St John’s Church - Corby Village

What, you might ask, is a Village Church doing on a blog about pubs and clubs? A church that hasn't, as yet, been converted into a trendy Gin & Cocktail Bar at that!

Pub enthusiasts will know the answer of course, as will anyone who's made the schoolboy error of arriving at a village pub just that little too early for opening time. Because nothing says 'I'm really desperate for a pint!' more, than spending half an hour with your nose smudging a windowpane waiting for the lights to come on. I know, I've been there. Quite recently in fact!...

More likely is that the pub has failed to open at the advertised time, an increasingly common malaise affecting licensed premises all over. All except Corby that is, because Corby pubs open all day every day, sometimes longer, almost without fail. I think this is unique for a town the size of Corby, just show me another one like it!

Anyway, I digress. The Church is that place you go to for a bit of a mooch around whilst waiting for the pub to open, everyone knows that! Unless of course there's a lollipop shop nearby, and even then the churchyard is the preferred location to sit and contemplate life, and death obvs. With a Strawberry Mivvi. What else can you do when the village pub's closed that doesn't look like your 'casing' the joint for unattended Lawnmowers, or freshly baked Cherry Pies left on windowsills. The Church offers welcome sanctuary from curtain twitchers and aggressive farm dogs, just don't point your binoculars at the Lead Roofing, that way can lead to a spot of bother with the local Bobby...

Churches are also repositories of hugely interesting 'things', by which I mean historical artefacts and fascinating architectural curiosities. A destination in their own right even without the attraction of a nearby pint. Corby's Church of St John the Baptist is a good case in point, and close enough to the village's two great pubs to be well-worth a short detour. An attractive enough Limestone edifice for sure, but also chock full of lesser known historic detail. Look at that front (South) door (left) for example. Lovely!...

I'd recommend a wander around the outside of the Church first, particularly in Spring when the Churchyard is carpeted with Bluebells. Look up though and you'll see the impressive Spire, maybe a majestic Red Kite wheeling overhead, and this particularly attractive Sundial with associated Date Stone above the Porch (below). A beauty of understated Latin numberology, which believe it or not can be used to tell the time on sunny days. Who knew!

A more obscure, and yet quite common timekeeping device can be seen nearby, a so-called Scratch or 'Mass Dial' (right). A great many churches have at least one of these, and yet they're rarely noticed by the casual visitor. Some are quite large and elaborate, others, such as this one, are more modest affairs and easily missed. These fascinating relics date from a time when accurate and reliable clocks were unavailable to the clergy, and are a kind of primitive sundial. A stick (the gnomon) was inserted in the hole at the centre and it's shadow used to determine the time in relation to the major church services of the day, such as Mass, hence the name they're generally known by today. This one is located unusually low down on a Buttress and would appear to be upside-down. Not an uncommon occurrence given that building stones were often moved and re-used for extensions and refurbishment of the church.

It’ll likely be raining now so inside for not one, but two relatively common, though frequently overlooked pieces of wall carving. The first is partially obscured by the later wooden structure of the Porch (left), another more complete example can be seen adjacent to the Pulpit (below). Circular in pattern with a simple compass drawn cross within, these are Consecration Crosses, associated with the consecration (or re-consecration) of the church by the local Bishop. Located at the points where the Bishop anointed the Church, internal examples like these would originally have been painted, now just the scratched outlines can be seen.

The consecration ceremony dictates that there would be twelve points within the building where the Bishop anointed the church, and another twelve on the exterior, hence there may have been many more at one time. Those found on the exterior of the church, if marked, would have been exposed to weathering and damage and are therefore probably much rarer.

It's possible that there may be another example of a Consecration Cross on an outside wall of St John's (below), of which just a small section of the circle remains. This is of course speculation on my part, but it would be interesting to compare the radius of this fragment to one of the known crosses within the church.

So, you're back outside now. A good opportunity to examine a much more common and relatively modern marking in the fabric of the building, this one on a west facing Buttress of the Tower (left). This is a Cut Benchmark, one of dozens located on buildings in and around Corby if you know where to look for them. They were used as datum points for the Ordanace Survey, and usually date from the 19th or early 20th century. Once you start looking for Benchmarks in the landscape you'll find them everywhere, and of course collecting, or 'bagging' Benchmarks as it's known, is an excellent pastime that like all these kinds of thing can become a highly addictive obsession. Don't say I didn't warn you!

This lady(?) (right), probably associated with a wealthy local benefactor, is one of many carved heads to be found around the church. Often weather-worn to the point of being virtually unrecognisable (above), this one has been saved from the worst of the Corby weather by being enclosed within the timber construction of the porch.

Another well preserved, and very important piece of stone carving within the church is the Font, a rare 12th Century example with six low 'Dog Tooth' arches. Around 800 years old then, a remarkable survivor.

Though not quite as old or remarkable as the Parliament Stone, an almost forgotten relic of Corby's past. This substantial stone lies at the front of modern flats on a branch of the High Street near the church, but was originally located within the churchyard. Whether it was actually moved or not is unclear given that a resident of the village has suggested the flats themselves were built on land that was originally part of the graveyard. That the stone itself has 'moved' though, is beyond doubt.

The Parliament Stone is what's known as a Glacial Erratic, a stone which is not native to the area in which it lies, and which was moved to it's present location over many thousands of years by the advance of glacial ice, so quite a long time ago! Stones like this, and there are a great many, would have acquired importance within the community by virtue of their obvious difference to the local geology. How they got there may have been regarded by locals as a true mystery, and in some cases these stones have associated legends, usually involving gods, giants, and quarrels, to explain their unusual presence in the local landscape.

It's thought that early readings of the Royal Charter, from which many of Corby's Pole Fair traditions originate, were made from the Parliament Stone, and it seems to have acted as a place of gathering and debate for villagers, and perhaps a place where disputes were settled. It's name is thought to relate to it's role as a meeting place for Parliamentarians during the English Civil War. So the Parliament Stone can be seen as a very important part of Corby's social history, analogous to the Moot Stones and King's or Coronation Stones of ancient history. This includes Scotland's famous Stone of Destiny, which is a fitting comparison for the Corby example I think. (thanks to Charlotte Mooney who related much of this information to a small but attentive audience during the recent Pole Fair events).

You can discover more of the history of St John the Baptist Church on this video presented by architectural and social historian Dr Peter Hill. There's very good internet coverage at the Cardigan Arms and White Hart, enjoy it with a pint.