St Mary's Church is a

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in com ...

Higham Ferrers Higham Ferrers is a market town and civil parish in the Nene Valley in North Northamptonshire, England, close to the Cambridgeshire and Bedfordshire borders. It forms a single built-up area with Rushden to the south and had a population of 8,82 ...

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire ( ; abbreviated Northants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Leicestershire, Rutland and Lincolnshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshi ...

. It is a Grade I

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

History and description

The present church was founded by a charter of King Henry III in about 1220, with the tower being completed in about 1250. A large proportion of the original church survives. The next phase of building, in about 1320, was the widening of the north aisle and the replacement of the

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

arcade, to allow for the insertion of the Lady Chapel. Additional windows were added to the

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the Choir (architecture), choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may termi ...

and the south aisle. The

clerestory A clerestory ( ; , also clearstory, clearstorey, or overstorey; from Old French ''cler estor'') is a high section of wall that contains windows above eye-level. Its purpose is to admit light, fresh air, or both. Historically, a ''clerestory' ...

and the low pitched roof, with parapets, is from the early 15th century, possibly under the auspices of Bishop

Henry Chichele Henry Chichele ( ; also Checheley; – 12 April 1443) was Archbishop of Canterbury (1414–1443) and founded All Souls College, Oxford. Early life Chichele was born at Higham Ferrers, Northamptonshire, in 1363 or 1364; Chichele told Pope Eu ...

, later

Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the Primus inter pares, ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the bishop of the diocese of Canterbury. The first archbishop ...

. Chichele also had the

rood screen The rood screen (also choir screen, chancel screen, or jubé) is a common feature in late medieval church architecture. It is typically an ornate partition between the chancel and nave, of more or less open tracery constructed of wood, stone, o ...

and

choir stalls A choir, also sometimes called quire, is the area of a church or cathedral that provides seating for the clergy and church choir. It is in the western part of the chancel, between the nave and the sanctuary, which houses the altar and Church tab ...

with their

misericord A misericord (sometimes named mercy seat, like the biblical object) is a small wooden structure formed on the underside of a folding seat in a church which, when the seat is folded up, is intended to act as a shelf to support a person in a p ...

s installed in about 1425. Archbishop Chichele also had

All Souls College, Oxford All Souls College (official name: The College of All Souls of the Faithful Departed, of Oxford) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Unique to All Souls, all of its members automatically become fellows (i.e., full me ...

built, and there is a resemblance between both sets of misericords, it is possible that the same carver, possibly Richard Tyllock, created both. In 1631, the spire and part of the tower collapsed, and were repaired shortly afterwards. This was the last work performed on the fabric of the church.

Simon Jenkins Sir Simon David Jenkins FLSW (born 10 June 1943) is a British author, a newspaper columnist and editor. He was editor of the ''Evening Standard'' from 1976 to 1978 and of ''The Times'' from 1990 to 1992. Jenkins chaired the National Trust f ...

, in his ''England's Thousand Best Churches'', describes the spire as "one of the finest in a county famous for spires" Jenkins, S. (2000), ''England's Thousand Best Churches'',

Penguin Books Penguin Books Limited is a Germany, German-owned English publishing, publishing house. It was co-founded in 1935 by Allen Lane with his brothers Richard and John, as a line of the publishers the Bodley Head, only becoming a separate company the ...

, , pp. 572–573. Two restorations took place during the 19th century, but both seem to have been sympathetically performed. The spire is high. The tower contains a ring of ten bells, the previous eight having been restored and rehung in a new frame, together with two new bells, in 2014 by

John Taylor & Co John Taylor Bell Foundry (Loughborough) Limited, trading as John Taylor & Co and commonly known as Taylor's Bell Foundry, Taylor's of Loughborough, or simply Taylor's, is the world's largest working bell (instrument), bell foundry. It is locat ...

Loughborough Loughborough ( ) is a market town in the Charnwood (borough), Charnwood Borough of Leicestershire, England; it is the administrative centre of Charnwood Borough Council. At the United Kingdom 2021 census, the town's built-up area had a popula ...

, the project marking the 600th anniversary of Henry Chichele's consecration as Archbishop of Canterbury. 167 full peals were rung on the eight bells and thirty three have now been rung on the ten, one being in a new "method", Regnum Diutissime ("the longest reign") Delight Royal in honour of the Queen having become the longest-reigning British monarch. The west porch was built between 1270 and 1280. It is almost certainly the work of one of the foreign masons employed in the rebuilding of

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an Anglican church in the City of Westminster, London, England. Since 1066, it has been the location of the coronations of 40 English and British m ...

, the style and quality of the work here closely resembling the porch of the North transept of the Abbey. Simon Jenkins, awarding St Mary's three stars, says:

The west front of the tower is little short of sensational, a gallery of medieval decoration attributed to French masons from Westminster. The twin doors are framed with carvings and a
Tree of Jesse The Tree of Jesse is a depiction in art of the ancestors of Jesus Christ, shown in a branching tree which rises from Jesse (biblical figure), Jesse of Bethlehem, the father of King David. It is the original use of the family tree as a schemati ...
rising from a central shaft. The unusual roundels in the tympanum, based on illuminated manuscripts, are of New Testament scenes. Sculpture dots each front, including on the north a charming man making music while locked in the
stocks Stocks are feet and hand restraining devices that were used as a form of corporal punishment and public humiliation. The use of stocks is seen as early as Ancient Greece, where they are described as being in use in Solon's law code. The law de ...
. Some of the niches have excellent modern statues in them.

Memorials

One of the earliest examples in England, the elaborate

memorial brass A monumental brass is a type of engraved sepulchral memorial once found through Western Europe, which in the 13th century began to partially take the place of three-dimensional monuments and effigies carved in stone or wood. Made of hard latte ...

to Laurence St. Maur (died 1337) is considered by Pevsner to be one of the finest brass monuments in England. Originally on the chancel floor, it was placed on an altar tomb, between the two chancels, in 1633. St. Maur wears a heavily embroidered liturgical vestment and around his neck is a rectangle of cloth embroidered with cinquefoils. Above the main figure in the canopy is a group of figures.

Abraham Abraham (originally Abram) is the common Hebrews, Hebrew Patriarchs (Bible), patriarch of the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In Judaism, he is the founding father who began the Covenant (biblical), covenanta ...

is seated in the middle and holds a globe in his left hand, with his right hand raised in benediction.

St. Andrew Andrew the Apostle ( ; ; ; ) was an apostle of Jesus. According to the New Testament, he was a fisherman and one of the Apostles in the New Testament, Twelve Apostles chosen by Jesus. The title First-Called () used by the Eastern Orthodox Chu ...

and

St. Peter Saint Peter (born Shimon Bar Yonah; 1 BC – AD 64/68), also known as Peter the Apostle, Simon Peter, Simeon, Simon, or Cephas, was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus and one of the first leaders of the early Christian Church. He appears repe ...

are to the left of him and the

St. Paul Paul, also named Saul of Tarsus, commonly known as Paul the Apostle and Saint Paul, was a Christian apostle ( AD) who spread the teachings of Jesus in the first-century world. For his contributions towards the New Testament, he is generally ...

and St. Thomas are to the right. Angels, on either side of Abraham, hold St. Maur's soul. In his 1912 book ''Brasses'',

John Sebastian Marlowe Ward John Sebastian Marlow Ward (22 December 1885 – 1949) was an English author who published widely on the subject of Freemasonry and Western esotericism, esotericism. He was also the leader of a Christian sect, and the founder of the Abbey Folk P ...

says: "Canopies over Mass priests are very rare and this is by far the finest."

Bede House and Chantry Chapel

Adjacent to the church, at the west, is the Chantry Chapel, also a Grade I listed building. Built in the early 15th century for Archbishop Chichele, it was restored in the 20th century by

Temple Moore Temple Lushington Moore (7 June 1856 – 30 June 1920) was an English architect who practised in London but whose work can be seen across England, particularly in the North. He is famous for a series of fine Gothic Revival churches built betwe ...

. It is of limestone

ashlar Ashlar () is a cut and dressed rock (geology), stone, worked using a chisel to achieve a specific form, typically rectangular in shape. The term can also refer to a structure built from such stones. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, a ...

with lead roof. It was used as a

Grammar School A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a Latin school, school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented Se ...

from 1542 to 1906 and was re-dedicated as a

chantry chapel A chantry is an ecclesiastical term that may have either of two related meanings: # a chantry service, a set of Church service, Christian liturgical celebrations for the dead (made up of the Requiem Mass and the Office of the Dead), or # a chantr ...

in 1942. To the south of the church, across the churchyard, is the bede house, also Grade I listed. Built in about 1428, it was restored in the 19th century. It is of squared coursed and banded limestone and ironstone, with a plain tile 20th-century roof. It is now used as the church hall. The chantry chapel and Bede House, both

Perpendicular Gothic Perpendicular Gothic (also Perpendicular, Rectilinear, or Third Pointed) architecture was the third and final style of English Gothic architecture developed in the Kingdom of England during the Late Middle Ages, typified by large windows, four-ce ...

in style, are open to the public. The stone cross in the churchyard, also Grade I listed, was known in 1463 as the Wardeyn or Warden Cross. It lies west of the church tower and is believed to be medieval in origin, with later additions. It was restored in 1919 as a

war memorial A war memorial is a building, monument, statue, or other edifice to celebrate a war or victory, or (predominating in modern times) to commemorate those who died or were injured in a war. Symbolism Historical usage It has ...

Rectors and vicars

* 1238–1239: Master Hubert de Cotmanmeston * 1268–1275: Roger de St Philibert * 1275–1289: Master Robert de Hanneya * 1289–1335: Lawrence de Sancto Mauro * 1335–1337: Prebendary of Hinton * 1337–1346: Master Henry de la Dale * 1346: John Paynell * Richard de Melburn * 1350–1357: John de Stafford * 1357–1358: William Mildrithe of Knyghton * 1361–1363: Robert Hardegray * 1363–1366: Henry Wakeries * 1369–1374: John Godinche * 1374–1387: Henry Knot * 1387–1388: John Benethon de Wolaston * 1404–1414: John Halleswayne * 1414–1415: Henry de Bilburgh * 1415–1416: John Bradbourne * 1422–1429: William Moyes * 1429–1430: Elias Holcote * 1437–1438: William More * 1438–1444: Warden of Merton * 1444–1461: Richard Whyte * 1461–1465: Thomas Rudde * 1465–1469: William Blankeney * 1469–1482: John Ward * 1482–1487: William Bryan * 1487–1488: John Frende * 1492–1504: Richard Chauncellor * 1504–1523: Richard Wylleys * 1523–1534: William Fawntleroy * 1534–1542: Robert Goldson * 1542–1597: (no rector: church served by a series of curates) * 1597–1599: Clement Gregory * 1605–1631: Nichols Leonard * 1631–1635: John Hill * 1635–1645: John Digby * 1647–1658: Henry Pheasant * 1662-1662: ? Harrison * 1662–1676: John Knighton * 1676–1691: Samuel Lee * 1691–1726: Richard Willis * 1726–1730: John Glassbrook * 1730–1735: William Doyly * 1735–1740: George Tymms * 1740–1745: Thomas Bright * 1745–1752: William Withers * 1752–1761: Francis Greenwood * 1762–1802: George Pasley Malim * 1803–1830: George Warcup Malim * 1830–1837: Thomas Wentworth Gage * 1837–1868: George Malim * 1868–1885: Edward Templeman * 1885–1889: George Hamslip Hopkins * 1889–1906: James Dunn * 1906–1911: Gerard Marby Davidson * 1911–1923: Herbert Kearsley Fry * 1923–1933: Basil Eversley Owen * 1933–1945: Philip Kirk * 1945–1952: Harold Stanley Hoar * 1952–1964: Cecil Stafford Ford * 1965–1988: Roger William Davison * 1988–1997: Eric Buchanan * 1998–2013: Grant Lindley Brockhouse * 2014–2019: Richard Stainer * 2023– : Louise Suzanne Bishop

Gallery

File:St Mary the Virgin Church, Higham Ferrers.jpg, The east end File:St Mary the Virgin, Higham Ferrers - graveyard cross and tower.JPG, Graveyard cross and tower File:St Mary the Virgin, Higham Ferrers - tower.JPG, The tower File:St Mary the Virgin, Higham Ferrers - lower niche statue.JPG, Lower niche statue, tower File:St Mary, Higham Ferrers, Northamptonshire - Tympanum - geograph.org.uk - 826485.jpg, Tympanum, east porch File:St Mary the Virgin, Higham Ferrers - clock.JPG, The clock File:Higham Ferrers misericord.jpg, Misericord File:St Mary, Higham Ferrers, Northamptonshire - Tabernacle - geograph.org.uk - 826467.jpg, Tabernacle, Lady Chapel Altar File:St Mary the Virgin, Higham Ferrers - south chapel from nave.JPG, Screen from north aisle File:St Mary, Higham Ferrers, Northamptonshire - Stoup - geograph.org.uk - 826478.jpg, Stoup File:St Mary, Higham Ferrers, Northamptonshire - High Altar - geograph.org.uk - 826461.jpg, High Altar File:St Mary the Virgin, Higham Ferrers - south chapel ceiling.JPG, South chapel ceiling File:Higham Ferrers north aisle sanctuary.jpg, North aisle sanctuary File:St Mary the Virgin, Higham Ferrers - belfry.JPG, The belfry File:St Mary the Virgin, Higham Ferrers - Bede House.JPG, The Bede House File:St Mary the Virgin, Higham Ferrers - Chantry Chapel.JPG, The Chantry Chapel

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Higham Ferrers, Saint Mary Church of England church buildings in Northamptonshire Rushden 13th-century church buildings in England Grade I listed churches in Northamptonshire Anglo-Catholic church buildings in Northamptonshire