St Mary's Church, Badby

St Mary's stands on the hill above the greens of Badby, south of Daventry. It is a fourteenth- and fifteenth-century ironstone church, listed Grade II*, with a tower rebuilt after the old one fell down in 1705 and glass bearing the arms of Evesham Abbey. The Knightley Way starts opposite, and the church is open every day.

The story of St Mary's

The church dates from the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, the listing says, built of ironstone rubble and ashlar with limestone and sandstone dressings. The listing counts ten two-light windows on each side of the clerestory, which the parish's church tour dates to the fifteenth century.

The tower is the event in its history. The parish says the old one fell in 1705, and the new one went up between 1707 and 1709. It is about 22m to the top of the pinnacles, and the listing notes its battlements, obelisk pinnacles and gilded weathervanes. The office of E. F. Law restored the church in 1880, the listing says, and the parish tour adds that the Watkins family, whose large tomb is just south-east of the chancel, paid for much of the work. The organ chamber and vestry were built in 1880 and 1881.

What to look for

Inside, look for:

• The fifteenth-century glass shields in a north aisle window, with the arms of Evesham Abbey, a fifteenth-century king, and the initials of Thomas Newbold, Abbot of Evesham from 1491 to 1514. The parish says the glass was reformed in 1982
• Ball-flower ornament on the half-column capitals at the east and west ends of the north aisle
• In the north aisle, a small piscina, a square aumbry and a tall niche for a statue, signs of a lost side altar
• A two-seat sedilia and piscina in the chancel, an unusual step down into it, and a First World War memorial window
• An octagonal Jacobean pulpit and an early eighteenth-century communion rail with turned balusters
• A clock of about 1780, which the parish says was installed second-hand in 1822

Outside, the churchyard closed for burials in 1886. Four chest tombs near the chancel are listed Grade II in their own right.

Visiting St Mary's

The church's page says it is open every day from 10am to 4pm, for quiet, prayer and exploring the building. There is a free quick guide leaflet and a £3 full history. The county council's leaflet warns of a steep climb from the greens up to the church. Services rotate round the churches of the Knightley Benefice, so check the church's page for Sunday dates before you go.

Getting there

There is no parking by the church, says the parish, and the county council asks visitors not to park on the greens. Use the A361 picnic area, about 450m north of the village, with a footpath in, or the space for about 12 cars on the Everdon road by the woods. The Knightley Way starts opposite the church, the parish says, and passes the edge of Badby Woods on its way to Greens Norton.

Nearby

Badby Woods, known for its bluebells, is just south-east of the village, and past it St Mary's, Fawsley stands alone in its park with the Knightley tombs. Our Badby Woods and Fawsley walk joins the two. St James's, Sulgrave and Canons Ashby are a short drive south.