A Jewel in the Crown

One of the “must visit” places on the River Nene is the beautiful country village of Fotheringhay. Engulfed in adorable thatched cottages, a fantastic pub and the jewel in the crown, the place where Mary Queen of Scots was imprisoned and subsequently beheaded. All that remains of the where the castle once stood is a large earth mound topped with a scattering of thistles.

Thistles with the church behind

Our mooring is right beside a glorious landmark on a hill overlooking the river, the church of St Mary and All Saints that has stood there since the 15^th century. It is by far our best mooring thus far on the river.  Defiant against all the odds for so long, the building’s current fragile state means its future is in jeopardy. So much so that English Heritage is adding it to its At Risk register. Looking around inside you would not think so but the lead roof is cracked and leaking, there are splits in the rainwater goods allowing water to penetrate the walls and is need of new heating etc.

The fan vaulted ceiling beneath the ringing chamber

We decided to forgo the village for today and instead planned to take the bus into Peterborough. One of the blogs that we download, NO names mentioned, indicated that a bus left Fotheringhay at 26 mins pass the hour so off we set in search of the bus stop supposedly near the church. No bus stop and enquiries with the locals revealed that the service ceased years ago. Not to be outdone, we ordered a taxi to take us to the next village in order to pick up the bus not forgetting to pick up the taxi driver's business card for the return journey. 

We made straight for Peterborough cathedral as Keith wanted to glean some information about their newly installed glass entrance doors to take back to our own church project at home.

The nave ceiling

Replacing the marble and slate floor by hand!

Oodles of silverware

Ceiling above the high alter 

The high alter

We caught the 5:35 bus back and whilst in transit rang to order the taxi. Oh dear, we left it too late, he was finished for the day so we got off the bus where we caught it earlier and then walked the remaining 2 miles in the still heat of the day.

No on-board cooking tonight so it was into the Falcon Inn for a delightful two course meal in the garden with the adjacent car park housing a Ferrari and an Aston Martin. Told you it was an upmarket village!

Our mooring for the night