Turvey Church Architecture

Turvey is an estate village with historic associations with the Mordaunt family whose Turvey property was sold in 1786 to Charles Higgins.  After his death in 1792 the estate was divided between two separate branches of the Higgins family whose 19th century improvements gave the village much of its character and interest.  Charles Longuet Higgins of Turvey Abbey was responsible for the restoration and enlargement of the church.

The church has Anglo-Saxon origins, the masonry of the period is most clearly visible in the round arches above the south arcade.  There is Early English work in the tower.  The south aisle and porch were built in the 13th century and the north arcade in the early 14th century.  In the 15th century the south porch and the west tower were heightened.  The north aisle was extended eastwards to form a mortuary chapel, leaving the east end of the church with north chapel, chancel and Lady Chapel of equal length.  Surviving medieval fittings include the south door with 13th century ironwork, a font of c.1200, and a 14th century painting on the south wall of the Lady Chapel.  Pevsner describes the painting as "an exquisite early 14th century painting of the Crucifixion. Dark green background with a pattern of small flowers.  The twisted figure of Christ is especially characteristic and moving".  There are monuments to the Mordaunt family in the south aisle and the north chapel and there are also brasses in the Lady Chapel.