All Saints
Aldwincle, Northamptonshire
A medieval wonder in a pretty village.
All the elements are in place: handsome lower stages leading up to an elegant broach spire with three stages of spire lights (or lucarnes), each one smaller than the one below.
The earliest parts of the church are 12th century, with the north aisle following in 1190, and other elements, including the spire, added in about 1375. The south aisle was built in 1520.
There are mysterious and enigmatic carvings both inside and outside the church. One at least is clearly a Green Man, while another might be a musician; others could be tortoises, but on closer inspection are they dogs?
The church has some fine stained glass, most Victorian but some medieval, and a modern window to commemorate the Milennium. Some of the furnishings were inherited from All Saints, at the other end of the village, when that church became redundant.