St Mary, Titchmarsh, Northamptonshire

I had intended to leave the Warkton memories lingering in my mind and not visit another church that evening, but signs approaching Titchmarsh informed me that my intended early morning target could be problematic the next day as the village was having a festival. Sure enough around the church people were busy erecting stalls and bringing in various stuff in readiness for the next day. Normally open, the keyholder had locked up 10 minutes before I knocked on her door but was happy to open it up again. I had wanted to come here since standing on the hill top at Wadenhoe in August last year and seeing the crown of sixteen pinnacles in the distance. The tower is a splendid example of a Perp tower, but the church itself is large wide and spacious. Much is Perp but in the chancel is a reused piece of Norman zig-zag and the arcades are earlier too (N, and N chapel, C13, S C14). The parish has recently removed most of the Victorian pews and paved the nave. There is not a great deal else to see, but there are two unusual painted memorials by Elizabeth Creed, one to her brother Rev Theophilus Pickering with bust on a long inscription plinth flanked by three putti, the other with a long inscription but a real bust to her cousin John Dryden the poet. Storm clouds gathered and by the time I got to the B&B at Aldwincle the heavens opened and a hailstorm ensured for about 15 minutes. A pub meal and an early night followed in readiness for the CC AGM the next day