The Holy Sepulchre is a Norman

round church A round church is a church with a completely circular plan, thus a rotunda in architectural terms. There are many Nordic round churches in Sweden and Denmark (notably the island of Bornholm); round churches were popular in Scandinavia in the ...

in Sheep Street,

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 ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. 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 ...

. 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 The Temple Church, a royal peculiar in the Church of England, is a church in the Inner Temple, Inner and Middle Temple, Middle Temple, London, Temples located between Fleet Street and the River Thames, built by the Knights Templar for their En ...

, London; and St John the Baptist, Little Maplestead, 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 9th and 10th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norma ...

stronghold by building

Northampton Castle Northampton Castle in Northampton, was one of the most prominent Norman castles in England. The castle site was outside the western city gate, and defended on three sides by deep trenches. A branch of the River Nene provided a natural barrier ...

(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 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 The First Crusade (1096–1099) was the first of a series of religious wars, or Crusades, initiated, supported and at times directed by the Latin Church in the Middle Ages. The objective was the recovery of the Holy Land from Muslim conquest ...

to the

Holy Land The term "Holy Land" is used to collectively denote areas of the Southern Levant that hold great significance in the Abrahamic religions, primarily because of their association with people and events featured in the Bible. It is traditionall ...

. There he would have seen the

Church of the Holy Sepulchre The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, also known as the Church of the Resurrection, is a fourth-century church in the Christian Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem, Old City of Jerusalem. The church is the seat of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchat ...

near the centre of

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

. He would have seen it as a round church supported on eighteen columns or piers with an

ambulatory The ambulatory ( 'walking place') is the covered passage around a cloister or the processional way around the east end of a cathedral or large church and behind the high altar. The first ambulatory was in France in the 11th century but by the 13t ...

around the perimeter on the west of the church, and the well attested site of

Christ Jesus ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Christianity, central figure of Christianity, the M ...

's tomb at the centre. There would have been four

apse In architecture, an apse (: apses; from Latin , 'arch, vault'; from Ancient Greek , , 'arch'; sometimes written apsis; : apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical Vault (architecture), vault or semi-dome, also known as an ' ...

s 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 A rotunda () is any roofed building with a circular ground plan, and sometimes covered by a dome. It may also refer to a round room within a building (an example being the one below the dome of the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C.). ...

. After restoration, this church is what would have remained of a 4th-century church built by

Constantine I Constantine I (27 February 27222 May 337), also known as Constantine the Great, was a Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337 and the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity. He played a Constantine the Great and Christianity, pivotal ro ...

. 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 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 ...

of 8 columns, supporting a

triforium A triforium is an interior Gallery (theatre), gallery, opening onto the tall central space of a building at an upper level. In a church, it opens onto the nave from above the side aisles; it may occur at the level of the clerestory windows, o ...

. An ambulatory ran round the perimeter. The remains of a

window in the present nave, however, suggests that the original round church had 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 ...

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 The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding t ...

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 Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

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 In architecture, a vault (French ''voûte'', from Italian ''volta'') is a self-supporting arched form, usually of stone or brick, serving to cover a space with a ceiling or roof. As in building an arch, a temporary support is needed while ring ...

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 keyed into and projecting from a wall to carry a wikt:superincumbent, bearing weight, a type of bracket (architecture), bracket. A corbel is a solid piece of material in t ...

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 Sir George Gilbert Scott (13 July 1811 – 27 March 1878), largely known as Sir Gilbert Scott, was a prolific English Gothic Revival architect, chiefly associated with the design, building and renovation of churches and cathedrals, although he ...

was involved in extensive restoration to bring the church into its present state. The chancel screen is by

John Oldrid Scott John Oldrid Scott (17 July 1841 – 30 May 1913) was a British architect. Biography He was the son of George Gilbert Scott and his wife Caroline (). His brother George Gilbert Scott Junior and nephew Sir Giles Gilbert Scott were also prominent ...

, 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, ...

from 1619 * Edward Pierce, 1660 to 1663 * Peter Whalley, 1748 to 1762

Burials

Lochlann, Lord of Galloway Lochlann of Galloway (died 12 December 1200), also known as Lochlan mac Uchtred and by his French name Roland fitz Uhtred, was the son and successor of Uchtred, Lord of Galloway as the "Lord" or "sub-king" of eastern Galloway. Family Lochlann ...

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, also known as the Church of the Resurrection, is a fourth-century church in the Christian Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem. The church is the seat of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem. Some ...

12th-century church buildings in England Round churches in England English churches with Norman architecture