St Mary's Church, Canons Ashby

St Mary's at Canons Ashby is the surviving part of the church of an Augustinian priory, beside the Tudor house of the Dryden family, now the National Trust's Canons Ashby. Historic England lists it Grade I. It is mainly thirteenth century, with a fourteenth-century tower, and it is full of Dryden monuments. It is about 2 miles north of Moreton Pinkney.

The story of St Mary's

The church is a fragment. The listing says the nave was once about 29m long and was followed by a long chancel without aisles, and only part of that survives. The National Trust calls it the only remaining part of a thirteenth-century priory. The priory was dissolved in 1536. About 1550 John Dryden built the house beside it, taking in an existing farmhouse rather than the priory's ruins, the county's Historic Environment Record says, and the church became the Drydens' family church.

The listing reads the stages: thirteenth-century work in most of what stands, a north-west tower of the mid fourteenth century, a fifteenth-century west window, and the east and south walls rebuilt early in the eighteenth century.

What to look for

The west front shows what was lost. Look for:

• An Early English doorway with stiff-leaf capitals and an arch ornamented with nailhead, mostly broken, flanked by blank arcading on clustered shafts
• The five-light Perpendicular window above the door
• The three-stage tower with angle buttresses, Decorated bell openings, battlements and pinnacles

Inside, the fittings date from about 1710: a wall painting of the Holy Dove in a sunburst, a communion rail with balusters and a panelled pulpit. There is a two-bay north arcade, an octagonal Perpendicular font and a seventeenth-century chamber organ. The Dryden monuments run through the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, among them two by Rossi for John Turner Dryden, who died in 1797, and John Edward Turner Dryden, who died in 1818. Look also for the funeral achievement of Sir Robert Dryden, who died in 1708, eleven painted hatchments, two sixteenth-century brasses, and an east window of 1918.

Visiting St Mary's

The church is part of the National Trust's site, and opens on the Trust's calendar, which changes through the year. From 5 November 2026 the calendar shows the church open 10am to 4pm, and the whole site is closed Monday to Wednesday in November. The Trust lists prices for the whole property, with members free, and does not say whether the church can be seen separately. It warns that the site has limited level access, with steps and stairs. The church also hosts events: the Trust lists festive handbell ringing there on 5 December 2026, 11.30am to 12.30pm. Ring 01327 861900 if a visit depends on the church.

Getting there

Canons Ashby is on minor roads north of Moreton Pinkney, between Banbury and Daventry. The Trust's car park is about 200m from the garden and toilets and is locked at 5pm, and it asks visitors not to park on the lanes or verges. The postcode is NN11 3SD. The Trust says there is no direct public transport; Banbury station is 12 miles away.

Nearby

Canons Ashby house and garden are the main visit, and Sulgrave Manor, the Washingtons' house, is a short drive south. Two more family churches are nearby: St James's, Sulgrave, with its Washington tomb, and St Mary's, Fawsley, with the Knightleys.