St Michael and All Angels' Church, Thornton

St Michael and All Angels’ Church stands north of Thornton village in Buckinghamshire, beside the River Ouse. The building began in the early 14th century on the site of a 13th-century church. It is a Grade I listed structure cared for by the Churches Conservation Trust. The church sits within the grounds of Thornton Hall, now a girls’ boarding school. It lies about six kilometres northeast of Buckingham. The church is worth visiting for its medieval fabric and later fittings. The tower has three stages with buttresses and a battlemented parapet topped by a wrought-iron weathervane shaped like a key. Inside, octagonal piers support four-bay arcades and a flat plaster ceiling. The alabaster effigies of John Barton and his wife Isabella date from the 15th century. The reassembled tomb chest of Robert Ingylton carries a brass showing a family of eighteen figures. Visitors find a nave without seating but lined with memorials. The font stands near the 14th-century priest’s effigy and the Ingylton tomb. Box pews line the aisles, one larger for the lord of the manor. Stained glass includes work by William Wailes and Cox and Son. Two harmoniums stand in the nave, and three bells hang unringable. The oldest bell was cast around 1315.