St Michael's Church is a redundant

Anglican 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 ...

church in Upton,

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 ...

, England (). This was formerly a separate hamlet, and is now part of the town of

Northampton Northampton ( ) is a town and civil parish in Northamptonshire, England. It is the county town of Northamptonshire and the administrative centre of the Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority of West Northamptonshire. The town is sit ...

. The church is recorded in the

National Heritage List for England The National Heritage List for England (NHLE) is England's official database of protected heritage assets. It includes details of all English listed buildings, scheduled monuments, register of historic parks and gardens, protected shipwrecks, ...

as a designated 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 ...

, and is under the care of the

Churches Conservation Trust The Churches Conservation Trust is a registered charity whose purpose is to protect historic churches at risk in England. The charity cares for over 350 churches of architectural, cultural and historic significance, which have been transferred in ...

. The church stands alongside the

A45 road The A45 is a major road in England. It runs east from Birmingham past the National Exhibition Centre and the M42 motorway, M42, then bypasses Coventry and Rugby, Warwickshire, Rugby, where it briefly merges with the M45 motorway, M45 until it ...

, adjacent to the grounds of the former Upton Hall.

Early history

St Michael's was built originally as a private chapel to the

lord of the manor Lord of the manor is a title that, in Anglo-Saxon England and Norman England, referred to the landholder of a historical rural estate. The titles date to the English Feudalism, feudal (specifically English feudal barony, baronial) system. The ...

and it is thought that the present church was built between 1158 and 1189. Alterations were made to it between the 13th and 15th centuries, including the addition of the tower in the 14th century and a porch in 1594. The church was

restored ''Restored'' is the fourth studio album by American contemporary Christian musician Jeremy Camp. It was released on November 16, 2004, by BEC Recordings. Track listing Standard release Enhanced edition Deluxe gold edition Standard Aus ...

in 1892–93 by M. H. Holding. It was declared redundant on 1 January 1981, and was

vested In law, vesting is the point in time when the rights and interests arising from legal ownership of a property are acquired by some Legal person, person. Vesting creates an immediately secured right of present or future deployment. One has a vest ...

in the Churches Conservation Trust on 21 December 1988.

Architecture

Exterior

The church is constructed in coursed

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

rubble Rubble is broken stone, of irregular size, shape and texture; undressed especially as a filling-in. Rubble naturally found in the soil is known also as 'brash' (compare cornbrash)."Rubble" def. 2., "Brash n. 2. def. 1. ''Oxford English Dictionar ...

. It has dressings in limestone and

ironstone Ironstone is a sedimentary rock, either deposited directly as a ferruginous sediment or created by chemical replacement, that contains a substantial proportion of an iron ore compound from which iron (Fe) can be smelted commercially. Not to be c ...

, and lead roofs. Its plan consists of a

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 ...

with a south porch, a

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 a west tower. The tower is set within the west end of the nave, and has two-light bell openings on each side, a

battlement A battlement, in defensive architecture, such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet (a defensive low wall between chest-height and head-height), in which gaps or indentations, which are often rectangular, occur at intervals ...

parapet A parapet is a barrier that is an upward extension of a wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/brea ...

, and a pyramidal roof with a

finial A finial () or hip-knob is an element marking the top or end of some object, often formed to be a decorative feature. In architecture, it is a small decorative device, employed to emphasize the Apex (geometry), apex of a dome, spire, tower, roo ...

and a

wrought iron Wrought iron is an iron alloy with a very low carbon content (less than 0.05%) in contrast to that of cast iron (2.1% to 4.5%), or 0.25 for low carbon "mild" steel. Wrought iron is manufactured by heating and melting high carbon cast iron in an ...

weathervane A wind vane, weather vane, or weathercock is an list of weather instruments, instrument used for showing the wind direction, direction of the wind. It is typically used as an architectural ornament to the highest point of a building. The word ' ...

. On the west side of the tower, facing Upton Hall, is a stair

turret Turret may refer to: * Turret (architecture), a small tower that projects above the wall of a building * Gun turret, a mechanism of a projectile-firing weapon * Optical microscope#Objective turret (revolver or revolving nose piece), Objective turre ...

, above which is an octagonal clock face. Over the nave and chancel walls is a plain parapet. The east window in the chancel has three lights and Decorated

tracery Tracery is an architectural device by which windows (or screens, panels, and vaults) are divided into sections of various proportions by stone ''bars'' or ''ribs'' of moulding. Most commonly, it refers to the stonework elements that support th ...

. In the north wall is a small

lancet window A lancet window is a tall, narrow window with a sharp pointed arch at its top. This arch may or may not be a steep lancet arch (in which the compass centres for drawing the arch fall outside the opening). It acquired the "lancet" name from its rese ...

and, to the west of this, a two-light

Perpendicular In geometry, two geometric objects are perpendicular if they intersect at right angles, i.e. at an angle of 90 degrees or π/2 radians. The condition of perpendicularity may be represented graphically using the '' perpendicular symbol'', � ...

window that was inserted in 1892. On the south side of the chancel is a round-headed priest's door, and to the west of this are two-light windows. In both the north and south walls of the nave are

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 9th and 10th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norma ...

round-headed doorways. Also in the north wall is a three-light Perpendicular window, also from 1892, and two single-light round-headed windows. In the south wall are two-light Perpendicular windows, and on each side of the roof of the porch is a small quatrefoil window. The porch has a Tudor arched doorway. On the east side of the porch is a circular window, and there is a rectangular window on its west side. In the

gable A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aesth ...

of the porch is a blank shield with the date 1592 to the left, the initials HC on the right and VK (for Valentine Knightley) above. In the west front of the church are lancet windows on each side of the tower, and a canted stair turret. There is a mass dial (a form of

sundial A sundial is a horology, horological device that tells the time of day (referred to as civil time in modern usage) when direct sunlight shines by the position of the Sun, apparent position of the Sun in the sky. In the narrowest sense of the ...

) to the east of the priest's door, another in the west wall, and a third in the porch.

Interior

Internally there is no division between the nave and the chancel. The

reredos A reredos ( , , ) is a large altarpiece, a screen, or decoration placed behind the altar in a Church (building), church. It often includes religious images. The term ''reredos'' may also be used for similar structures, if elaborate, in secular a ...

, choir stalls, desks and

pulpit A pulpit is a raised stand for preachers in a Christian church. The origin of the word is the Latin ''pulpitum'' (platform or staging). The traditional pulpit is raised well above the surrounding floor for audibility and visibility, accesse ...

are all made from

Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...

oak and were designed in 1899 by M. H. Holding. In the church is a 17th-century parish chest. The

vestry A vestry was a committee for the local secular and ecclesiastical government of a parish in England, Wales and some English colony, English colonies. At their height, the vestries were the only form of local government in many places and spen ...

contains a 17th-century communion table which was replaced by a new altar in 1907. In the south wall of the chancel is a recess that probably formerly contained a

piscina A piscina is a shallow basin placed near the altar of a church, or else in the vestry or sacristy, used for washing the communion vessels. The sacrarium is the drain itself. Lutherans and Anglicans usually refer to the basin, calling it a pisci ...

. There are aumbries in the north and east walls. The stained glass in the east window dates from 1870. On the walls are four hatchments. There are a number of tombs and memorials in the church, many commemorating the Samwell family. These include a wall monument to Sir Thomas Samwell, 2nd Baronet who died in 1757. Also in the church is a tomb chest with

alabaster Alabaster is a mineral and a soft Rock (geology), rock used for carvings and as a source of plaster powder. Archaeologists, geologists, and the stone industry have different definitions for the word ''alabaster''. In archaeology, the term ''alab ...

effigies An effigy is a sculptural representation, often life-size, of a specific person or a prototypical figure. The term is mostly used for the makeshift dummies used for symbolic punishment in political protests and for the figures burned in certain ...

of Richard Knightley, who died in 1537, and his wife. In addition there is a

slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous, metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade, regional metamorphism. It is the finest-grained foliated metamorphic ro ...

wall memorial to James Harrington, the author of ''

The Commonwealth of Oceana ''The Commonwealth of Oceana'' ( ), published in 1656, is a seminal work of political philosophy by the English politician and essayist James Harrington (1611–1677). The initial publication of Oceana was met with official censorship from Lo ...

'', who died in 1677 and is buried in

St Margaret's, Westminster The Church of St Margaret, Westminster Abbey is in the grounds of Westminster Abbey on Parliament Square, London, England. It is dedicated to Margaret the Virgin, Margaret of Antioch, and forms part of a single World Heritage Site with the Pal ...

External features

The churchyard contains a number of old graves. One of these designated as a Grade II listed building; it is a headstone dated 1672, and is made from ironstone. In the area around the churchyard are mounds which are the remains of a

deserted medieval village In the United Kingdom, a deserted medieval village (DMV) is a former settlement which was abandoned during the Middle Ages, typically leaving no trace apart from earthworks or cropmarks. If there are fewer than three inhabited houses the conve ...

Recent history and present day

St Michael's continued to be a

chapel of ease A chapel of ease (or chapel-of-ease) is a church architecture, church building other than the parish church, built within the bounds of a parish for the attendance of those who cannot reach the parish church conveniently, generally due to trav ...

to St Peter's Church, Northampton, until 1966. It was closed for regular worship in 1980. The churchyard is maintained by a group of local people known as the Friends of St Michael's, and seasonal services continue to be held in the church.

Quinton House School Quinton House School is a co-educational private school for children aged 2 to 18 years located in Upton, Northampton, England. The school is owned and operated by the Cognita Group. History Quinton House School is situated in the Grade I li ...

now occupies Upton Hall; the school helps with the upkeep of the church, and holds occasional services for the pupils.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Upton, St Michael's Church Grade I listed churches in Northamptonshire Church of England church buildings in Northamptonshire English churches with Norman architecture 12th-century church buildings in England English Gothic architecture in Northamptonshire 14th-century church buildings in England Gothic Revival architecture in Northamptonshire Churches completed in 1893 Churches preserved by the Churches Conservation Trust