto, 1619, and his wife Eleanor, was commissioned from by the Sculptor and Architect Nicholas Stone at a cost of £150. The second memorial is to Edward Peyto 1643 and Elizabeth his wife. The busts are set on a pedestal flanked by shafts of dark marble with white Corinthian capitals. This monument was made by John Stone the son of Nicholas Stone, and designer of the old mansion.

On the south wall is a late C16 alabaster tomb of Humfrey Peyto (d 30 March 1585), and Anne his wife. The date of Anne’s death (1604) is not recorded on the tomb. The tomb was made by craftsmen in Burton-on-Trent, which by the end of C16 had become the centre for work of this type having supplanted those of Nottingham.

Tags: alabaster, font, giles, hardman, nicholas stone, romanesque, stained glass, sundial, tomb, tower

The parish church of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Saint Leodegarius dates from 1100, but is mostly an C14-C15 construction. Saint Leodegarius was a French Benedictine Bishop who became abbot of St. Maxentius in 653.

The gabled south porch and most of the pews in the nave are early 14th century.

The crucifix above the rood screen was designed and made by Liz Holden from Long Buckby in 1995. The rood screen itself dates from 1500 and was installed by George Catesby as a thanks offering for the return of the Estate to the family two years earlier in 1498. The estate had been confiscated in 1485 following the execution of William Catesby, a principle councilor to Richard III, who had been captured by Henry Tudor at the Battle of Bosworth (22 August 1485).

The Catesby’s next came to prominence when Robert Catesby (1573 – November 8, 1605), became the originator of the plot to blow up James I and Parliament in 1605.

The triple level Jacobean pulpit and box pews behind it are early 17th century. The pews in front are medieval, the lower level rests were for elbows, as the congregation would not have had books. The clerk would sit in the lower part of the pulpit, whilst the vicar conducted the service from the middle tier and the preacher at the top. The chancel was extensively remodeled during the C18 and C19.

The south wall contains a fresco of 1325 depicting the flagellation of St. Margaret. The west wall has a 16th century fresco commemorating the Black Death. The figure of Death holds a spade and pick. The north wall has a large 15th century fresco of St. Christopher.

Above the chancel arch are medieval wall paintings depicting "The Passion" these frescos are 14th and 15th century. They were uncovered during restoration work in 1927 and are the most extensive cycles in the UK. The section on the south wall depicts the crucifixion and the Marys at the tomb, that on the north wall the entry into Jerusalem.
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The plain font is Norman with a medieval wooden cover. The C19 chancel window has scenes showing the nativity, Risen Christ, and three Mary’s at the tomb. In the north aisle is a full length brass figure of Sir Richard Catesby 1553, wearing tabard with Catesby Arms.

The rood screen has 4 traceried openings, coving with fan vaulting, and dado with blind tracery and original painted decoration.

Sculpture of St Leger at Chartres Cathedral.

Tags: brass, fresco, leodegarius, pulpit, rood screen, tower

The parish church of All Saints West Haddon is C12 with C14 and C17 additions. Inside the church has three bay arcades with double-chamfered arches with octagonal piers.

The double-chamfered chancel arch was restored in the 19th century. The perpendicular nave roof retains some original timbers and has angel corbels.

A piscina can be seen in south wall of the chancel, the east window contains C19 stained glass.

The C12 Romanesque square font has scenes on its sides depicting the baptism of Christ, the nativity, Christ in glory between the eagle of St. John and the angel of St. Matthew, and the entry into Jerusalem.

The south aisle east window is by Pugin, the adjacent south aisle window is C19.

as are the other stained glass windows in the church.

Tags: font, piscina, pugin, romanesque, stained glass, tower