History

There has been a village in Fawsley since Saxon times. The village flourished in the warmer times of the early middle ages and with the help of the monks of Daventry the villagers built this Church during the reign of King John. The villagers fell on hard times during the 14th century as the climate cooled, crops failed, and the Black Death decimated the population.

Sir Richard Knightley purchased Fawsley in 1415 and started the sheep farming which continues today. The Knightley’s came over with William the Conqueror. They were a very ancient family - the Knightley coat of arms is shown on the right. It has fascinated students of heraldry for centuries as it is a quartering of the coats of arms of the Dukes of Brittany with those of the Kings of Navarre. One of the few occasions on which a Frankish knight could have earned such a quartering would have been to have fought with Roland at the battle of Roncesavalles in 778.

Our raised roof, with its clerestory windows, the tower and our bells were all provided by the grandson of Sir Richard Knightley (also known as Sir Richard) whose alabaster tomb is still a feature of the Church. Booklets are available in the Church for visitors who wish to explore its history and that of Fawsley and the Knightley’s.

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