St John the Baptist
Blisworth, Northamptonshire
It has all the hallmarks of an estate church, built and improved by the families who lived in the hall and here they found their final resting place. Courteenhall was originally owned by St James Abbey in Northampton.
It was acquired by Richard Ouseley who built a large mansion here in 1572. His is a large tomb chest topped with brasses that is now hidden away behind the organ. Note the witty inscription that refers to his two wives, a Miss Partridge and Miss Wake.
Nearby is the black and white marble tomb of his successor Sir Samuel Jones and his wife Mary. This is attributed to the London sculptor John Stanton. Jones had acquired the estate in 1647 and the aisle windows and the village hall (formally the Grammar School) were paid for through his legacies.
The Jones were followed by their kinsman the Wakes, descendants of the famous Hereward the Wake, terror of early Norman kings. The Wakes continue here today. It was the 10th Lady Wake’s relation JP St Aubyn who restored the church in 1882-3.
At the back is the large walled tomb Sir Charles Wake Jones, 1st Bt. (1725-1755) by the Northampton sculptor William Cox whose workshop was in Derngate, note the winged skull. Elsewhere there are a plethora of Wake wall tablets and one oddity, a porcelain memorial to the infant Iola Campbell (d1852).
As you leave you will pass by the hall designed by Samuel Saxon (1791-3), with its grounds by Humphry Repton.
