Abingdon
Address: School of St Helen and St Katharine, Yolande Paterson Hall, Abingdon, Oxfordshire
About: Named Sunday Times Independent School of the Year in 2000, St Helen and St Katharine's in Abingdon boasts an acoustically superb auditorium - the Yolande Paterson Hall.
Augill Castle
Address: Augill Castle, nr Kirkby Stephen, Cumbria, CA17 4DE . Click here for a map (multimap).
About: Please visit www.stayinacastle.com
Bedford
Address: St Paul's Church, St Paul's Square, Bedford, Bedfordshire, MK40. Click here for a map (multimap).
Brackley
Address: St Peter's Church, Brackley, Northamptonshire. Click here for a map (streetmap).
Brockhall
Address: St Peter & St Pauls Church, Brockhall, Northamptonshire. Click here for a map (multimap).
About: Little has changed in the tiny hamlet of Brockhall since the building of the Hall and manor house for the Eyton family early in the 17th century. Listed as 'Brocole' in the Domesday Book, Brockhall remains a rural idyll.
Budleigh Salterton
Address: Temple Methodist Church, Budleigh Salterton, Devon
Castle Ashby
Address: St Mary Magdalene, Castle Ashby, Northamptonshire. Click here for a map (multimap).
About: Tucked away within the grounds of Castle Ashby House (seat of the Marquis of Northampton), the ancient church of St Mary Magdalene is the idyllic setting for Fiori's popular high summer Northamptonshire concert.
Daventry
Address: Holy Cross Church, Market Square, Daventry, NN11 4BL
Empingham
Address: St Peter’s Church, Empingham, Rutland
About: Deriving from the Saxon, Empingham (home of Epa’s people) lies peacefully against Rutland Water. A charmingly unspoilt Rutland village, it is dominated by the splendid 13th century church of St Peter. Optional dinner afterwards at the traditionally run White Horse, formerly the village courthouse
Eydon
Address: St Nicholas Church, Eydon, Northamptonshire. Click here for a map (multimap).
About: Rows of picturesque 17th- and 18th-century cottages line the ancient village street of Eydon – an idyllic rural community dating back to the Domesday Book, with a fine 13th-century church tucked away next to Eydon Hall.
Fawsley
Address: St Mary the Virgin Church, Fawsley, Northamptonshire. Click here for a map (multimap).
About: Splendid monuments to the Knightley family embellish the tiny lakeside church of St Mary's, standing isolated amid the peaceful Fawsley parkland.
Details: Optional dinner afterwards in the stately splendour of Fawsley Hall
Fotheringhay
Address: St Mary and All Saints, Fotheringhay, Northamptonshire. Click here for a map (multimap).
About: The church at Fotheringhay dominates the landscape, floating 'on its hill above the river Nene, a galleon of Perpendicular on a sea of corn' (Simon Jenkins). Fotheringhay exudes history: Richard III was born here 550 years ago, Mary Queen of Scots lost her head at Fotheringhay just over a century later, and Elizabeth I made an important visitation in 1566. Optionl dinner afterwards at the award-winning 18th-century stone-built Falcon, Fotheringhay.
Gayton
Address: St Mary the Virgin Church, Gayton, Northamptonshire. Click here for a map (multimap).
About: Within the walls of the small ironstone village church of St Mary the Virgin is buried the story of the rural community. The tranquil ambience belies the drama of the past made resonant by a secret passageway and hidden treasures, like the unique misericords and fine incised Tudor tomb, depicting not only the lord of the manor but his wife and eighteen children.
Website: www.gayton-northants.co.uk
Harringworth
Address: St John the Baptist's Church, Harringworth, Northamptonshire
About: The church of St John the Baptist is an unspoilt English parish church nestling in the centre of this delightful north Northamptonshire village.
Helmdon
Address: St Mary Magdalene Church, Helmdon, Northamptonshire
About: Helmdon is noted for its association with the medieval master mason Wills Campiun who is commemorated in a small segment at the top of the window in the north aisle. The actual window is of exceptional interest, being one of the very few Engslish mediaeval windows to depict an artisan with the tools of his trade.
Hinton-in-the-Hedges
Address: Holy Trinity Church, Hinton-in-the-Hedges, nr Brackley, Northamptonshire. Click here for a map (multimap).
About: The tiny mediaeval church of Holy Trinity, Hinton-in-the-Hedges, probably dates back to shortly after the Norman Conquest. Tucked in amongst the trees in this picturesque Northamptonshire village, the church boasts effigies of a knight and his lady, believed to be Sir William (b. 1284) and Lady de Hinton, who held manor from the early 13th century until the reign of Henry IV. Amongst many fascinating architectural details are grotesque grinning heads from the early English period, decorating the chancel arch.
Lamport
Address: All Hallow's Church, Lamport, Northamptonshire . Click here for a map (multimap).
About: Lamport is idyllically situated in the heart of Northamptonshire countryside. Despite its 18th-century external appearance, the Church of All Hallows' - just across the road from the impressive Lamport Hall - dates from mediaeval times. Its beautiful interior has been generously endowed through the ages by the Isham family.
Lowick
Address: St Peter's Church, Lowick, Northamptonshire
About: A hidden masterpiece of English Perpendicular, St Peter’s, lying isolated in a field on the edge of Lowick, boasts splendid 15th-century effigies. The striking octagonal tower, visible for miles around, is topped by a forest of golden weathervanes. ‘They seem to flutter in the sun, like pennants summoning us to some forgotten Tudor tournament.’ (Simon Jenkins)
Details: Optional dinner afterwards at the Snooty Fox
Loughborough
Address: All Saints' Church, Loughborough, Leicestershire, LE11 1PL. Click here for a map (multimap).
Madrid
Address: Centro Cultural Conde Duque, 9-11 Calle Del Conde Duque, 28015 Madrid. Click here for a map (multimap).
About: The Centro Cultural Conde Duque is a fine concert hall originally built for Philip V in the early eighteenth century as military quarters. The Conde Duque was once the largest building in Madrid, with a vast inner courtyard, and splendid baroque portal. It is a fine example of genuine Spanish architecture, before the invasion of Italian architectural design in the mid century. During the 19th century the building was apparently in the possession of the Duke of Berwick and Liria, a descendant of the English royal family, and later used as a Military Academy and Observatory.
Market Bosworth
Address: Market Bosworth, Leicestershire. Click here for a map (multimap).
About: Market Bosworth, in Leicestershire, was recorded in the Domesday Book and has been an important market town since the Middle Ages. Its greatest claim to fame is probably the Battle of Bosworth Field, which ended the Wars of the Roses - this famous battle, at which King Richard III was killed on 22 August 1485, took place nearby. The Market Bosworth Festival was established in 2005.
Melbourne
Address: Church of St Michael with St Mary, Melbourne, Derbyshire. Click here for a map (multimap).
About: The splendid parish church in the small Georgian market town of Melbourne in south Derbyshire is one of the most ambitiously planned Norman churches in Britain. The aisle nave extends six bays from a twin tower west facade of the kind normally only found in cathedral and abbey churches.
Next concert:
Celebrate!
8 March 2008
8.00pm
Milton Keynes
Address: Christ the Cornerstone, Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire MK9 2ES Click here for a map (multimap)
About: Christ the Cornerstone is the first purpose-built ecumenical city centre church in the UK, and welcomes people of all traditions to its new eye-catching building in the heart of a rapidly growing community.
Next concert:
Monteverdi Vespers
17 May 2008
7.00pm
Northampton
Address: All Saints' Church, Northampton, NN1 1DF. Click here for a map (multimap).
About: 'The church [of All Saints'] cuts a dash in the centre of this county town', comments Simon Jenkins in his book England's Thousand Best Churches. All Saints' impressive portico, which dominates the central Square of Northampton, dates from 1701. The Wren-style church was rebuilt between 1676 and 1680 after a fire, and is probably the work of Henry Bell of Kings Lynn.
Website: www.allsaintsnorthampton.co.uk
Northborough Manor
Address: Northborough Manor, Northborough, nr Peterborough. Click here for a map (multimap).
About: Northborough boasts one of England’s finest surviving mediaeval fortified manor houses, known locally as the Castle. The splendid Great Hall, where the concert takes place, dates back to the 13th century, with original beamed ceiling soaring some forty feet.
Norwich
Address: The King of Hearts, 7 - 15 Fye Bridge Street, Norwich, NR3 1LJ . Click here for a map (multimap).
About: www.kingofhearts.org.uk
Oxford
Address: Queen's College Chapel, High Street, Oxford
About: Queen's is one of Oxford University’s oldest colleges. Its front quad, heavily influenced by the great architect Nicholas Hawksmoor, has been called 'the grandest piece of classical architecture in Oxford', while the rococo chapel is one of Oxford's most notable buildings – virtually unchanged since it was consecrated by the Archbishop of York in 1719.
Details: Optional fine dining with wines afterwards in Hall, including champagne reception beforehand.
Rothwell
Address: Holy Trinity Church, Rothwell, Northamptonshire. Click here for a map (multimap).
About: Holy Trinity Church has the longest nave in the county. The oldest part of the church is Norman, but the main body of this splendid sandstone building is 13th century. The massive squat tower at the west end of the church was once topped with a wooden spire, but this was long ago destroyed in a thunderstorm. Also of interest is the Crypt or Charnel House. Local legend records that this was discovered when a hapless gravedigger fell some twelve feet through pitch darkness into a mass of bones. Too much for the individual to bear, it is reputed he subsequently lost his mind.
Rushton Hall
Address: Rushton Hall, Rushton, Northamptonshire NN14 1RR. Click here for a map (Rushton Hall website).
About: A long carriage driveway leads to one of the finest estates in Northamptonshire, Rushton Hall. This magnificent structure, built mainly in local stone and standing in elegant grounds to the west of the tiny village of Rushton, in Northamptonshire, was begun by Sir John Tresham around 1438, and remained in his family for nearly 200 years. Now a fine country estate hotel, Rushton Hall is an architectural gem, replete with huge stone and timber fireplaces, antique four poster beds, lavish plasterwork, and ornate stained glass in the Great Hall, Drawing Room, Dining Room and Library.
Sheepy Magna
Address: All Saints' Church, Sheepy Magna, Leicestershire. Click here for a map (Streetmap)
About: The pretty Leicestershire village of Sheepy Magna predates the Norman conquest. Sheepy, (from the Old English sceap + eg meaning 'island or dry ground in the marsh where the sheep graze), straddles the River Sence on the Warwickshire county boundary. Sheepy is divided into two parts : Great Sheepy or Sheepy Magna , and Little Sheepy or Sheepy Parva, each with its own ancient manor.
Stamford
Address: Stamford Arts Centre, Stamford, Lincolnshire
About: The ancient country town of Stamford, built of mellow local stone, attracts both tourists and film-directors (Middlemarch was filmed here). An important wool centre during the middle ages, Stamford cloth was renown throughout Europe. The wealth from wool paid for many of the 16th century buildings in the town, and today Tudor houses stand comfortably alongside Georgian mansions and Queen Anne buildings.
Stoke Pavilions
Address: Stoke Park Pavilions, Stoke Bruerne, Towcester, NN12 7RZ. Click here for a map (multimap).
About: The design for the grand Palladian pavilions at Stoke Park was brought back from Italy by Sir Francis Crane in the 17th-century and allegedly “in the execution of it . . . received the assistance of Inigo Jones”. The west pavilion, venue for this concert, formerly a library, was converted towards the end of the 18th century into a fashionable ballroom with a new Venetian window giving on to parkland.
Sudborough
Address: All Saints' Church, Sudborough, Northamptonshire. Click here for a map (multimap).
About: Set in the heart of the Old Rockingham Forest, the picturesque Northamptonshire village of Sudborough has boasted a church since the first century. All Saints', with its mellow stonework, is built on the remains of a 12th-century structure and possesses an interesting collection of brasses. Recent restoration revealed a Saxon grave slab, dating from around 975AD.
Sulgrave
Address: Sulgrave Manor, Sulgrave, nr Banbury, Oxfordshire, OX17 2SD. Click here for a map (multimap).
About: Situated amid the beautiful countryside of rural Northamptonshire Sulgrave Manor is the English ancestral home of George Washington's family. It was bought by Lawrence Washington, a wealthy wool merchant and Mayor of Northampton, and lived in by his family for 120 years (1539 - 1659). After the English Civil War many of the Washingtons emigrated to America, and in 1732 Goerge Washington - first President of the US - was born in Virginia. Fiori Musicali perform in the traditionally timbered and galleried Courtyard Hall.
Syresham
Address: St James the Great, Syresham, Northamptonshire
About: The Saxon village of Syresham (or Sigresham) was once a forest clearing of about 400 acres, taken over by the Normans after their conquest. The church there was built around 1200 and boasts traces of early wall paintings including a representation of the Last Judgement, on the wall over the chancel arch. During the Reformation this painting was replaced by a list of the Ten Commandments, vestiges of which can still be seen.
Thornton
Address: St Michael & All Angels, Thornton, Buckinghamshire. Click here for a map (multimap).
About: Thornton is a depopulated mediaeval village midway between Buckingham and Stony Stratford. Its tiny mediaeval church of St. Michael and all Angels, is now redundant, bereft of electricity or indeed any other signs of the modern age. Set in the grounds of the Convent of Jesus and Mary, its capacious box pews face both forwards and backwards; as a result sight lines are extremely limited, but any shortcoming in this regard is more than compensated for by the atmospheric beauty of this ancient building.
Thorney
Address: Thorney Abbey, nr Peterborough, Cambridgeshire. Click here for a map (multimap).
About: The ancient Abbey at Thorney has a long and colourful history. Only 15 feet above sea level, Thorney was once the only dry piece of land around. Saxon monks built there around 662, but the Danes sacked their Abbey. Around 972 Ethelwold, Bishop of Winchester, founded a Benedictine Abbey, in honour of the Virgin, on the site, but this too was sacked when Hereward the Wake fought the Normans. The church of St Mary and St Botolph, subsequently begun in 1089, became such a splendid edifice that, at the dissolution of the monasteries in 1539, its revenue was valued at over £500! All that remains now are parts of the huge 12th century nave- echoes in stone of a long-forgotten past
Towcester
Address: Roman Catholic Church, Towcester, Northamptonshire
About: Dedicated to St Thomas More, martyr, the catholic church in Towcester is an ecclesiastical gem, tucked away behind the old Watling Street. Originally a congregational chapel, the building fell into disrepair during the 1960s, being reconsecrated as a catholic church in 1976. The painting of St Thomas in the foyer formerly graced the church Our Lady of Victories at Weedon.
Wellingborough
Address: Tythe Barn, Burystead Place, Wellingborough, Northamptonshire
About: The ironstone Tithe Barn in Wellingborough dates back to the 15th century. One of the few remaining mediaeval buildings in the town, it was recently restored by the Wellingborough Tithe Barn Preservation Society and Wellingborough Borough Council.
Next concert:
Goldberg Variations
29 March 2008
7.00pm
Weston
Address: Baptist Chapel, High Street, Weston, Northamptonshire
About: The chapel is a classic example of an early 18th-century Methodist meeting house. Delightfully proportioned, with original gallery and excellent acoustics, it has recently been refurbished and appointed to a high standard.
Address: Weston Hall, Weston, Northamptonshire
About: The historic manor house at Weston, held by the Sitwells and their ancestors since 1714, offers a glimpse into the lives of this distinguished literary family. It is veritable treasure house of beautiful paintings and artefacts.
Wirksworth
Address: St Mary’s Church, Wirksworth, Derbys
About: The church of St Mary's rises large and dark in the centre of the little Derbyshire market town of Wirksworth, its pink stone discoloured by soot, "like the hide of a wild boar" Simon Jenkins. Heavily restored by Gilbert Scott, the church preserves an impressive raw dignity (as well as a mediaeval graffito of some ancient miner with pick ,etched into the stone).
Wolfhampcote
Address: St Peter's Church, Wolfhampcote, nr Braunston, Warwickshire. Click here for a map (multimap).
About: Uniquely atmospheric, the redundant church of St Peter is more or less all that remains of the deserted mediæval village of Wolfhampcote. Sprawling across fields on the Northamptonshire/Warwickshire border, this fascinating ecclesiastical relic dates mostly from the 13th and 14th centuries. Bathed in light from the mediæval clerestory windows, St Peter's has a fine mediaeval wooden screen, as well as the Royal Coat of Arms of Queen Anne, dating from 1702, which hangs in its original position over the Chancel Arch. The only pews are some antiquated benches, and electricity is never likely to reach this ancient place.
Website: www.visitchurches.org.uk