Based in Brixworth, north of Northampton, my usual 3 walking companions and I spent a happy 3 nights staying at the Coach and Horses in the village. We stopped for walks near Odell and Carlton in Bedfordshire while driving from and back to Cambridge, and hiked between a number of beautiful local villages to the west of Northampton. Their churches, in particular, were in some cases stunning.
All Saints, Brixworth is the largest surviving Anglo-Saxon building in England, and has been in continuous use for Christian worship for over 1300 years. It was restored and (fortunately) sympathetically restored in the Victorian period.
All Saints, Brixworth
All Saints interior.
All Saints churchyard.
Th(e) Bell at Odell.
All Saints, Odell.
We passed Ashby St Ledgers manor, home of the Guy Fawkes conspirator Roger Catesby. Apparently the plot was hatched during meetings in the manor’s gatehouse.
Ashby St Ledgers manor.
Ashby St Ledger manor’s gatehouse.
Church of the Blessed Virgin, Ashby St Ledgers.
St Mary’s, Great Brington.