Church

St Mary the Virgin, Woodford

St Mary the Virgin, Woodford

St Mary the Virgin is the Grade I parish church of Woodford, Northamptonshire, a church with a mid-twelfth-century core and a fourteenth-century broach spire, in the Diocese of Peterborough.

Location
Woodford, Northamptonshire
Country
England
County
Northamptonshire
City / town
Woodford
Address
Church Street, Woodford, Northamptonshire, NN14 4EX
Postcode
NN14 4EX
Built
Mid C12; C13–C14; chancel reconstructed 1866–67
Architect
James Fowler of Louth (chancel, 1866–67); William Slater of Northampton (restoration)
Denomination
Church of England
Dedication
Mary
Diocese
Peterborough
Parish
Woodford St Mary the Virgin
Grade
I
Style
Romanesque and Gothic
Materials
Regular coursed and squared coursed limestone and ironstone; lead and Collyweston slate roofs
Grid reference
SP 969 767
Opening hours
The church is open during daylight hours.
Access
Level access to the main areas. Accessible toilets nearby

Overview

Historic England dates the church to the mid-twelfth century, with early and mid-thirteenth- and fourteenth-century work and a nineteenth-century reconstruction of the chancel. Materials are coursed limestone and ironstone with lead and Collyweston slate roofs; the plan is an aisled nave, chancel, north and south porches and west tower. The church was listed Grade I on 23 May 1967 (list entry 1225983).

The Corpus of Romanesque Sculpture records the west part of the north arcade about 1190–1210, later arcade bays, and a west tower of about 1250 with a fourteenth-century ashlar broach spire. A new chancel was built to the east in the thirteenth century; the present chancel is largely of 1866–67 by James Fowler of Louth, with the rest of the church restored by William Slater of Northampton. The medieval dedication All Hallows is recorded in 1514.

The legal parish is Woodford St Mary the Virgin. This is Woodford near Thrapston (NN14), not Woodford in east London.

Further Information