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Please be my guest on a tour around this most beautiful of churches.

Any word that is underlined can be clicked to take you to more details of that subject.

I hope you can feel some of the amazing peace and specialness of this lovely building through this page.

The Church Porch

Stepping into the church, through the iron gates, we are standing in the 13th Century South porch.  A board on the East wall lists Benefactors who have donated generous gifts to the village.

The full text of this is on the Turvey Poor page.

The Great War Memorial

On the West wall (to your left), you will notice this nicely carved memorial to the Turvey men who died in the First World War. Click the image to find out more about them.  There are a few carved heads in here but they are very worn now.

The Church Door

Ahead of you is the main door. It is made of oak and very thick and heavy. The fantastic iron work is believed to have been made by John of Leighton in the 13th century.  He famously made the ironwork that adorns the tomb of Queen Eleanor (wife of King Edward I) which is in Westminster Abbey in London

He also worked on the church doors of Eaton Bray and Leighton Buzzard churches.

Check out the close up of the handle in the photo above.

The key to this door is nearly a foot long!

This is the view looking up the church towards the altar.

The main door is just visible in the right hand foreground.

The Baptistry

We are standing in the area of the church known as The Baptistry (also spelt as Baptistery).  This part of the church dates from the 13th Century. Take a second to turn around and admire the back of that great main door!  There are also some interesting old pictures of the church on the walls here.

The Stoup

To its right is a stone bowl called a stoup.  This held Holy Water, mixed with salt, for church-goers to anoint themselves with in the pre-Reformation days when this church was Roman Catholic.

The Weather Cock

Look above the vestry door and you will see the brass Weather cock.  He has the date 1630 pierced on his tail and he has been in the church since he was knocked off his more usual perch when the tower was hit by lightening in 1858.

The Norman Font

Here is the late Norman pedestal font (12th Century). I was baptized in this very font!  It has a lockable flat cover with a big lock on it!  

Lets turn right and move down the South aisle.  A pierced screen would have once stood halfway down this 13th Century aisle.  Notice the beautiful Oak pews, many of which are graced by hand-embroidered kneelers - made by the ladies of Turvey over the years.

The Porch and Baptistry

Turvey Church Tour - Part 1

You can jump to any part of the tour with the above buttons, or follow it through by clicking the ‘Continue the tour’ buttons at the bottom of each tour page.

To start again, just chose Church Tour from the main menu, under Village, Church.