Church of Holy Trinity

Details

GREAT PAXTON CHURCH LANE TL 26 SW CHURCH OF HOLY 4/2 TRINITY 14. 5.59 I

c.1050 minster church originally of cruciform plan with tower over crossing. In late C13 the chancel was rebuilt and in C14 the West tower added. The North and South aisles were rebuilt in C15. The South porch is C14. The nave and crossing are important examples of late Saxon work. Exterior: Mainly pebblestone and rubblestone with Barnack dressings. Late C14 embattled West tower of three stages on splayed plinth. Three stage angle buttressing and newel staircase in South East angle. Beast gargoyles to centre of main cornice. C14 West doorway (reset) and C15 West window. C14 bell chamber openings of two lights with quatrefoil to spandrel. C11 Nave with clerestorey of two round headed windows and part of a third similar window, now sealed. Later parapet and beast gargoyles to moulded string course at eaves height. C15 parapetted South aisle. Two stage buttressing and two C15 three light windows. C14 South porch. Gabled with parapet and coping surmounted by cross. Diagonal buttressing. Outer arch two- centred. C15 doorway to South aisle. Two-centred arch of two moulded orders in square head with carved spandrels. C19 door with C13 ironwork (reset). Chancel. Plain tiled roof with end parapet. Two C15 windows and one C13 doorway on South side. C15 East window. Interior: Late C14 tower arch. Two-centred and of three chamfered orders with moulded capitals and bases. Nave shortened in C15 when West tower built and now of two bays and sealed half-bay at West end. Semi-circular headed double recessed arches on piers. Each pier has four attached shafts, divided by rolls or fillets, with abaci and bulbous capitals and moulded bases. The fillets or rolls to the piers to the West are keeled. Above the nave arcade is a plain string course. At the crossing, only the arch to the North transept remains. Tall, semi-circular headed and on square piers with responds having attached shafts and rolls or fillets similar to those of North arcade. The piers to the South crossing are similar to the North but the arch is C15, two centred and of three chamfered orders. North of the chancel arch is C15 rood loft entry. The roof of the nave is C17 and of four bays. Cambered tie beams, with the easternmost carved with the date 1637. The chancel arch was also rebuilt in C15 and is similar to that of the South crossing, but the responds are C11 and have engaged shafts divided by rolls or fillets similar to those of the arcade. The capitals, however, were replaced by embattled dentils in C15. Late C13 or early C14 piscina in South wall, East end. Hollow-chamfered, two-centred arch. Drain of octofoil form, projecting forward from face of wall and on corbel. Sedilia of same date. Two centred, hollow chamfered arches with cinquefoil heads divided by a round column with moulded capital and base. Hollow moulded labels with mask stops. C15 font, octagonal bowl on plain stem. R.C.H.M. (Hunts), p198, mon. 1 Pevsner (Buildings of England), p254 P.G.M. Dickinson: Gt Paxton

Listing NGR: TL2099864173

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

54346

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Books and journals
Inventory of Huntingdonshire, (1926), 198
Dickinson, P G M, Great Paxton, ()
Pevsner, N, The Buildings of England: Bedfordshire, Huntingdon and Peterborough, (1968), 254

End of official list entry

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