Church of St Denys is a Grade II* listed building in the West Northamptonshire local planning authority area, England. First listed on 2 November 1954. Church.
Church of St Denys
- WRENN ID
- western-passage-acorn
- Grade
- II*
- Local Planning Authority
- West Northamptonshire
- Constituency
- Daventry MP: Stuart Andrew (Con)
- Country
- England
- Date first listed
- 2 November 1954
- Type
- Church
- Address
- Church of St Denys, Church Hill, Ravensthorpe
- OS grid reference
- SP 670 703
- Coordinates
- 52.32714, -1.01829
- Source
- Historic England listing
Description
The Church of St Denys, also known as the Church of St Dionysius, largely dates to the 13th and 19th centuries. It is constructed of squared and regular coursed lias stone, with a lead and plain-tile roof. The church comprises an aisled nave, chancel, and a west tower.
The chancel, dating from the 19th century, has a two-window south elevation of traceried lancet windows, with a central door. The north elevation mirrors this, with a single window. The east window is a three-light design with a roundel incorporating cusping. The chancel features a gabled roof with an ashlar cornice, gable parapets, and a finial. The south aisle has a two-window range of three-light windows, one with a square head and the other with Perpendicular tracery. A similar three-light window illuminates the east side, and a two-light window is situated on the west. All windows have some 19th and 20th century tracery. The north aisle, which projects half a bay alongside the chancel, similarly features a two-window range of three-light windows under segmental arches, a matching east window, a two-light west window, and a north door also under a segmental arch. Lean-to roofs with ashlar gable parapets cover both the south and north aisles. The south porch, located to the left, is a 19th-century addition, featuring a double-chamfered outer door opening and Decorated inner door openings, topped with a gabled roof and ashlar gable parapets. The nave clerestory has a three-window range, with the south windows featuring segmental arches and the north windows having square heads with arched lights.
The restored 13th-century west tower incorporates four stages with angle buttresses at the west corners and a 2-light west window at ground level. Double lancet bell-chamber openings, with attached shafts, are present in the upper stage, subdivided by a string course. It has a castellated parapet, likely dating to the 14th century.
Inside, a double-chamfered chancel arch connects to the nave. The 13th-century nave arcade comprises three bays of double-chamfered arches supported by octagonal piers. A triple-chamfered tower arch is also present, and a tomb recess is located in the south aisle. The church contains a Jacobean pulpit, parts of a Perpendicular screen, and a parish chest with iron banding. A tablet reset in the north wall of the chancel commemorates John Adams, who died in 1698, and his wife, who died in 1737, and depicts a cherub at the head.
Local climate
Church of St Denys sits in a drier-than-average part of the UK, with an average of 740 mm of rain a year. This makes it drier than 76% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is lower than that of 76% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 38 freeze-thaw cycles a year, more than 71% of listed buildings. Of these, 18 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.
Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.
More on this building
Sign in or create a free account to unlock:
- No EPC on record for this property
- No sale records on file
- No related consent applications matched
- Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
- Flood risk assessment
- Radon risk assessment
- Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
Matched applications, energy data and sale records are assembled automatically and may contain errors. Flag incorrect data.
Similar buildings
The closest matches to this building from all 493,000 UK listed buildings, by architecture, period and materials.
this building 1 similar nearby listed buildings