Church Of Saint Mary

Church of Saint Mary, Kettering

This is a Grade II* listed church built between 1893 and 1895 by the architectural partnership Gotch and Saunders of Kettering. The same firm added the south-east chapel of Christ the King in 1932.

The church is constructed of coursed ironstone with freestone dressings and is roofed with red clay tiles. It represents a freely and imaginatively treated version of late medieval Gothic architecture.

The plan consists of a clerestoried nave with narrow north and south aisles, a lower chancel with a transeptal north-east vestry (over a boiler room), a transeptal south-east organ chamber, a south-east chapel positioned south of the organ chamber, north and south porches forming a narthex, and a three-sided west baptistry that projects from the narthex.

The exterior is distinguished by several notable features. The nave has narrow lean-to aisles divided into seven bays, punctuated by stepped buttresses that rise to the top of the clerestory windows. A continuous run of clerestory glazing, interrupted only by the buttresses, runs along the nave; these lights contain five lights per bay and are squared-headed with lozenges in the tracery. The aisles themselves have no fenestration. Towards the east end of the nave, an octagonal turret straddles the roof ridge with a red-tiled base and spirelet separated by timber louvres. The chancel terminates with angle buttresses and a broad seven-light late Perpendicular window. A foundation stone in the east wall records the date of 10 June 1893. On the north side, a large vestry-cum-boiler room features a chimney stack against the north wall of the chancel with stone shafts and chamfered corners; these stacks are connected at the top, creating a bellcote between them. The vestry has a shoulder-headed north doorway with an overlight and an inscription on the lintel reading "Laudate Nomen Domini: Laudate Servi Domini". A large, transomed, square-headed four-light north window stands to the right of the door. The transeptal south-east organ chamber is attached to the 1932 chapel, which comprises three bays and terminates at its east end with an octagonal turret carrying a 17th-century-style cupola. The west end of the nave features a curious Venetian Gothic window with an arched central light containing Flamboyant tracery, flanked by lower cinquefoil-headed lights in square frames. The narthex and baptistry have three-light cusped windows in square-headed frames.

The interior reveals careful articulation of materials and finishes. The arcade piers and lower parts of the aisle walls are plastered and painted, while the remainder of this area shows exposed bare stonework. The chancel masonry is painted white. The nave and chancel are separated by a wide semi-circular arch on stone corbels. The nave arcades feature segmental-headed moulded arches on octagonal piers with simple capitals decorated in relief. The broad clerestory windows provide the primary lighting to the nave, compensating for the absence of aisle windows. Stone half-arches span the aisles, expressing internally the buttresses that delineate the bays externally. A low, coped stone wall separates the nave and chancel. The nave and chancel have canted, boarded wagon roofs divided into panels by ribs; the south-east chapel has a segmental ceiling similarly divided by ribs. The roof truss, on demi-octagonal shafts, is decorated with fretwork, and the walls are lined with wooden panelling featuring a frieze of symbols in roundels.

Principal fixtures include a rood beam and rood designed by Sir Charles Nicholson (a drawing of which is held in the church archives). The reredos features gilded columns supporting a semi-circular cornice with a gilded dome over the altar. The nave is furnished with chairs, while the chancel contains a set of stalls with 17th-century detailing (two rows per side). The pulpit also incorporates 17th-century detail mingled with Gothic elements and is surmounted by a tester. The plain octagonal font may be medieval. The First World War memorial reredos in the south aisle originally formed a fireplace in Rushden Hall and was relocated here with adaptations by Sir Thomas Graham Jackson, with sculpting work by Sir Hamo Thornycroft. The south chapel contains a stone altar and reredos featuring a gilded, sculpted, seated figure of Christ beneath a niche. This chapel and the west end display a fine series of stained glass windows, including patterned jewel-like glass in the porch; the latest date on the porch windows is 1981.

The church was built to provide additional Anglican church accommodation in this area of Kettering towards the end of the 19th century. The architects, Gotch and Saunders, formed a local partnership. John Alfred Gotch (1852–1942) was born in Kettering and established an independent practice there in 1878; he entered into partnership with Charles Saunders (died 1928). Gotch became, in 1886–7, the first president of the RIBA from a provincial practice. Beyond his architectural work, he was a prolific writer on historic architecture, particularly of 16th- and 17th-century domestic buildings. Like other major provincial practices of the period, Gotch and Saunders undertook a diverse range of commissions across many building types. Saint Mary's is among the finest achievements of their practice.