- Heritage

Old Chancel

The 12th century chancel of Ireby’s old church is only part of what was originally there. In 1847, the nave was pulled down, and the font, piscina and some carvings to provide for the new church (a mile away), and two nave arcade columns were taken to serve as gateposts in the village. The gateposts have now been reinstated in the churchyard. The east wall arcade, with three round-headed lancets, is a fine feature…

Old Church

Located down the lane to the large boatyard on the River Douglas, this lovely brick-built church was constructed in 1764 to replace an earlier building. The simply furnished interior is flooded with light from its large Georgian windows, but is very plain with a small west gallery and tiny chancel. There is a vestry and a bell-cote, containing a single bell brought back when the CCT repaired the church. The font, intricately if somewhat crudely carved, was also returned having been rescued during the time that the church lay derelict and forlorn. Two pews, the pulpit, lectern, altar and panelling also survive…

Old Church St Mary's

On completion of Wyatt and Brandon?s ‘Italianate? church in 1845, this ‘old’ church in the Market Place was partially demolished, leaving only the chancel with one bay of the nave, and the ruins of the arcades and tower arch…

Oxhey Chapel

Oxhey Chapel was built on an early monastic site in 1612 by Sir James Altham as the chapel to his new home, Oxhey Place. It is now surrounded by 1940s housing, between the brand new parish church and its vicarage. The little flint and brick building comes as a delicious surprise. Its superb font, reredos, west doorway, roof, communion rails, chancel paving and the Altham monument are all 17th-century. The seating arrangement and other furnishings date from a restoration in 1897, but complement the earlier work, maintaining its Jacobean atmosphere…

St Andrew's Church

This substantial church, built largely in 14th-and 15th-centuries, has a wonderfully tall, slender tower. The interior is an attractive mix of Decorated and Perpendicular with Georgian and Victorian. It includes a very beautiful, detailed, dramatic and vividly coloured stained glass window of the Day of Judgement from 1830. There are also some excellent 18th-and 19th-century monuments, some ducal hatchments of the St Albans family who lived at the Hall and a notable incised slab to Sir Gerald Sothill (1410)…

St Andrew's Church

Sumptuous memorials to 300 years of the Robinson family fill the south chapel of Medieval St Andrew?s, which lies next to the Robinson seat of Cranford Hall. There are also memorial brasses to various Fosbrokes, who were here for three earlier centuries. This Jane Austen type image is, however, only a part of the story: a Norman arcade, additions from every subsequent Medieval century, some Flemish glass and a complete set of furnishings from the incumbency of a 19th-century member of the Robinson family give this church a rich and varied history…

St Andrew's Church

Mainly Norman, with traces of reused Roman brick, St Andrew?s has a pretty clapboard bell-turret and porch, and shares a churchyard with the later church of St Christopher. The chancel of St Andrew’s is 15th-century as are the belfry timbers, and there is a 14th-century octagonal font. Some interesting memorials include two sad inscriptions dated 1614, in memory of children of the Rector…

St Andrew's Church

This simple church, dating back to the 13th-century, sits prettily in a farmyard setting. It is a simple building with a Tudor brick porch and a bell-cote. Inside, there are beautiful brasses, showing men and women in Medieval dress, and centuries-old pews with lovely carvings ? including two little monkeys…

St Andrew's Church

This isolated, homely church stands at the end of a long track on the site of a vanished village. The chancel, nave and square west tower date from the 14th-century but the church also has a beautifully carved Norman doorway and 13th-century font…

St Andrew's Church

St Andrew?s is an 18th-century church in the form of a Classical temple, tucked away in the landscaped parkland of Gunton Hall. The effect of suddenly coming upon a Palladian portico through the trees is dramatic. It was designed by the leading Scottish architect of the 18th century, Robert Adam, whose designs were influential across the world. It is Adam?s only complete church in England. The interior of this neo-Classical gem has a clean, calm simplicity, but with the richness of decorative moulding on the ceiling and elegant dark wood furnishings. Although the grounds of Gunton Hall are private, there is access to the church which is signposted beyond the Hall…