All Saints, Swinford, Leicestershire

10th June 2011 - I set off to Aldwincle and an overnight farm B&B before the ChurchCrawling Group's AGM in the Soke the following day. Naturally I would get in some churches en route. Not only do three major roads (M1, M6, A14) and two others come together at a horrible traffic-infested junction, but also three counties meet here - Warwickshire, Leicestershire and Northamptonshire. I thought this church was in Warwickshire until I realised the diocese was Leicester! All Saints stands in a rather secluded churchyard, which only opens at its eastern end onto the street. I walked up a tiny lane with the church tower at the end of it. The church was enclosed by black railings demarcating a right of way through the churchyard as if it were an urban church. It has an unusual appearance thanks to the apsidal east end, a rebuilding and enlargement of a previous apsidal C18 chancel apparently. The majority of the church is however C14, with the north arcade being a century or so older. The east bay of the arcades may indicate former transepts or earlier tower as it is seperated by a piece of walling from the other two. The most interesting item is the oldest, circular Norman with blank crude arcading around the bowl and odd stubby baluster like piers alternating with square ones supporting the bowl. Pevsner suggests these are C17 but would they be as rustic looking as these? I think these too are Norman - what do you think?