I live within walking distance of this gorgeous church and the beautiful hall. I was born and grew up in Coventry though, and quite by accident an elderly neighbour would bring mum, my nan and I out to the hall for picnics by the lake in summer holidays. The hall was derelict then. I remember peering in through the broken glass in the round tower window. A saw mill was using the great hall and the vibrations of the machinery had brought the roof down. But the church was a delight. When I first saw it there was no electricity to it at all. Services in winter were conducted by candlelight. There was no heating. The infrared heating and lighting is relatively recent. The monuments intrigued me as a child. The stone book under one of the windows looks so real I still want to turn the page. When the house was finally rescued it was by a private investor, an antiques dealer called Ted Saunders. Until very recently he still lived on the estate in a grand house just behind the hall. But they were trying to sell it, not sure if they have. He restored the house bit by bit. Found the original roof trusses for the great hall buried under a mound of soil and weeds out in the field near one of the lakes. That was enough for them to be able to copy the roof and reuse where possible. He used it as a showcase for his antiques business. He later went into architectural reclamation too. So if you wanted a 1650's staircase, Ted was the man to ask. I guess in the end the cost of running the house and gardens and water was too much and so he sold it to a hotel group who created a beautiful hotel and spa out of it. The hotel groups have changed several times, but the beauty of the building remains. It's a window onto a very wealthy past. Fawsley was one of the wealthiest estates in England, all based on wool. Your lovely video and history have reminded me that now I live on the doorstep, I forget to go and visit the spot. I need to go again and remind myself why I love living in this lovely area so much.
My great great grandfather was Head Gardener at Fawsley- my grandfather remembers going over to visit family there and ice skating on the lakes. The house itself was used as a sawmill for a while before being sold for a hotel. I last visited the church there in 2009- very well preserved considering its relative isolation these days
Just how beautiful, thank you so much. I did visit England a few years ago ( always been desperate to see York) and it now makes me think I should have listened to your advice back then. How sorry I am to have missed so many of the wonderful places you so vividly describe. 🙏🙏👵🇦🇺
Badby woods is on the hill in the distance. Lots of badgers around there. Weekends at Fawsley are packed, especially in the summer (people park up and picnic for the most part). A lot of fishing to be done and reed warblers nest on the banks of those lakes. Don’t know how you managed to get in? I would walk through Fawsley often and that church door was always locked tight! It was interesting to see inside at last. Fascinating, thank you for showing us 😊 Oh, a little gossip about the place, it is said that Elizabeth I stayed at Fawsley Hall on one of her progresses and there’s a room dedicated to her (don’t know if she did stay there though). Also, that John Merrick stayed there and he used it as a retreat for a while. I saw the hall when it was in terrible disrepair and it was threatened to be pulled down. Now rich celebrities stay there. I’m sure they find it an exciting drive down that single track road. Also, anyone visiting, watch out for the cattle grids, they’re especially slippery when it rains a bit.
John Merrick stayed on the estate, in one of the farms, as Lady Knightly's guest. Not in the hall. And yes, it's pretty much corroborated that Elizabeth I stayed at the hall.
A wonderful snapshot of Fawsley Allan! So lovely to see you as a tiny figure flying Kermit! Great footage of the church and surrounding landscape. Time again wealthy families dispensed with villages to improve their views! In this case, the family didn't even manage to hold onto their estate. At least the church has survived the rigors of time and renovation and some of the monuments are fascinating. Thanks so much for sharing your footage and insights, always a delight.
Dr. Barton another nice extensive video about this estate and about the church. I enjoy it and I also think your monthly magazine is so beautiful. Thank you for all your historical explanation. Martha
Thank you for another fascinating church visit. The memorials are a history lesson in themselves, showing how tastes changed. Those children around the tomb chest are so touching - twelve children, she was one tough Dame! Is the church still used at all as a place of worship? I often wonder this about the buildings you describe.
Wow Well Done!! Love your multilayered presentation of the elite from bottom to top. What I meant was that every aspect of the elite's methods of playing out their roles was revealed here in a seamless fashion. I talk too much... thanks again.
As always Dr B, another fascinating glimpse into history and the life and times of a family. In the aerial shot of Dame Jane and Sir Richard’s tomb effigy, Sir Richard’s right leg is shorter than his left. I suppose it was to compensate for his foot to rest upon something and in the day, it was viewed from ground level and probably not as noticeable.
Thank you Dr Barton Just love the aerial view and the close ups of the estate. Just so beautiful neat. You never disappoint. I could watch your videos all day!👍🏻😁 And I can just imagine the great photos and info in your magazine.
Thank you for another beautifully presented, well researched video. I'm in the US and a senior citizen so my days of travel are in the past. You allow me to see the places in England I would choose if being there were still an option and I particularly enjoy the churches.
Wonderful video! A beautiful manor-house and church! Being a New Zealander, with our very young history, I'm very envious of the UK and its ancient and colourful history. I just love buildings like these. I can imagine being caught in a winter storm, being lashed by the wind and rain, and taking shelter in this lovely old church. I also imagine myself as a young boy exploring the rooms and hallways of the manor-house on a winter morning, with a cozy fire burning in a fireplace and the aroma of freshly-baked bread wafting along the hallway. What a treat it must have been to have grown up in such a house! Wonderful! The feeling of longing for these places is so strong that I wonder if I was English in a previous life. Many thanks for the video!
This was such a lovely reprieve from current and immersion into the past. Wonderful! I see this channel is creeping ever closer to that 100K mark. I'd love to see Allan reach it soon. He deserves it.
Thank you, Allan! This video, like all of your submissions is a treasure as you take us to see yet another English treasure.Capability Brown did a marvelous job on this park setting for Fawsley Manor, and for St. Mary's church. I'd love to ride along on these journeys with you just to soak up the knowledge and history.
Thank you for your beautiful presentations and research. Some of my ancestors the Hillyards lived in Fawsley village in the 17 century. We think they were “resettled” around Heyford way when the cottages were cleared. There a many stories about Fawsley including the Elephant Man Merrick staying there. Also how a cunning fox outwitted the hounds by swimming across one of the lakes. The hounds followed and were drowned and can still be heard on certain nights, allegedly. Also, one of the sources of the Nene is said rise in one of the lakes. A beautiful atmospheric place all round. 😊
Allan, this video quality is fantastic! I love videos like these where the footage goes at a slower pace, allowing me to listen and watch and take it all in rather than have to scramble to take all the details.
Very interesting and surprising to see such intact funerary monuments. I was surprised to see the Gage family mentioned. I am a descendant of Margaret Gage 1590- 1648 of North Tuddenham a member of the Gage family of Raunds Northamptonshire of which the Gage family you mention are a branch.
Hello what a beautiful church and grounds. I love visiting old churches and stately homes. Unfortunately I won't drive due to my fibamyalga so I rely on you to show me all these beautiful places your doing a great job 😊
The video I always hoped you would make because I love these beautiful locations and I am particularly fascinated by them, and of course my name is Richard 😃
Have you noticed the mound around the church. I wonder if it is a left over mott? Clearly I spoke to soon since you explained it was a ha haanother wonderful presentation.
A most enjoyable video. I can recommend a visit to St Mary Magdalene at Adlestrop, the village ( or rather the railway stop) made famous by the WW1 poem of the same name by Edward Thomas. It is the neighbouring estate of the former Kington Estate part of which now makes up Clarkson’s Farm and Alex James ( Blur) farm. I was there for the funeral of the Hon William Leigh, an old family friend, who was son of the late Lord Leigh and who’s family have owned the estate since 1553 when Sir Thomas Leigh bought the manor from the Crown, it having formerly the possession of Evesham Abbey until the Dissolution in 1540. The monuments within the church are almost exclusively of the Leigh family although the family has had a long connection to Fiennes family ( Ralph, Joseph, Sir Ranulph et al ) (Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes) who’s family seat is Broughton Castle ( as seen in the film Shakespeare in Love starring Joseph Fiennes). Next to the church is Adlestrop House Thomas Leigh Rector of Adlestrop was a cousin of Jane Austen.
That was really interesting, especially the explanation of the family shield of arms. I wonder if there was any record of the thoughts, either complaint or approval by the villagers of their removal to a new location.
Thank you for another fascinating video, Allan. May I suggest that Holy Trinity at nearby Charwelton, which has a similar connection to the Andrew family, is also worth a look.
Thank you for this interesting video. The story of the demolition of the village makes me wonder if Time Team shouldn’t go there and see what they can dig up.
A fantastc new episode, Dr Barton. The parkland and church are beautiful, and I greatly enjoyed your description of both. Many thanks, as always, from Oxford!
"wanting privacy" is an euphemism for the destruction of a village. So many estate owners did it , same as the Inclosure act, it's more than "wanting privacy" . Love your video :)
I could do a whole video on enclosures and deserted villages, in fact I intend to. The motivation for enclosure was indeed much more complex than this brief sketch of a church’s relationship to a house could possibly provide. The landowner was king on their own demesne.
Your church vids really make me want to visit England even more. What are the chances that you could please, please, please give us a multi-part, in-depth tour of Westminster Abby? I have zero comprehension of the actual interior layout. All videos are of parts and none explains the spatial relationships between things like poets' corner and the altar and St Edwards tomb and Henry VII lady chapel and its aisles. And what was there before the lady chapel? What's where the abby was? Where did Queen Elizabeth (Woodville) take sanctuary and what's there now? Please help! I feel like you're the only one who can do a proper deep dive, even if it takes a bunch of vids to publish. Your Whitehall was so brilliant (in the American & English senses of the word) I'm such a fan! Your magazine is on my holiday wish list!
Extraordinarily beautiful. Is it still the parish church and or visitable? I can't remember how I came across your films but I've been a devotee ever since and cannot tell you how much I appreciate your spectacularly pictured and fabulously well informed and instructive content, so thank you!!
If that is the case you must be very distantly related or from a line prior to the creation of the baronetcy. The last baronet (6th) died in 1938, there were no male heirs and the estate was inherited by the daughter of the 3rd Baronet who married into the Gage family of Firle. Her eventual heir was her nephew the 6th Viscount Gage, whose family still own the estate.
Ach, stately home stuff always leaves me torn between feelings of admiration for things like the pretty tomb (and bemusement at the supposedly Puritan kitchen sink one...what even are those lion-footed djin things?) and raging disgust at the obscenity of that much heaped wealth funnelled into display. Eventually this family literally shunted the working class out of the (landscape) picture once their labour'd moved skyscape and earth for them, even...kind of thing makes me want to eat a baronet. Jesus would flip a table. I hope the Tudor Sir Richard gave everyone decent shoes and festival roasts, I really do.
@@allanbarton Many of the estate workers moved up to Preston Capes (where I live) and over to Everdon. A longer walk to work, but probably better cottages.
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I live within walking distance of this gorgeous church and the beautiful hall. I was born and grew up in Coventry though, and quite by accident an elderly neighbour would bring mum, my nan and I out to the hall for picnics by the lake in summer holidays. The hall was derelict then. I remember peering in through the broken glass in the round tower window. A saw mill was using the great hall and the vibrations of the machinery had brought the roof down. But the church was a delight. When I first saw it there was no electricity to it at all. Services in winter were conducted by candlelight. There was no heating.
The infrared heating and lighting is relatively recent. The monuments intrigued me as a child. The stone book under one of the windows looks so real I still want to turn the page.
When the house was finally rescued it was by a private investor, an antiques dealer called Ted Saunders. Until very recently he still lived on the estate in a grand house just behind the hall. But they were trying to sell it, not sure if they have. He restored the house bit by bit. Found the original roof trusses for the great hall buried under a mound of soil and weeds out in the field near one of the lakes. That was enough for them to be able to copy the roof and reuse where possible. He used it as a showcase for his antiques business. He later went into architectural reclamation too. So if you wanted a 1650's staircase, Ted was the man to ask.
I guess in the end the cost of running the house and gardens and water was too much and so he sold it to a hotel group who created a beautiful hotel and spa out of it. The hotel groups have changed several times, but the beauty of the building remains. It's a window onto a very wealthy past. Fawsley was one of the wealthiest estates in England, all based on wool.
Your lovely video and history have reminded me that now I live on the doorstep, I forget to go and visit the spot. I need to go again and remind myself why I love living in this lovely area so much.
Does the church still have services, and,if so, who goes to them?
@@helza Yes it does. It's on the rota for the vicar of the surrounding parishes.
Thanks for the enriching details on the recent history. 🤗🙏
I really enjoy your church visit videos. And adding drone footage adds quite a lot to the story.
Dear Sir, you take me to many places I am unable to visit but would love to. Thank you for taking the time to share your knowledge
Bedankt
What a wonderful Church!
This place is absolutely beautiful, thank you for what you do!
My great great grandfather was Head Gardener at Fawsley- my grandfather remembers going over to visit family there and ice skating on the lakes. The house itself was used as a sawmill for a while before being sold for a hotel. I last visited the church there in 2009- very well preserved considering its relative isolation these days
I love your thoughtful research. It so obviously comes from the heart.
Just how beautiful, thank you so much. I did visit England a few years ago ( always been desperate to see York) and it now makes me think I should have listened to your advice back then. How sorry I am to have missed so many of the wonderful places you so vividly describe. 🙏🙏👵🇦🇺
What can I say. QUALITY CONTENT as ALWAYS ❤❤❤
Badby woods is on the hill in the distance. Lots of badgers around there. Weekends at Fawsley are packed, especially in the summer (people park up and picnic for the most part). A lot of fishing to be done and reed warblers nest on the banks of those lakes.
Don’t know how you managed to get in? I would walk through Fawsley often and that church door was always locked tight! It was interesting to see inside at last. Fascinating, thank you for showing us 😊 Oh, a little gossip about the place, it is said that Elizabeth I stayed at Fawsley Hall on one of her progresses and there’s a room dedicated to her (don’t know if she did stay there though). Also, that John Merrick stayed there and he used it as a retreat for a while. I saw the hall when it was in terrible disrepair and it was threatened to be pulled down. Now rich celebrities stay there. I’m sure they find it an exciting drive down that single track road. Also, anyone visiting, watch out for the cattle grids, they’re especially slippery when it rains a bit.
John Merrick stayed on the estate, in one of the farms, as Lady Knightly's guest. Not in the hall. And yes, it's pretty much corroborated that Elizabeth I stayed at the hall.
A wonderful snapshot of Fawsley Allan! So lovely to see you as a tiny figure flying Kermit! Great footage of the church and surrounding landscape. Time again wealthy families dispensed with villages to improve their views! In this case, the family didn't even manage to hold onto their estate. At least the church has survived the rigors of time and renovation and some of the monuments are fascinating. Thanks so much for sharing your footage and insights, always a delight.
I go there often and seeing this video is the first time I've noticed alot of things, thank you
Dr. Barton another nice extensive video about this estate and about the church. I enjoy it and I also think your monthly magazine is so beautiful. Thank you for all your historical explanation. Martha
Thank heaven that this church was spared Victorian “restoration.”
Amazing how Allan Barton keeps coming up with these fascinating church videos. Thank you.
Not really.
A precious documentary on a outstanding part of history. It should be very well preserved. Thank you!
Wonderful video. Thank you.
Thank you for another fascinating church visit. The memorials are a history lesson in themselves, showing how tastes changed. Those children around the tomb chest are so touching - twelve children, she was one tough Dame!
Is the church still used at all as a place of worship? I often wonder this about the buildings you describe.
Oh yes, it's a fully working church. Regular services all year round.
Wow Well Done!! Love your multilayered presentation of the elite from bottom to top. What I meant was that every aspect of the elite's methods of playing out their roles was revealed here in a seamless fashion. I talk too much... thanks again.
These monuments are well preserved. So pretty in colors.
As always Dr B, another fascinating glimpse into history and the life and times of a family. In the aerial shot of Dame Jane and Sir Richard’s tomb effigy, Sir Richard’s right leg is shorter than his left. I suppose it was to compensate for his foot to rest upon something and in the day, it was viewed from ground level and probably not as noticeable.
Excellent video. Thank you. Have you visited All Saints in Norton? Norton has a big Knightly connection.
Valentine Knightly - what a name! He deserves a (possibly slightly racy) historical novel all of his own ❤
Champion! Fascinating & many thanks.
tombs monuments heraldry and genealogy are my favourite thing so this is great.
Thank you Dr Barton
Just love the aerial view and the close ups of the estate. Just so beautiful neat.
You never disappoint.
I could watch your videos all day!👍🏻😁
And I can just imagine the great photos and info in your magazine.
Thank you❤
Thank you for another beautifully presented, well researched video. I'm in the US and a senior citizen so my days of travel are in the past. You allow me to see the places in England I would choose if being there were still an option and I particularly enjoy the churches.
Wonderful video! A beautiful manor-house and church!
Being a New Zealander, with our very young history, I'm very envious of the UK and its ancient and colourful history.
I just love buildings like these.
I can imagine being caught in a winter storm, being lashed by the wind and rain, and taking shelter in this lovely old church.
I also imagine myself as a young boy exploring the rooms and hallways of the manor-house on a winter morning, with a cozy fire burning in a fireplace and the aroma of freshly-baked bread wafting along the hallway.
What a treat it must have been to have grown up in such a house! Wonderful!
The feeling of longing for these places is so strong that I wonder if I was English in a previous life.
Many thanks for the video!
This was such a lovely reprieve from current and immersion into the past. Wonderful! I see this channel is creeping ever closer to that 100K mark. I'd love to see Allan reach it soon. He deserves it.
Thank you, very nearly there. I can’t quite believe it.
Thank you, Allan! This video, like all of your submissions is a treasure as you take us to see yet another English treasure.Capability Brown did a marvelous job on this park setting for Fawsley Manor, and for St. Mary's church. I'd love to ride along on these journeys with you just to soak up the knowledge and history.
As an American it would be amazing to buy an estate like this
Thank you for your beautiful presentations and research. Some of my ancestors the Hillyards lived in Fawsley village in the 17 century. We think they were “resettled” around Heyford way when the cottages were cleared. There a many stories about Fawsley including the Elephant Man Merrick staying there. Also how a cunning fox outwitted the hounds by swimming across one of the lakes. The hounds followed and were drowned and can still be heard on certain nights, allegedly. Also, one of the sources of the Nene is said rise in one of the lakes. A beautiful atmospheric place all round. 😊
Allan, this video quality is fantastic! I love videos like these where the footage goes at a slower pace, allowing me to listen and watch and take it all in rather than have to scramble to take all the details.
Just splendid, thanks for this!
Very interesting and surprising to see such intact funerary monuments. I was surprised to see the Gage family mentioned. I am a descendant of Margaret Gage 1590- 1648 of North Tuddenham a member of the Gage family of Raunds Northamptonshire of which the Gage family you mention are a branch.
A gem, thank you 🙏
Amazing church
Hello what a beautiful church and grounds. I love visiting old churches and stately homes. Unfortunately I won't drive due to my fibamyalga so I rely on you to show me all these beautiful places your doing a great job 😊
It is my great pleasure to do so.
The video I always hoped you would make because I love these beautiful locations and I am particularly fascinated by them, and of course my name is Richard 😃
Have you noticed the mound around the church. I wonder if it is a left over mott? Clearly I spoke to soon since you explained it was a ha haanother wonderful presentation.
Thank you for another wonderful video.❤❤❤
Glad you enjoyed it!
A most enjoyable video. I can recommend a visit to St Mary Magdalene at Adlestrop, the village ( or rather the railway stop) made famous by the WW1 poem of the same name by Edward Thomas. It is the neighbouring estate of the former Kington Estate part of which now makes up Clarkson’s Farm and Alex James ( Blur) farm. I was there for the funeral of the Hon William Leigh, an old family friend, who was son of the late Lord Leigh and who’s family have owned the estate since 1553 when Sir Thomas Leigh bought the manor from the Crown, it having formerly the possession of Evesham Abbey until the Dissolution in 1540. The monuments within the church are almost exclusively of the Leigh family although the family has had a long connection to Fiennes family ( Ralph, Joseph, Sir Ranulph et al ) (Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes) who’s family seat is Broughton Castle ( as seen in the film Shakespeare in Love starring Joseph Fiennes). Next to the church is Adlestrop House Thomas Leigh Rector of Adlestrop was a cousin of Jane Austen.
That was really interesting, especially the explanation of the family shield of arms. I wonder if there was any record of the thoughts, either complaint or approval by the villagers of their removal to a new location.
Thank you for another fascinating video, Allan. May I suggest that Holy Trinity at nearby Charwelton, which has a similar connection to the Andrew family, is also worth a look.
Thank you for this interesting video. The story of the demolition of the village makes me wonder if Time Team shouldn’t go there and see what they can dig up.
A wonderful job as usual
Thanks very much, glad you enjoyed it!
Beautiful but oddly sad as well.
A fantastc new episode, Dr Barton. The parkland and church are beautiful, and I greatly enjoyed your description of both. Many thanks, as always, from Oxford!
A pleasure - when one is faced with such beauty such places describe themselves.
@@allanbarton You are too modest; your research and historical descriptions realy do make the presentations stand out.🙂
"wanting privacy" is an euphemism for the destruction of a village. So many estate owners did it , same as the Inclosure act, it's more than "wanting privacy" . Love your video :)
I could do a whole video on enclosures and deserted villages, in fact I intend to. The motivation for enclosure was indeed much more complex than this brief sketch of a church’s relationship to a house could possibly provide. The landowner was king on their own demesne.
lovely video
Thanks!
Your church vids really make me want to visit England even more.
What are the chances that you could please, please, please give us a multi-part, in-depth tour of Westminster Abby? I have zero comprehension of the actual interior layout. All videos are of parts and none explains the spatial relationships between things like poets' corner and the altar and St Edwards tomb and Henry VII lady chapel and its aisles. And what was there before the lady chapel? What's where the abby was? Where did Queen Elizabeth (Woodville) take sanctuary and what's there now? Please help! I feel like you're the only one who can do a proper deep dive, even if it takes a bunch of vids to publish. Your Whitehall was so brilliant (in the American & English senses of the word)
I'm such a fan! Your magazine is on my holiday wish list!
Many monastic grounds were forcibly taken by King Henry and privatized If I remember correctly.
Very informative 👍
Extraordinarily beautiful. Is it still the parish church and or visitable? I can't remember how I came across your films but I've been a devotee ever since and cannot tell you how much I appreciate your spectacularly pictured and fabulously well informed and instructive content, so thank you!!
Do we know how accurate the effigies were? Were they carved before the people died or were artists brought in afterwards? Love your channel.
The Knightley family of Fawsley are still here.
If that is the case you must be very distantly related or from a line prior to the creation of the baronetcy. The last baronet (6th) died in 1938, there were no male heirs and the estate was inherited by the daughter of the 3rd Baronet who married into the Gage family of Firle. Her eventual heir was her nephew the 6th Viscount Gage, whose family still own the estate.
😊
Ach, stately home stuff always leaves me torn between feelings of admiration for things like the pretty tomb (and bemusement at the supposedly Puritan kitchen sink one...what even are those lion-footed djin things?) and raging disgust at the obscenity of that much heaped wealth funnelled into display. Eventually this family literally shunted the working class out of the (landscape) picture once their labour'd moved skyscape and earth for them, even...kind of thing makes me want to eat a baronet. Jesus would flip a table. I hope the Tudor Sir Richard gave everyone decent shoes and festival roasts, I really do.
Where are they all buried? Under the floor of the church or in the yard?
Under the floor.
❤🇳🇱
They booted out their villagers.
It was not unusual, they generally removed them to better cottages out of sight.
@@allanbarton Many of the estate workers moved up to Preston Capes (where I live) and over to Everdon. A longer walk to work, but probably better cottages.
A haha! 😂😂
Did the Knightley family manage to survive until today?
Sadly not, they died out in 1938, their properties inherited by their relatives the Gage family.
@@allanbarton at least, still in the family somehow
a little enclosing never bothered a good aristocrat...
only the little people who had to move out so the view wouldn't be spoiled.