Church of St Mary

St Mary's Church, Tansor is open every day.
 
The Church of St Mary stands at the west end of the village on the banks of the Nene.  It is built in a wide variety of styles.  There is much fine Norman sculpture, especially in the porches.  In particular the mixture of Norman and early English arches inside the church is interesting.  The long nave has five arches on each side and the varied sculpture of the columns shows the development of architectural styles.  The rererdos in the south aisle was fashioned from five arches of the 500-year-old chancel screen.  At the west end there is a doorway-within-a-doorway and this may have been intended to strengthen the support to the tower.  The church is grade II* listed.

 

In the chancel are two sets of three stalls and misericords as well as a further single seat and misericord.  These date from 1415 and were removed from Fotheringhay Church after their purchase by Tansor resident, Robert Hicks, and in due course left in his will to the church.  At the east end of the south aisle note the remains of the top half of the 15th century rood screen fixed to the wall beneath the window.

In 1860 the Vestry agreed that the singers' gallery at the west end should be removed and in 1861 it was replaced by the present organ built by J W Walker and Son.  In 1886 the organ was removed to its present position at the east end of the north aisle by the choir stalls, in a typically Victorian arrangement.  The organ served well for many years, but by the beginning of the 21st century was needing restoration.  In 2004 Richard Bower and Co carried out a total refurbishment, including restoration of soundboards, re-leathering of bellows, renovation of action, re-creation of a straight pedal board, reconditioning of pipework and restorative re-polishing of the casework.  This work was made possible thanks to a donation sourced by Northamptonshire Village Churches Organs Project.

Photo taken September 2020

Page last updated: Wednesday 4th August 2021 5:12 PM
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