Little Brington Church

A  few times this Summer I've been to The Saracens Head pub in Little Brington and as I've driven to the pub I've seen an old church on a corner which looked a bit worn and torn so I thought I'd drive back just to take a look.


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When I'd set out from home it was sunny and bright, as I got to my destination the clouds rolled over, hence some of these pictures are not as sharp as I'd like them to be, but then in a strange way it made the church more atmospheric in that light.

A little bit of information about the church, it has a spire but no nave. The 4th Earl Spencer, Frederick Spencer, built the church of St John as a memorial to his wife, Elizabeth Poyntz whom he had married in 1830. The church was built for the convenience of villagers from Little Brington and Nobottle, who found it difficult to attend St. Mary’s in Great Brington.

Services were still held on a regular basis right up to the 19th and early 20th centuries.
By the 1940s, the church had fallen into a state of disrepair and the main body of the church was demolished in 1947.

And here is the really interesting bit, at the request of the Air Ministry, the tower with its octagonal spire was not knocked down, it had become a landmark to navigators and is still used for the same purpose today.

Northamptonshire housed a lot of air bases during WW11 used both by the Americans and the British, landmarks such as this must have been a great source of reassurance to airmen returning from raids.

www.abct.org.uk/airfields/airfield-finder/harrington/

I think we sometimes forget what a beautiful country we live in, there's a lot of pleasure in just driving out to a quiet spot and just taking in what surrounds you, something you probably only get to appreciate as you get a bit older.