A church route visiting special local churches each with a very different statement on local history: political and theological.
Starting in Priors Marston we visit the 11Century Church of St Leonards in this village with its 2 splendid Atlas cedar tree which were planted for the Battle of Trafalgar and the Battle of Waterloo and see the church.
On the north side of the church you can see the Norman part and compare it to the Victorian part on the southern side where the Victorians cut the earlier Norman church in half.
We then bike through to Wormleighton, to the Church of St Peter where the Spencer Family came from originally (when they purchased the Manor of Wormleighton in 1506) and appreciate the wonderful stone houses and buildings as we approach the church which is a guardian of the secrets & stories of the people who once worked and ruled this land. We can notice the cat’s paws in the tiles that came from a roman villa and ask if the cat’s name was Felix? Take time to look at the highly significant historic figurative art on the left hand side of the screen to the carved figure wearing spectacles which may be the earliest known reproduction of spectacle sides (which first appeared in England in the 1720s).
Back on our bikes agin and we bike through Fenny Compton and up the hill turning right to take us onto the high ridge the splendid views either side and into the country park of Burton Dassett and the hills. Nestling down at the bottom of the hills is a small hamlet and the Church of All Saints Burton Dassett dating back to Saxon times and listed in Simon Jenkins book on English churches . The Civil Wars saw Burton Dassett folks witnessing the war’s very first battle at neighbouring Edgehill in 1642. Some say that the Parliamentarians’ stabled horses at Burton Dassett Church and that Oliver Cromwell viewed the battle from these Burton Dassett hills.
However, beautiful medieval wall paintings uncovered over the chancel arch in 1966 were restored in 1968 thanks to a grant from the Pilgrim Trust.
The suggestion is to hope that you have chosen a fine day for your tour and you climb to the top of the hill with the Beacon Tower on it and eat your lunch whist enjoying the view. It seems that the signalling tower would have had a cresset in which to light a signal fire in times of emergency.
Please note we would need ID in the form of a driving licence or passport will be taken on card when hiring, returnable on receipt of the bike and accessories in the same condition as when it was taken out.
Starting in Priors Marston we visit the 11Century Church of St Leonards in this village with its 2 splendid Atlas cedar tree which were planted for the Battle of Trafalgar and the Battle of Waterloo and see the church.
On the north side of the church you can see the Norman part and compare it to the Victorian part on the southern side where the Victorians cut the earlier Norman church in half.
We then bike through to Wormleighton, to the Church of St Peter where the Spencer Family came from originally (when they purchased the Manor of Wormleighton in 1506) and appreciate the wonderful stone houses and buildings as we approach the church which is a guardian of the secrets & stories of the people who once worked and ruled this land. We can notice the cat’s paws in the tiles that came from a roman villa and ask if the cat’s name was Felix? Take time to look at the highly significant historic figurative art on the left hand side of the screen to the carved figure wearing spectacles which may be the earliest known reproduction of spectacle sides (which first appeared in England in the 1720s).
Back on our bikes agin and we bike through Fenny Compton and up the hill turning right to take us onto the high ridge the splendid views either side and into the country park of Burton Dassett and the hills. Nestling down at the bottom of the hills is a small hamlet and the Church of All Saints Burton Dassett dating back to Saxon times and listed in Simon Jenkins book on English churches . The Civil Wars saw Burton Dassett folks witnessing the war’s very first battle at neighbouring Edgehill in 1642. Some say that the Parliamentarians’ stabled horses at Burton Dassett Church and that Oliver Cromwell viewed the battle from these Burton Dassett hills.
However, beautiful medieval wall paintings uncovered over the chancel arch in 1966 were restored in 1968 thanks to a grant from the Pilgrim Trust.
The suggestion is to hope that you have chosen a fine day for your tour and you climb to the top of the hill with the Beacon Tower on it and eat your lunch whist enjoying the view. It seems that the signalling tower would have had a cresset in which to light a signal fire in times of emergency.
Please note we would need ID in the form of a driving licence or passport will be taken on card when hiring, returnable on receipt of the bike and accessories in the same condition as when it was taken out.