The countryside around Nene Valley Cottages is rich in historic churches, chapels and cathedral architecture, making the area a rewarding base for guests interested in local history, literature, art and heritage.
You may not be a regular churchgoer, but these buildings are worth visiting for their architecture, setting and sense of place. For some, the only way to address the bigger questions has been to build, and this part of the country has some remarkable results.
St Peter’s, Oundle
An excellent example, and only four miles from the cottages, is St Peter’s, Oundle. Built on the foundations of the original Saxon monastery, the nave dates from the 13th century, with the tower added around two hundred years later.
The tallest spire in Northamptonshire was completed in the 1630s, just in time before such extravagance might have become politically dangerous. From miles around, the spire still speaks clearly of the power and confidence of the church in those times.
It may have galled the tithe payers who helped fund it, but today you can enjoy its majesty from the town, the surrounding countryside and even as you walk beyond the trees behind the cottages.
Fotheringhay church
Fotheringhay Church is another remarkable place to visit. It is a stunning building with strong links to English history, including Mary Queen of Scots, who was executed at nearby Fotheringhay Castle.
Local stories say the abbey was later pulled down in revenge for that event, and that the staircase in The Talbot in Oundle came from the castle. Whether taken as fact or folklore, these stories add to the atmosphere of a village already full of historic interest.
Little Gidding
Little Gidding is a quiet and beautiful place, especially on a bright, freezing midwinter day or in May when the hawthorn is in bloom.
The village is closely associated with T. S. Eliot and Four Quartets. Eliot wrote of places at the world’s end, and described Little Gidding as the nearest, in place and time, now and in England.
Read Four Quartets before you visit, or learn more through this BBC programme about Little Gidding. Then go quietly and let the place speak for itself.
Peterborough Cathedral
Peterborough Cathedral dates from the 12th century but sadly surrounded by inner Peterborough which is a monument to ’60s urban planning. What was going through the minds of these people when they destroyed so many fine towns and cities? Read Mark Haddon’s ‘A Spot of Bother’ to get a feel for what it must be like to live in this City. But do visit what is a very fine cathedral; you will learn something about ourselves when you emerge full of wonder and look upon McDonalds and all the other monuments we have built to our age immediately outside it.
In the words of Theodore Dalrymple, the pen-name of prison psychiatrist Anthony Daniels, ‘Peterborough is essentially a sublime cathedral surrounded by a festival of British modernist architectural incompetence and brutalism sponsored by a council planning committee that was both without taste and – let us at least hope, for it is the only charitable interpretation of what the committee has wrought – corrupt’. I would never say anything like that but do understand where he is coming from.
St Matthew’s, Northampton
St Matthew’s, Northampton was an important centre for art in the 20th century and still contains significant works, including possibly the best painting by Graham Sutherland and an iconic sculpture by Henry Moore.
The church is closely associated with Canon Walter Hussey, who became a major patron of modern religious art. His influence at St Matthew’s, and later at Chichester Cathedral, left a lasting cultural mark. His personal collection can now be seen at Pallant House Gallery.
John Betjeman once said of St Matthew’s that it was the sort of church that brings you to your knees. You may not share all of his religious feeling, but the architecture, art and atmosphere should at least encourage a visit.
Northampton and Cambridge churches
The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Northampton is a Romanesque round church dating from the 12th century, with later additions that reflect its long and changing history.
For a day in Cambridge, King’s College Chapel is magnificent. It is hard to believe that such a building is a college chapel, and it remains one of the most impressive ecclesiastical buildings in England.
Any Cambridge college chapel is worth looking into, but an interesting comparison is to walk around King’s and then visit Peterhouse Chapel, part of the oldest and smallest of the Cambridge colleges.
A thoughtful day out from the cottages
From the spire of St Peter’s in Oundle to the quietness of Little Gidding and the grandeur of Peterborough Cathedral, these churches and historic buildings offer much more than sightseeing.
They are places of architecture, memory, art, literature and belief, all within reach of Nene Valley Cottages during a peaceful self-catering stay near Oundle.