I revisited today [29/03/18] and found the church locked again. So I set off to find the keyholder and realised that the house I'd knocked up before was not the keyholder address. I found No1 Stamford road but was unable to locate No2, so to anyone who is not local this is a locked church; and good luck with them with that.
ST MARY. The visual memory of the church is of four cedar trees to the W and three to the E, and of the contrast between the ambitious chancel and the rest. Short Norman W tower with clasping buttresses and slit-windows. Tower arch narrow, single-stepped, with responds carrying late C12 crocket capitals. C13 arcades and chancel arch. The arcades have quatrefoil piers and double-chamfered arches. The aisles externally mostly C19. The chancel was rebuilt by Sir William Fitzwilliam of Milton, who died in 1534 and wished to be buried in the chancel ‘lately edified’ by him. Ashlar-faced to the S. Five-light E and four-light side windows. - STAINED GLASS. Some of the original glass is preserved in the chancel. - FONT. Octagonal, probably of the 1660s, with panels each with a leaf and a rose. - PLATE. Breadholder, 1633 (?); Cup and Cover Paten, 1687; Flagon, perhaps German, c.1750. - MONUMENTS. In the nave recumbent effigy of a Knight, the tomb-chest mostly C19. The effigy is of c.1400. - Sir William Fitzwilliam d. 1534. Kneeling brasses against the back wall of a recess. The architectural parts of plaster. Tomb-chest with ornate quatrefoils. Colonnettes with raised lozenge pattern. Four small ogee arches. - Sir William Fitzwilliam d. 1599. Two recumbent effigies. - Edward Hunter alias Perry d. 1646. Bust of a boy in front of a black needle obelisk. Below a cartouche with weeping putti and an inscription commemorating him as a ‘courteous soldier’, ‘grassante bello civili’, and ending with
‘Noe crucifixe you see, noe Frightfull Brand
Of superstitions here, Pray let me stand.’
- William, first Earl Fitzwilliam, d. 1719 and wife. By James Fisher of Camberwell. Standing white marble figures. Unusual, restless draperies. Grey surround with detached Corinthian columns and a broken, open, segmental pediment. The magnum opus of this little known sculptor.
MARHOLM. It has a thatched farm with a stone dated 1633, inlaid with initials and a spray of flowers in lead, and the farmhouse has round and pointed window arches looking charming in their new coat of white paint when we called. On the south wall is a sundial from last century, and four tiny ones at the corners; and the blocked medieval windows leave no doubt that this old farm has been here since Marholm was mentioned in a Papal Bull seven or eight centuries ago. It has a big tithe barn.
The churchyard is ringed in with the sombre glory of stately cedars, and through it the village folk have been coming to this church for 20 generations. The low tower has a small pyramid spire and round-headed openings deeply splayed; it is 13th century. On the north of the tower are some 14th century coffin lids. The arch into the nave has capitals carved with flowers by craftsmen 700 years ago, who set in the wall above it a little carving of a head and shoulders. Both arcades of the wide clerestoried nave have the deep mouldings of the 13th century in their capitals, and the chancel arch is by the same builders. The clerestory, with three windows on each side above the three arches of the nave, is 15th century.
The glory of the church is the great chancel, which is as wide and as long as the nave, and flooded with light from l6th century windows. The east window has five wide lights with shields in old glass, and a border of 15th century glass fragments. There are similar old fragments in the borders of two other sanctuary windows, and in the middle of the south window is old glass with a picture of a complete 15th century church with an octagonal tower and battlements, its foreground a mass of bright gold.
The Fitzwilliams have held the manor of Marholm for centuries, and one of them built the chancel in which he lies. He was William Fitzwilliam, Sheriff of Northamptonshire in 1524. He was 70 when Cardinal Wolsey fell, and was then living at Milton Hall. The cardinal on his way north sent his servant Cavendish to ask if he could rest at his house, and the answer came that no man except the king could be more welcome. Wolsey, who was “seeking a little earth to lie in,” stayed for the night and had “great and honourable entertainment, lacking no good cheer of costly viands.” Sir William rebuilt Marholm chancel, and here they laid him with his wife, the brass portraits showing them kneeling beneath a canopy, he in armour, she in a mantle emblazoned with the Fitzwilliam arms. The brasses are dated 1534 and are on the back of the dark grey chalk and marble tomb, which has a frieze of fleur-de-lys on the top, and three twisted columns on the front to support a richly carved canopy. The brass of the knight has red and white diamond squares on the surcoat, and there are 12 coloured shields about the kneeling figures, more shields being in the panelling on the sides and front of the tomb.
Here lies also Sir William’s grandson, another Sir William, one of Queen Elizabeth’s ablest viceroys, though he had little but ill fortune in his public life. It is said that on one occasion he saved the army from destruction in an Irish campaign, but he suffered from pain and poverty and begged that he might come home. The queen sent him a thousand pounds to save him from beggary, but at last he had the good fortune to spend twelve quiet years in England, during which he was Governor of Fotheringhay and had Mary Stuart as a prisoner. We see this knight with his wife Ann lying on an altar tomb, their coloured figures being carved in chalk. He died in 1599. A white marble pedestal with a black obelisk high above it, behind two cherubs and a portrait bust, is in memory of a young son of the family who died at 22 in 1646. He was Edward Hunter, and was evidently a stout Protestant, for his inscription ends with quaint words telling us that no Crucifix here we see, no frightful brand of superstition: “pray let me stand.”
An impressive white marble monument in the chancel, with four columns and lifesize figures, is to the first Earl Fitzwilliam and his wife; it is signed by the sculptor, Jacob Fisher of Camberwell, 1719, and has a background of brilliant heraldry above the heads of the earl and countess, a gilt helmet lying loose between their feet. Also in the chancel is a modern monument to Evelyn Fitzwilliam, almost startling in the lifelike character of the white marble bust.
Older than all these is the altar tomb of Sir John de Wittlebury, lord of the manor in the reign of Henry the Fourth; of great interest are the figures holding hands. He is wearing a complete suit of armour such as was worn at Agincourt and the collar that shows he was a personal servant of the king; delightful and most unusual is the animated frieze of little animals beautifully carved running all round the tomb. The 15th century chapel where it stands has an open timbered roof, and helmets, a sword, gauntlet, and spear are hanging on the walls.
The font is carved on its eight sides with double roses, and from each rose hangs a big leaf, each one different. It is medieval.
The churchyard is ringed in with the sombre glory of stately cedars, and through it the village folk have been coming to this church for 20 generations. The low tower has a small pyramid spire and round-headed openings deeply splayed; it is 13th century. On the north of the tower are some 14th century coffin lids. The arch into the nave has capitals carved with flowers by craftsmen 700 years ago, who set in the wall above it a little carving of a head and shoulders. Both arcades of the wide clerestoried nave have the deep mouldings of the 13th century in their capitals, and the chancel arch is by the same builders. The clerestory, with three windows on each side above the three arches of the nave, is 15th century.
The glory of the church is the great chancel, which is as wide and as long as the nave, and flooded with light from l6th century windows. The east window has five wide lights with shields in old glass, and a border of 15th century glass fragments. There are similar old fragments in the borders of two other sanctuary windows, and in the middle of the south window is old glass with a picture of a complete 15th century church with an octagonal tower and battlements, its foreground a mass of bright gold.
The Fitzwilliams have held the manor of Marholm for centuries, and one of them built the chancel in which he lies. He was William Fitzwilliam, Sheriff of Northamptonshire in 1524. He was 70 when Cardinal Wolsey fell, and was then living at Milton Hall. The cardinal on his way north sent his servant Cavendish to ask if he could rest at his house, and the answer came that no man except the king could be more welcome. Wolsey, who was “seeking a little earth to lie in,” stayed for the night and had “great and honourable entertainment, lacking no good cheer of costly viands.” Sir William rebuilt Marholm chancel, and here they laid him with his wife, the brass portraits showing them kneeling beneath a canopy, he in armour, she in a mantle emblazoned with the Fitzwilliam arms. The brasses are dated 1534 and are on the back of the dark grey chalk and marble tomb, which has a frieze of fleur-de-lys on the top, and three twisted columns on the front to support a richly carved canopy. The brass of the knight has red and white diamond squares on the surcoat, and there are 12 coloured shields about the kneeling figures, more shields being in the panelling on the sides and front of the tomb.
Here lies also Sir William’s grandson, another Sir William, one of Queen Elizabeth’s ablest viceroys, though he had little but ill fortune in his public life. It is said that on one occasion he saved the army from destruction in an Irish campaign, but he suffered from pain and poverty and begged that he might come home. The queen sent him a thousand pounds to save him from beggary, but at last he had the good fortune to spend twelve quiet years in England, during which he was Governor of Fotheringhay and had Mary Stuart as a prisoner. We see this knight with his wife Ann lying on an altar tomb, their coloured figures being carved in chalk. He died in 1599. A white marble pedestal with a black obelisk high above it, behind two cherubs and a portrait bust, is in memory of a young son of the family who died at 22 in 1646. He was Edward Hunter, and was evidently a stout Protestant, for his inscription ends with quaint words telling us that no Crucifix here we see, no frightful brand of superstition: “pray let me stand.”
An impressive white marble monument in the chancel, with four columns and lifesize figures, is to the first Earl Fitzwilliam and his wife; it is signed by the sculptor, Jacob Fisher of Camberwell, 1719, and has a background of brilliant heraldry above the heads of the earl and countess, a gilt helmet lying loose between their feet. Also in the chancel is a modern monument to Evelyn Fitzwilliam, almost startling in the lifelike character of the white marble bust.
Older than all these is the altar tomb of Sir John de Wittlebury, lord of the manor in the reign of Henry the Fourth; of great interest are the figures holding hands. He is wearing a complete suit of armour such as was worn at Agincourt and the collar that shows he was a personal servant of the king; delightful and most unusual is the animated frieze of little animals beautifully carved running all round the tomb. The 15th century chapel where it stands has an open timbered roof, and helmets, a sword, gauntlet, and spear are hanging on the walls.
The font is carved on its eight sides with double roses, and from each rose hangs a big leaf, each one different. It is medieval.
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