St James
Thurning, Northamptonshire
The best Arts & Crafts church in the county.
St John's, Little Gidding was first mentioned as a church to raise money for the Knights Templar in 1185. It was transferred to the Knights Hospitallers in 1312. Welcome and hospitality has been at the heart since then.
In 1625, Nicholas Ferrar and his mother Mary moved to Little Gidding. They restored St John's Church before anything else and the church became the heart of this 'lay community in the Church of England' Daily prayer and the recitation of the Psalms were central to the life, along with hospitality and welcome. Charles 1 visited here, lastly when escaping after the battle of Naseby.
In 1936, TS Eliot visited for a day, as he researched the background of a play a friend wrote. Here he found a place 'where you are to kneel, where prayer has been valid.'
Today, St John's remains a place for reflection and rest, to be in God's presence and to find God's hope and peace in your way, for today. The Ferrar House gardens are beautiful at every time of the year.