Weight: 682 lbs Diameter: 33.88" Bell 1 of 1
Founded by James Keene 1641
Dove Bell ID: 55664 Tower ID: 21041 - View Tower Listed: No Canons: Removed Cracked: No
Horton: St Mary Magdalene
Diocese of Peterborough
Closed Church, 628190
This church is on the Heritage at Risk Register (verified 2025-11-06)
View more information about this church on the Heritage at Risk website
Overview
Grid reference: SP 819 543
St Mary’s can be easily dissected into west tower, nave, south aisle and chancel, as each has a separate roofline. The chancel roof is pitched steeper and higher than the nave. The nave is topped with ornamental ridge tiles and the chancel tiled with scallop-shaped slates. A stone finial surmounts the east gable.
Visiting and facilities
Building is closed for worship
Building
Ground Plan Description and Dimensions
Ground plan:
3-stage west tower with vestry in base, 3-bay nave with south aisle and south porch, 2-bay chancel.
Dimensions:
Approximate: Nave 10m (33ft) x 5m (16ft), aisle 3m (10ft) wide, chancel 8m (26ft) long.
Footprint of Church buildings: 194 m²
Description of Archaeology and History
St Mary’s dates to the 13th and 14th-centuries. The first incumbent is recorded in 1298. The church was repaired and altered c. 1720 at the expense of the Earl of Halifax of nearby Horton Hall. Further restoration and rebuild was undertaken by local architect Edmund Francis Law [1810/11-1882] in 1862-3.
A decorative wrought-iron fleche was removed from the tower in 1968. An appeal was launched in the 1970s to support repairs to the church but an ICBS grant was cancelled. Work was undertaken in the 1970s to underpin the south-west buttress of the tower during which the remains of an earlier building were found, recorded, and covered over. In 1981 a grant for repairs to the church was approved with further repairs to the tower undertaken in 1983. The church ceased use in 1998.
There has been a church on the site since the 13th century. There is a brick-vaulted crypt containing burials beneath the nave, other burials within the church not ascertained. Roman finds have been identified within 500 metres. The site is of considerable archaeological potential. While there are no known designations relating to the ecology of the plot, the church will have played an important role in the history of the surrounding estate, and consideration should be given to the adjacent Grade II registered park and garden.
Exterior Description
St Mary’s can be easily dissected into west tower, nave, south aisle and chancel, as each has a separate roofline. The chancel roof is pitched steeper and higher than the nave. The nave is topped with ornamental ridge tiles and the chancel tiled with scallop-shaped slates. A stone finial surmounts the east gable.
The west tower is constructed from random rubble and the base is likely to contain the oldest fabric in the church. It is of three stages, each separated by a stringcourse. It finishes with a plain parapet. It has a two-light window to the west at the first stage and a small lean-to boiler-room abuts the north side. The central section has clock faces to south and west sides and a circular window to the north. In the final stage single light louvred openings pierce each side.
Chancel walls are of one stone whilst the nave walls are of banded stonework. Continuous hollow-chamfered stone eaves run around the nave and chancel. The nave has two-tier angle buttresses and the chancel has three-tier angle buttresses. The east window is of three-lights with decorated tracery. Two two-light windows in south chancel wall. The north nave wall has a central two trefoil-headed light window flanked by single light trefoil-headed lancets. The south aisle wall has two two-light windows with quatrefoils above, with a two-light window to the east and single light to the west. All have hood moulds.
Building Fabric and Features
Tower (component)
13th century with 20th century repairs
Vestry
13th century located in base of tower
Nave
19th century rebuilt
Aisle
19th century south
Porch
19th century south
Chancel
19th century rebuilt
Building Materials
Limestone
19th century coursed rubble
Stone
19th century ironstone with stone copings
Slate
19th century roofs with crested ridge tiles
Interior
Interior Description
Access to the church is via the south porch which has single lights to east and west walls. Inside arch-braced trusses resting on corbels span the nave. The plastered walls are white-washed. The south aisle is separated from the anve by a 14th century three-bay arcade of pointed arches carried on octagonal piers with moulded capitals and bases. The floor is paved in quarry tiles with areas of raised pine pew platforms either side of the aisles. The oak benches have been moved to the north and south sides.
The tower arch at the west end is off-centre and separated by an oak screen given in memory of Lady Gunning in 1910. This area, paved with stone flags, has been used as the vestry.
At the east end, through a 19th century chancel arch, the chancel is raised by three steps. The arch-braced collar trusses rest on decorative corbels of heads and foliage. There are many good wall memorials and the fine centrally placed Parr tomb chest. Oak choir stalls, with pierced trefoils and crested top rails, are against north and south walls. The sanctuary is raised by another step, decorated with inlaid marble. The east wall has a limestone quatrefoil sill band above the reredos. Walls north and south of the sanctuary are lined with alabaster tiles to dado height and a marble piscina with inlaid decoration is set within the south wall.
Fixtures and fittings
Altar
18th century oak table with turned legs and serpentine x-stretchers, positioned in centre of nave at time of visit
Reredos
19th century removed from east wall in 1993 and stored at the west end - marble with inlaid geometric pattern, central tiles with IHS and XPC, lattice design to either side
Pulpit
19th century hexagonal oak with blind tracery on stone pedestal
Desk
19th century reader desk - oak with open tracery and colonnettes, in style of pulpit
Lectern
19th century carved oak on two quatrefoil columns with chevron detail and quatrefoils to top
Font (component)
19th century square on drum with colonnettes and foliate capitals extending around each side, image of Christ and dove on east side, 1960s oak cover
Rail
19th century oak with short colonnettes with open tracery and pierced trefoils
Bells
Portable Furnishings and Artworks
registers dating from 1603
Churchyard
Grid reference: SP 819 543
Burial and War Grave Information
It is unknown whether the building is consecrated.
It is unknown whether the churchyard has been used for burial.
It is unknown whether the churchyard is used for burial.
It is unknown whether the churchyard has war graves.
Environment
Ancient, Veteran & Notable Trees
Caring for God's Acre is a conservation charity working to support groups and individuals to investigate, care for, and enjoy the wildlife and heritage treasures found within churchyards and other burial grounds. Look on their website for information and advice and please contact their staff directly. They can help you manage this churchyard for people and wildlife.
To learn more about all the species recorded against this church, go to the Burial Ground Portal within the NBN Atlas. You can check the spread of records through the years, discovering what has been recorded and when, plus what discoveries might remain to be uncovered.
There are no records of Ancient, Veteran or Notable Trees within the curtilage of this site.
Renewables
| Renewable | Installed |
|---|---|
| Solar PV Panels | No |
| Solar Thermal Panels | No |
| Biomass | No |
| Wind Turbine | No |
| Air Source Heat Pump | No |
| Ground Source Heat Pump | No |
| Ev Charging | No |
Species summary
There are no records of species within the curtilage of this site.
Caring for God's Acre is a conservation charity working to support groups and individuals to investigate, care for, and enjoy the wildlife and heritage treasures found within churchyards and other burial grounds. Look on their website for information and advice and please contact their staff directly. They can help you manage this churchyard for people and wildlife.
To learn more about all the species recorded against this church, go to the Burial Ground Portal within the NBN Atlas. You can check the spread of records through the years, discovering what has been recorded and when, plus what discoveries might remain to be uncovered.
'Seek advice' Species
More information on species and action to be taken upon discovery.
Caring for God's Acre is a conservation charity working to support groups and individuals to investigate, care for, and enjoy the wildlife and heritage treasures found within churchyards and other burial grounds. Look on their website for information and advice and please contact their staff directly. They can help you manage this churchyard for people and wildlife.
To learn more about all the species recorded against this church, go to the Burial Ground Portal within the NBN Atlas. You can check the spread of records through the years, discovering what has been recorded and when, plus what discoveries might remain to be uncovered.
Further information
Sources
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