There has been a gap of forty years between editions of the
Northamptonshire Buildings of England. Bridget Cherry was Nikolaus Pevsner’s
partner in 1973, but the newly-published one has been the work of Bruce Bailey.
And while the book has roughly doubled in size, the entry
concerning our village, King’s Sutton, remains virtually untouched at a little
less than two pages, over half of it devoted to the parish church, plus
(briefly) two other churches and two houses (the Manor and its near neighbour
the Court House).
Mr Bailey perhaps came here on a wet Tuesday.
Buildings that might have made their presence felt
by now could include the Neo-Gothic Old School House of 1847 and the Lutyens-style
St Rumbolds of 1922; a number of interesting 18th century dwellings
(Lovells and the Bell House in The Square); some 17th century
cottages of character (Monks Cottages, also in The Square, Q Cottage in Wales
Street – yes, really, Q-shaped – and the Old Lace House in Astrop Road). Also,
up towards nearby Astrop, the 18th century Gate House with its
interesting semi-circular gable end, College Farm and the mysterious Grey Court
and its various subsidiary buildings of note.
An interesting discovery of recent times at the parish
church, not noticed by Mr Bailey, are the sculptured forms of St Peter and St
Paul, high up on the west face of the tower. They were first noticed by a
visiting Australian chorister from Oxford, and they appear to the naked eye to
be far earlier than the fourteenth century building of the tower – perhaps saved
from a previous building campaign.
Maybe, a further forty years from now, another edition will appear
with some of the above included. Just a thought.
Posts
