St John the Baptist, Upton, Cambridgeshire (ex SoP)

After breakfast I set off to meet all members of the ChurchCrawling Yahoo Group for our annual tour around churches, the selected area being The Soke of Peterborough, now part of Cambridgeshire. I left Aldwincle a little later than I had planned, and so ignored a few temptations on the way including Elton. I was first to arrive, to find our target church across the fields reached by a rough track and footpath. The external appearance is all of the C17, quite domestic looking, and without a tower. Nave, north aisle and chancel, yet there are three west gables because a small bellcote has been created between the two sections of the church. The door opened and the stage was set, because the interior is dominated by the changes made by the Dove family. The chancel arch however has Norman responds and the pillars of the arcade are a little later but not much. The aisle contains a large freestanding canopied monument with three recumbent effigies to the Doves, Sir William and his two wives. It is raised on a platform which has a bulky stone balustrade to the nave and a matching stone stair leading up into it. Pevsner notes that one of the female effigies is of wood, but I never thought to question this so effectively matched it is to the other two. I sat quietly waiting for others to arrive. Diane was first with Chris who returned smartly to the station to pick up Ken as his train was running late. John and Seajay arrived next but no-one else made it here. We waited just in case, and I even accosted a couple I did not know as they pulled up outside just in case they were joining us - they weren't!