St John the Baptist's Church, Wakerley

St John the Baptist’s Church stands in Wakerley, a small village in Northamptonshire’s rolling countryside. It occupies an elevated spot above the Welland Valley, giving distant views across the green landscape. The church is built mainly of local limestone, with roofs of lead and Collyweston stone slates. Its oldest parts date from the 12th century, though later centuries added aisles, windows and a tall west tower. In 1875 the architect J. B. Corby carried out a careful restoration. Since 1974 the Churches Conservation Trust has cared for the building after it became redundant in 1972. The church is recognised for its fine Romanesque and Perpendicular details. The 12th-century chancel arch is decorated with chevrons and once had a round Norman arch. Its capitals are praised as some of the best in England. Fourteenth- and 15th-century arcades run down each side of the nave, carrying pointed arches on octagonal piers. The east window is a fine Perpendicular example with five lights. Inside, fragments of 14th-century stained glass remain in the nave windows. A late-13th-century font and 19th-century sanctuary tiles add to the interior’s layered history. Outside, the churchyard holds several listed memorials. A headstone from 1668 and a chest tomb from 1766 stand among later graves. One modern grave belongs to Lady Mary Theresa Montagu Douglas Scott, first wife of the 6th Marquess of Exeter. The tower rises four stages high, topped by an octagonal spire with two tiers of lucarnes. From the churchyard wall, visitors look out over the Welland Valley’s fields and woods.