Churches

The parish of Stowe IX Churches is made up of two villages - Church Stowe and Upper Stowe. The parish is located two miles west of the A5 south of Weedon. The church of St. Michael’s is situated in Church Stowe and St. James’s is in Upper Stowe. The parish has a population of 225 and the majority of the homes are owner occupied.

There are two farms within the parish, a craft centre and restaurant. The Jesus Fellowship own two properties, one in each village. There are no schools within the parish and the children attend a number of schools around the area.

For the past 200 years, Stowe IX Churches has been closely connected with neighbouring Nether Heyford. In 1960 Heyford and Stowe became a united benefice, and in 1997 Flore with Brockhall joined the benefice.

Service times are listed in the Benefice Newsletter and advertised on the church gates.

ST. MICHAEL’S

St Michaels Tower St Michaels Pulpit St Michaels Lych Gate

St. Michael’s is the Parish Church, approximately 1000 years old, with seating for 100. There is a carved marble figure of Lady Elizabeth Carey, mother of the Earl of Danby, on the south side of the altar. She died in 1630. The figure has been described as one of the finest pieces of sculpture of the age for both design and execution.

A memorial to Dr. Thomas Turner, President of Corpus Christi College, Oxford, who died in 1714, is situated on the south wall.

Click here for a more detailed description of the monuments in St Michaels church.


Northamptonshire surprise logo

The church is listed on the Northamptonshire Surprise website as one of the top 100 churches in the county.


ST. JAMES’S

St. James’s was built in 1855 by the Rector of the time, Henry Crawley, and designed by the architect Philip Hardwick. The nave and chancel have steeply pitched roofs and a bell turret. The chancel is decorated with paintings of flowers, leaves and fleur-de-lis, as well as numerous small shields representing the apostles, other saints, and instruments of the passion and other symbols of piety.

In the 1970’s the interior arrangement of the church was altered to the design still seen today, with seating for 80. The large churchyard is still open and is maintained by volunteer parishioners.

The church is open all the time and anyone is welcome to come and sit quietly. There is a secondhand book stall at the back of the church and visitors can browse the books and put a donation in the box, which is emptied daily. Proceeds go to the church roof fund.

St James East St James interior St James Window St James