The Holy Sepulchre, Northampton
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Holy Sepulchre is a Norman
round church A round church is a church construction with a completely circular plan. There are many Nordic round churches in Sweden and Denmark (notably the island of Bornholm); round churches were popular in Scandinavia in the 11th and early 12th centuries ...
in Sheep Street,
Northampton Northampton () is a market town and civil parish in the East Midlands of England, on the River Nene, north-west of London and south-east of Birmingham. The county town of Northamptonshire, Northampton is one of the largest towns in England; ...
, England. It is a Grade I listed building. Dating from circa 1100, it was possibly built by Simon de Senlis, Earl of Northampton. There are four medieval round churches still in use in England; the others are:
Holy Sepulchre, Cambridge The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, generally known as The Round Church, is an Anglican church in the city of Cambridge, England. It is located on the corner of Round Church Street and Bridge Street. Since 1950 the church has been designated a G ...
; Temple Church, London; and St John the Baptist,
Little Maplestead Little Maplestead is a village and civil parish in the Braintree district of Essex, England. Amenities Little Maplestead once had a Knights Hospitaller establishment called Little Maplestead Preceptory. The round parish church, dedicated to ...
, Essex. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre (Northampton) Restoration Trust was established in 1982 as a registered charity.


Inspiration

Simon de Senlis, Earl of Northampton, was responsible for making Northampton a
Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norm ...
stronghold by building Northampton Castle (now destroyed) and a town wall (approximately on the site of the present inner ring road). It is also probable that he was responsible for the building of
All Hallows Church All-Hallows-the-Great was a church in the City of London, located on what is now Upper Thames Street, first mentioned in 1235. Destroyed in the Great Fire of London of 1666, the church was rebuilt by the office of Sir Christopher Wren. All-Hallo ...
by the market place in the centre of Northampton and the church of the Holy Sepulchre to the north. In around 1096, Simon de Senlis joined the First Crusade to the
Holy Land The Holy Land; Arabic: or is an area roughly located between the Mediterranean Sea and the Eastern Bank of the Jordan River, traditionally synonymous both with the biblical Land of Israel and with the region of Palestine. The term "Holy ...
. There he would have seen the
Church of the Holy Sepulchre The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, hy, Սուրբ Հարության տաճար, la, Ecclesia Sancti Sepulchri, am, የቅዱስ መቃብር ቤተክርስቲያን, he, כנסיית הקבר, ar, كنيسة القيامة is a church i ...
near the centre of Jerusalem. He would have seen it as a round church supported on eighteen columns or piers with an ambulatory around the perimeter on the west of the church, and the well attested site of Christ's tomb at the centre. There would have been four apses at each of the cardinal points, and on the east side there would have been a facade, so that the east apse was accessible directly from the rotunda. After restoration, this church is what would have remained of a 4th-century church built by
Constantine I Constantine I ( , ; la, Flavius Valerius Constantinus, ; ; 27 February 22 May 337), also known as Constantine the Great, was Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337, the first one to convert to Christianity. Born in Naissus, Dacia Mediterranea ...
. It is likely that after his return to Northampton, Simon de Senlis built the "Holy Sepulchre" in Northampton, ca 1100. It is approximately half the size of the church in Jerusalem. The original church of about 1100 had a round nave of 8 columns, supporting a triforium. An ambulatory ran round the perimeter. The remains of a
Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norm ...
window in the present nave, however, suggests that the original round church had a chancel to the east, probably apse-ended. A North aisle was added circa 1180 and second North aisle was added circa 1275. During the early 15th century, a South aisle was built, the triforium of the round nave was replaced by a clerestory, and a Western tower was added.


Original building

Crusades and pilgrimages continued to the Holy Land, resulting in further building of round churches in England, and around thirty years after the building of the Holy Sepulchre, Northampton, a similar Holy Sepulchre church was built in Cambridge which, although smaller than the one in Northampton, may be indicative of the original church. The entrance of the Round Church in Cambridge is through a west round-arched doorway. The entrance to the Northampton church may have been similar, as the south porch is of a much later date and, in the 14th century, a tower and spire was added to the west of the round church. On entering the church at Cambridge, the plan is similar with eight large round piers, but unlike the church in Northampton, the ambulatory is vaulted with a gallery above. The piers support Norman round arches and there is Norman dog-tooth or zig-zag decoration throughout. At the Holy Sepulchre, Northampton, three original Norman windows survive: one to the left of the south porch at low level and two on the north at high level. The fact that windows are positioned at two different levels indicates there would have been a gallery. Evidence of a
corbel In architecture, a corbel is a structural piece of stone, wood or metal jutting from a wall to carry a superincumbent weight, a type of bracket. A corbel is a solid piece of material in the wall, whereas a console is a piece applied to the s ...
running round the perimeter supports the argument, but unlike Cambridge, there are no springers to suggest the form of vaulting. There are no gallery openings in the rotunda at high level and the piers support pointed arches characteristic of a more later architecture than the Norman round arches. The church at Cambridge has a conical stone-slated roof. In the nineteenth century it was restored as was expected to be in keeping with the original Norman design. The Holy Sepulchre, Northampton, presently has a slightly flatter lead roof and it is likely that the roof was originally as the roof at Cambridge.


Alterations

Throughout the ages, a nave, chancel and aisles were added to the east of the round church at Northampton, and in the nineteenth century, the prolific architect Sir George Gilbert Scott was involved in extensive restoration to bring the church into its present state. The chancel screen is by John Oldrid Scott, 1880.


Clergy

*
John de Bothby John de Bothby, or Boothby ( born c.1320-died after 1382) was an English-born cleric and judge who became Lord Chancellor of Ireland. Biography Boothby was born at Boothby Pagnall in Lincolnshire, the second son of Thomas de Bothby and his wife ...
*
Robert Sibthorpe Robert Sibthorpe or Sibthorp (died 1662) was an English clergyman who gained notoriety during the reign of King Charles I of England for his outspoken defense of the divine right of kings. Biography Sibthorpe was a fellow of Trinity College, Ca ...
from 1619 * Edward Pierce, 1660 to 1663 *
Peter Whalley Peter Whalley (February 21, 1921 – September 18, 2007) was a Canadian caricaturist, cartoonist, illustrator and sculptor. Whalley was born in Brockville, Ontario, went to King's Collegiate School in Windsor, Nova Scotia until 1937, and ...
, 1748 to 1762


Burials

* Lochlann, Lord of Galloway


References

* Cox, Rev. Charles, and Serjeantson, Rev. R. M. (1897) ''History of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre Northampton''.


External links


Church of the Holy Sepulchre website

Church of the Holy Sepulchre (Northampton) Restoration Trust

Detailed historical record for the Holy Sepulchre, Northampton
{{DEFAULTSORT:Northampton, Holy Sepulchre Grade I listed churches in Northamptonshire
Holy Sepulchre The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, hy, Սուրբ Հարության տաճար, la, Ecclesia Sancti Sepulchri, am, የቅዱስ መቃብር ቤተክርስቲያን, he, כנסיית הקבר, ar, كنيسة القيامة is a church i ...
12th-century church buildings in England Round churches in England English churches with Norman architecture