St Peter's Church, Northampton, Northamptonshire
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The most outstanding Norman church
St Peter's stands in a pretty grass churchyard in Northampton town centre, beside the buried remains of a Saxon palace. This 900-year-old Norman church is filled with glorious carved treasures. Inside, great Norman arches of plain and banded stone rise and flow with zig-zag waves.
They are supported by beautiful carved capitals, each overflowing with foliage, scrollwork, birds and beasts -- look for the man being swallowed by (or emerging from) a monster. These carvings were plastered over in the seventeenth century and were carefully unpicked with a bone knife in the early nineteenth century by local antiquarian Anne Elizabeth Baker, a labour of love lasting 11 years. Other highlights include a handsome brass lectern and carved wooden pews and monuments - including the bust of William Smith, the father of British geology.
Outside, strange half-human faces glare out from under the eaves, together with cruder, timeworn figures. There are other delights to be found include the fourteenth-century font, a twelfth-century grave slab with astonishingly clear relief carving and some fine Victorian stained glass.

To donate by text, please text 'NHM' to 70970 to donate £5 and to 70191 to donate £10. Thank you.
St Peter's Church features in Legacy Makers and Boundary Breakers: Extraordinary Women of Historic Churches, read more about the life and work of Anne Baker below:
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Church of St Cyriac & St Julitta, Swaffham Prior, Cambridgeshire
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A pair of eccentric churches
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St Nicholas' Church, Feltwell, Norfolk
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A strangely beautiful church
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St Lawrence's Church, Broughton, Buckinghamshire
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Stunningly detailed medieval wall paintings
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Access information
Church is located in town centre. Access from street to church is via a paved path. There is one very small step into the porch.
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Facilities & Hire
Northampton is a large church with fixed pews. There is heating and electricity. There are no toilet facilities.
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Directions
Northampton city centre location, south side of Marefair adjoining St. Peter's Way/Marefair junction. One way system.
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Transport
Nearest railway station:
Northampton (0.2 miles); buses from town centre.
Bus route numbers 3/5/6/9/9A/19/21/22/22A/30/50/96/D1/D2.
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History & Further Information
Useful information:
Why not make your visit more enjoyable and informed by finding out more about this church and the CCT before you visit?You can download a range of publications below including the relevant county guide, and any walk round guides we have for this church.
Warwickshire & Northamptonshire County Guide 2012
This free of charge short guide contains details of all the churches CCT cares for in Warwickshire & Northamptonshire. Printed copies of the county guide are also available at the church.
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Community information
Useful local links:
- Visit Northamptonshire tourism website: www.visitnorthamptonshire.co.uk
- Northamptonshire History website: www.northamptonshire-history.org.uk
- Northamptonshire Family History Society: www.northants-fhs.org
- Northamptonshire Archaeological Society: www.northants-archaeology.org.uk
- Northamptonshire Historic Churches Trust: www.nhct.org.uk
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