St Mary the Virgin's Church is an

Anglican Church Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

and the parish church of

Maidwell Maidwell is a village and civil parish in West Northamptonshire in England. At the time of the 2001 census, the parish had 325 inhabitants, including Draughton, and this increased to 429 at the 2011 census. The villages name means 'Maidens' s ...

, Northamptonshire. It is a Grade II*

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 ...

and stands on the south side of Draughton Road. There is no reference to a church or priest in the entry for the parish in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book ( ; the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book") is a manuscript record of the Great Survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

, which was compiled in 1086. This may indicate the absence of a church building at that stage or, alternatively, only the absence of a resident priest. The church consists of a nave,

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 west tower. The main structure of the present building was erected in the 12th and 13th centuries. The oldest parts are the north and south doorway dating from the 12th century. The tower dates from the 13th century. The chancel was constructed in 1891 to a design by

James Piers St Aubyn James Piers St Aubyn (6 April 1815 – 8 May 1895), often referred to as J P St Aubyn, was an English architect of the Victorian era, known for his church architecture and confident Victorian restoration, restorations. Early life St Aubyn was ...

. There are monuments to Catherine, Lady Gorges (1634) erected by her husband Edward Gorges, Lord Dundalk and also a tablet to the Haslewood family erected 1695 by Elizabeth, Viscountess Hatton. A detailed description of the building appears on the

Historic England Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked with prot ...

website A notable Rector was George Folbury (d. 1540) Master of

Pembroke Hall, Cambridge Pembroke College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college is the third-oldest college of the university and has over 700 students and fellows. It is one of the university's larger colleges, with buildings from ...

from 1537. The parish registers survive from 1708 and, apart from those currently in use, are kept at

Northamptonshire Record Office The Northamptonshire Record Office is the county record office for Northamptonshire. The archives are held at Wootton Hall Park, Wootton, Northampton, and run by Northamptonshire County Council. The site also houses the Northamptonshire Record S ...

. Details of its location and opening times can be found on the Record Office website. Maidwell is part of a united Benefice along with Draughton, Faxton and Lamport. Except for Faxton, each parish retains its own church building.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maidwell, St Mary the Virgin's Church Grade II* listed churches in Northamptonshire 12th-century church buildings in England 13th-century church buildings in England