Page 20 - Jigsaw August 2021

A GLANCE AT THE PAST
On religious grounds
Go to any community in the country and
the likelihood is that the oldest building
will be the parish church. In the porch of St James’ Church in Thrapston is a list of town Rectors, the earliest recorded being William de Dunington in 1221. Thus, this year marks at least 800 years of a church in town. The only remaining part of the church from these times is the chancel (the area containing the altar and choir pews) whilst inset into the south wall is a double piscina, one used by the priest to wash his fingers before communion and the other to wash the vessels after. This dates to the reign of Edward I (1272 – 1307) (photographed in 2018 (EDF)).
The earliest photograph I have of the church, taken during the Victorian era, is this image taken by photographer W Smith, about whom I have no information. It shows the churchyard with gravestones in their original positions; the stones were moved to the edge of the
yard in 1963. In 1917 Lewis Henry Chambers undertook to record inscriptions on these stones. These have been published by the Northamptonshire Family History Society in
It shows the churchyard with gravestones in their original positions
a booklet which also includes graves that were in the Baptist Graveyard.
On the west wall (to the left as you enter the church) is a plaque bearing the Arms of Sir John Washington (1590 – 1668), the great, great, great uncle of George Washington, shown below. The precise date of installation is unknown although during the 18th century they were behind the altar. Sir John is buried in the churchyard, the exact location being unknown.
The tower dates from the 14th century, the spire rising from behind a parapet which could be used by archers as a defensive position if the community came under attack, the people retreating into the church. In the tower is the chiming mechanism for the bells, built by local clockmaker and respected horologist Edwin Turner Cottingham (1869 – 1940) in the early
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