Here is a large town church that speaks of the 15th century in 1483 Edward IV the husband of Elizabeth Woodville of nearby Grafton Regis, gave a large grant of stone from the royal quarries nearby in Whittlebury. The already fine church was substantially enhanced with a new tower, a finely decorated west door, the raising of the roof to accommodate a clerestory and the new aisle windows. This transformation was carried out only a little time after the erecting of the extraordinary tomb here to the towns benefactor Archdeacon Sponne, rector at Towcester from 1442-48 it is a double tomb chest, nothing unusual about that nor with the effigy of Sponne, dressed as a cathedral canon on top. Below seen thought an arcade you catch the bizarre sight of Sponne’s skeleton Elsewhere in the church you will discover architectural improvements carried out by Charles I Courtier Sir Roger Banister, (see Passenham Church) who paid for the chancel roof in 1640 and work by John Loughborough Pearson who restored the church in 1883. The building lies adjacent to Towcester’s ancient market square and the exciting new developments towards the river Tove and surrounding the Castle Mound.
Please refer to the Glossary for any terms in the text that you are unfamiliar with.
