Ss Peter & Paul, Kettering

The church as it was

When you look at the interior of the church as it is today, the majority of what can be seen dates from the re-ordering which took place between 1889 and 1992. One of the challenges that faced Ptolemy Dean was to find out how the church looked prior to this point. Luckily, an extensive survey of the church as it was in 1843 (well before the late Victorian re-ordering which determined its current look) exists in the Northamptonshire County Record Office, from which Ptolemy discovered the following:

The church was fortunate to have been the subject of a serious archaeological study by Robert Billings, whose Architectural Illustrations of Kettering Church, Northamptonshire (1843) provides the only accurate record of the church building prior to its major reconstruction and restoration by Sir Arthur Blomfield. This record allows an understanding to be gained of the building before Blomfield and helps explain the thinking that must have laid behind his scheme. Billings found a handsome, largely C15th church with only two fragments of earlier building. These were traceable at the east end and by the north door, denoted in black on the survey plan:

The remaining fabric dates from two main phases; the tower from around 1450 and the main body of the church from around 1500. The slightly skew relationship of the tower to the body of the church may be explained by its relationship to an earlier building since replaced by the present structure. The church had gained a Faculty for galleries to be added in 1822, although there appears to be the no illustrations of these alterations in the records. Instead there are only two rough pencil sketches.

Although extremely faint, they are useful as one of the sketches shows the large organ and gallery in the west arch (fig.14). The second, even fainter sketch shows a hint of the central chandelier, which Billings noted was dated from 1775 and had 30 lights and had been suspended by ornamental iron work supporting a dove (fig.15). He adds that it was rendered useless by the introduction of the gas. In his survey Billings noted the whole body of the church is filled with pews, which completely hide the bases of the columns, and in addition to these are a comely array of galleries, which fortunately from the great width of the aisles, leave the upper part of the columns clear. He therefore showed the church clear of furnishings in his engravings.

In one of these views it is possible to catch a glimpse of the C18th decalogue boards and reredos at the east end of the chancel (shown on right). Of this Billings disapproved in place of the old altar table... we have a roman ionic composition and the side of the chancel wainscoted in character. .s.. to hide the altar fittings from the exterior, a portion of the east window has been blocked up by superannuated tomb-stones. The same view, which is of the present St Lukes Chapel (then referred to as the Sawyer Aisle) shows the parish writing desk which remarkably survives in virtually the same place today. Billings was descriptive about floor levels, reporting that the chancel had been altered to an inclined plain rising towards the modern altar. He evidently disapproved of this post-medieval arrangement and sought to correct it by adding steps at suitable places in his views and drawings of the chancel interior (see left) and also in a very helpful long section drawing of the whole church (see below). These steps were presumably subjectively placed without specific archaeological evidence.

In character with typical nineteenth century ecclesiastical scholars, there was much condemnation about amendments to the correct form of gothic building. Billings describes the mischief committed by modern glaziers of the nave, who were allowed in order to have regular squares, to cut away all the internal half of the tracery cusps. Elsewhere we find Perhaps the greatest disfigurement of the interior was the despoilment of the chancel arch of its mouldings and columns, making it perfectly plain. Even the church roofs were found to have been interfered with; only the aisle roofs to the chancel are the ones that seem to be in their original condition. Most of the timber of the other roofs are of the date of the church, but they seem to have been subsequently reconstructed.

Billings report of the church is of great value and significance as it paints the picture of the church as it was before Blomfields work and also sets out how in the period of C19th gothic revival the clutter of post- medieval fittings and changes would have been seen to have been harming and debasing the superior true gothic qualities of the medieval building.

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Kettering

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	The remaining fabric dates from two main phases; the tower from around 1450 and the main body of the church from around 1500. The slightly skew relationship of the tower to the body of the church may be explained by its relationship to an earlier building since replaced by the present structure. The church had gained a Faculty for galleries to be added in 1822, although there appears to be the no illustrations of these alterations in the records. Instead there are only two rough pencil sketches. Although extremely faint, they are useful as one of the sketches shows the large organ and gallery in the west arch (fig.14). The second, even fainter sketch shows a hint of the central chandelier, which Billings noted was dated from 1775 and had 30 lights and had been suspended by ornamental iron work supporting a dove (fig.15). He adds that it was rendered useless by the introduction of the gas. In his survey Billings noted the whole body of the church is filled with pews, which completely hide the bases of the columns, and in addition to these are a comely array of galleries, which fortunately from the great width of the aisles, leave the upper part of the columns clear. He therefore showed the church clear of furnishings in his engravings.

	In one of these views it is possible to catch a glimpse of the C18th decalogue boards and reredos at the east end of the chancel (shown on right). Of this Billings disapproved in place of the old altar table... we have a roman ionic composition and the side of the chancel wainscoted in character. .s.. to hide the altar fittings from the exterior, a portion of the east window has been blocked up by superannuated tomb-stones. The same view, which is of the present St Lukes Chapel (then referred to as the Sawyer Aisle) shows the parish writing desk which remarkably survives in virtually the same place today. Billings was descriptive about floor levels, reporting that the chancel had been altered to an inclined plain rising towards the modern altar. He evidently disapproved of this post-medieval arrangement and sought to correct it by adding steps at suitable places in his views and drawings of the chancel interior (see left) and also in a very helpful long section drawing of the whole church (see below). These steps were presumably subjectively placed without specific archaeological evidence. In character with typical nineteenth century ecclesiastical scholars, there was much condemnation about amendments to the correct form of gothic building. Billings describes the mischief committed by modern glaziers of the nave, who were allowed in order to have regular squares, to cut away all the internal half of the tracery cusps. Elsewhere we find Perhaps the greatest disfigurement of the interior was the despoilment of the chancel arch of its mouldings and columns, making it perfectly plain. Even the church roofs were found to have been interfered with; only the aisle roofs to the chancel are the ones that seem to be in their original condition. Most of the timber of the other roofs are of the date of the church, but they seem to have been subsequently reconstructed. Billings report of the church is of great value and significance as it paints the picture of the church as it was before Blomfields work and also sets out how in the period of C19th gothic revival the clutter of post- medieval fittings and changes would have been seen to have been harming and debasing the superior true gothic qualities of the medieval building.