Kings Ripton

St Peter, locked no keyholder, is a Hobbiton building, slightly ramshackle and rundown but utterly charming. Simon Knox gained [accidental] access in 2015 and, judging from his Flickr set, keeping it locked means I haven't missed much but the principle of locked churches stands. "Not much of any great excitement" doesn't stand as an excuse to keep your church locked particularly when it's in the heart of the village as here; as I was taking externals two cars slowed down and the occupants eyed me suspiciously, surely proving sufficient deterrent to unwell wishers.

ST PETER. A rough building. W tower, nave with N aisle, and chancel. The chancel PISCINA is of the second third of the C13, but the exterior of the chancel is faced with early bricks, mostly headers. Perp N arcade of three bays; standard elements. - FONT. Square, with tapering sides. Norman stylized leaves on the sides, including on three sides colonnettes to separate the leaf motifs.

KINGS RIPTON. Its farm has been here about 400 years and its church about twice as long. The best possession of the village is its splendid Norman font, with a massive bowl enriched with foliage, all as dignified as when its craftsmen finished it 800 years ago. Its clerestoried church is 700 years old, and has one of the rare stone altars older than the Reformation. The roof over the nave rests on eight carved heads.

A curious thing we noticed on one of the walls, a word about a curate here who does not seem to have enjoyed the charms of this countryside or the friendliness of these people, for we read that “his lot, alas, was not so envious here.” Poor William Hodgson!

Flickr.