Font - Church of St John the Baptist- Chelveston - Northant's - Stone Church Artefacts on Waymarking.com

This church dates from 1220 - 1250c , it was rebuilt in the present form in 1849.
The church of ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST stands between the two villages and consists of chancel, 24 ft. 6 in. by 19 ft. 6 in.; clerestoried nave, 58 ft. by 19 ft. 6 in.; north and south aisles, south porch, and north-east tower, 11 ft. by 12 ft., all these measurements being internal. The north aisle is 10 ft. 4 in. wide and the south aisle 7 ft. 8 in., the width across nave and aisles being 43 ft. 2 in. The eastern bay of each aisle is separated from the rest by an arch from the outer wall to the nave pier, and to the north-east chapel thus formed the tower is attached on its north side.
Substantially the building dates from c. 1220 to 1250, and the only subsequent alterations to the plan have been the addition of the porch and the shortening of the chancel; the clerestory is part of the 13th-century fabric. About 1290–1300 new windows were inserted in the south aisle and the porch was erected, and further changes took place in the 15th century, when the present west window of the nave was put in and the chancel probably assumed its present appearance. The east window is of this period and, though evidence is wanting, it is not unreasonable to suppose that the chancel was shortened by a bay about this time. The north aisle, with the exception of its east bay, was taken down at some time unknown and the arcade filled in; it was rebuilt in its present form in 1849, in which year the church was restored and a west gallery pulled down.
The church is built throughout of rubble, and internally the walls are plastered. The chancel has a tiled eaved roof, but the roofs of the nave and aisles are slated, behind plain ashlar parapets.
The chancel is divided by buttresses into three short bays and has a pointed east window of three cinquefoiled lights with Perpendicular tracery. On each side of the window within is a blocked and mutilated imagerecess, the canopies and one of the brackets having been destroyed. A lancet window and a double piscina were discovered and opened out in 1909 at the east end of the south wall; the piscina was partly covered by the existing east wall, but is now fully exposed to view by the removal of part of the masonry. The recess has a square chamfered head and octagonal dividing-shaft and one of the bowls is perfect: the projecting front of the second bowl has been cut away. The lancet window, which is above the piscina at the extreme end of this wall, has been restored and the width of its inner splay reduced, but the original jambs remain.
The chancel appears to have been originally about 9 ft. longer than at present. The priest's doorway is of a single chamfered order with label, and in the western bay is a 15th-century square-headed window of three cinquefoiled lights with quatrefoils in the head. There are now no windows in the north wall, but near the east end is a small rectangular aumbry and what appears to be part of a lancet jamb: externally the wall is covered by a thin coat of plaster. The chancel arch is of two chamfered orders, on double chamfered responds with moulded capitals and bases.



details from church leaflet

Approximate Age of Artefact: 13th century Relevant Website: Not listed

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