St Bartholomew - Furtho, Northants, UK - Country Churches on Waymarking.com

The Parish Church.
The church of St. Batholomew comprises a chancel, nave and west tower. The church was extensively rebuilt, especially the nave and the tower, by Edward Furtho in 1620, as an inscription on the exterior of the south side of the nave records. The basically medieval chancel has 13th- and 14thcentury windows, and internally a piscina, tomb-recess and image-brackets of similar date; its oldest feature, a plain round-headed south doorway with a double-chamfered hoodmould on crude head-stops, may be re-set. The positioning of the 1620 tower, partly within the western bay of the remodelled nave, created a curious pair of 'lobbies' to the west of the new tower arch. The nave and tower windows, the chancel and tower arches, and the nave roof are of 1620, in a simple 'Perpendicular survival' style. There is a false roof with a steeper pitch, moulded tie beams, purlins and ridge. A new rector, John Williams Mason, was instituted in 1843, where he remained until 1880, and interest in restoring the church appears to date from the time of his arrival. In 1848 the archdeacon unsuccessfully applied to the Arnold Trustees seeking help to repair the pews, floors, roof and bell. He noted that all were in a very bad state, but with a little expense Furtho might be made 'one of the nicest little churches in the archdeaconry'. The trustees declined, taking the view that they could not use their income for such a purpose. They did, however, find about a third of the total cost of £100 to carry out fairly extensive repairs in 1870, when the church was reseated and a Bath stone pulpit installed, together with a lectern and desk. John Bird, the trust's tenant and churchwarden, under whose auspices the restoration was carried out, provided a harmonium.
After the union with Potterspury the incumbent raised the question of demolishing the church at Furtho, which the bishop advised against and suggested simply ceasing to hold regular services there, removing the fittings to use at Potterspury and Yardley Gobion, and keeping the churchyard fenced and tidy. In 1937 the vicar was asked by the Arnold Trustees to repair the churchyard wall to safeguard their tenant's stock; on this occasion the diocesan registrar emphasised that both church and churchyard remained open and that the P.C.C. was responsible for their upkeep, however few services were held there. Furtho came closest to demolition in 1956, when the county surveyor agreed to a request from the diocese to take down the building at no cost in return for the use of the materials. The proposal was not carried out and in 1972 the Friends of Friendless Churches, in collaboration with the Arnold Trust, restored the church and improved public access to the site. Restoration was completed in 1975 and the first public services for over forty years held in 1977. The setting of the church was improved as part of a wider landscaping scheme involving the dovecote and farm buildings, carried out by the Arnold trustees in the late 1990s.
On the north side of the chancel there is a marble monument, which once contained brass figures of a man and his two wives and probably commemorated Anthony Furtho (d. 1558), who was twice married. On the opposite side of the chancel is a monument to Edmund Arnold (d. 1676), which was renewed in 1758 and possibly at other times.
The tower contains a single bell; the parish register begins in 1696.
details from British History on line.

Church Name: St Bartholomew Date Church Built: 1620 Rate this church.: Church In Use (even only just occassionally): Not Listed

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