Sitting on top of the hill, just across the road from Canons Ashby House, this church is also looked after by the National Trust. It is a fragment of the west end of the nave of the Augustinian Priory founded circa 1150. It has a splendid façade laying adjacent to the large tower that was added in the mid-14th century. Inside, at the base of that tower, is a well laid out museum devoted to the building which includes a model of the original monastic buildings. Internally the church is a large barn like space giving a sense of the sheer scale of the medieval original (the nave then was 29 metres long and this was followed by an equally long chancel). The large windows shed light on the whitewashed walls decorated around the east window with faux curtains held back by putti. This is by Elizabeth Creed, c. 1710. She was a cousin of the Dryden family who arrived here following the Dissolution of the monastery and who built the adjacent house. In the church you encounter their hatchments, armour and two outstanding neo classical white marble tombs both by Rossi. The poet John Dryden was a cousin of the family and the remains of the archaeologist sir Henry Dryden lie in the church yard under a tall Celtic Cross. Few churches in the county have such resonance from both the Medieval and Georgian times.
(6th March 2019)
