St John’s Church, Corby Glen

Church

  • Arms of King George I

    It was compulsory from the days of Charles II to display the coat of arms of the King or Queen. The coat of arms in St John’s Church, over the tower archway, is of King George I (1714–27). Unusually, this coat of arms also shows King George’s German territories

  • Thinking about the future

    St John’s Church is the largest and oldest building in Corby Glen with excellent natural acoustics, potentially making it ideal for concerts, plays, lectures, tourism… Its infrastructure (heating, lighting, plumbing, internet) needs to be brought up to standard, and its internal space reordered and developed to enable it to be used flexibly and imaginatively by…

  • The Nativity story

    [Note: All the text on this page comes from Clive Rouse’s book. The photos of the 15th century wallpaintings were taken in 2023 on a smartphone – do experiment with your own phone camera!] The spaces between the clerestory windows in the spandrels above the nave arcades are occupied by a series of life-size single…

  • The Doom painting

    The Doom painting above the Chancel archway is sadly very difficult to see. Use Rouse’s drawing and description below to get an idea of the position of elements in the painting, then try zooming in using your phone’s camera; judicious application of filters can help to bring out some details.

  • The wallpaintings in the north aisle

    At first sight, the paintings in the north aisle are a confusing muddle. To make sense of them, it helps to understand that they comprise two layered sets of paintings, one layer dating from the 14th century (paintings A and B) and the other from the 15th century (paintings C, D and E). The north…

  • A brief tour of St John’s Church, Corby Glen

    For almost 1000 years, the Church of St John the Evangelist has served as a physical and spiritual landmark for the people of Corby Glen and beyond as they journey through life.  This page will guide you in your own journey as you explore this remarkable building. Start your exploration of the interior at the…

  • Music

    What was sung in St John’s Church in former times? Three music manuscript books dating from around 1750 to 1850 used by the ‘singers at Corby’ are now in the Lincolnshire Archives and chronicle the fascinating evolution of local psalm and hymn singing over those decades. There was a west gallery too. It was taken…

  • History of the building

    Source: The Church of St John the Evangelist, Corby, Lincolnshire, by E Clive Rouse (1941) The structure Form and materials Corby Glen Church consists of chancel with north chapel, clerestoried nave of four bays with north and south aisles, west tower, and south porch with chamber over. The walls are built mainly of limestone rubble…

  • Stained glass

    A gallery and tour of the stained glass windows, medieval and Victorian Medieval stained glass fragments in North Aisle windows Victorian stained glass in Sanctuary

  • Church bells

    Bells have been an important part of the English soundscape for centuries, especially in the context of churches. The origins of bell ringing in the UK can be traced back to the early medieval period, where bells were used to call people to prayer, mark the passage of time, and signal important events such as…