page_title: Guilsborough
section_title: Saint Etheldreda's Church
hierarchical_section_title: Guilsborough / Landmarks / Saint Etheldreda's Church
context_page_description: Guilsborough is a village and civil parish in the Daventry district of the county of Northamptonshire in England. At the time of the 2001 census, the parish's population was 882 people, reducing to 692 at the 2011 Census.
  It is at the centre of an area of rural villages between the towns of Northampton, Daventry, Rugby and Market Harborough. There is a secondary school, primary school, fire station, pub, a new village shop including a Post Office and a new doctor's surgery with pharmacy and a Hairdressers. The secondary school is on the edge of the village and takes children from 11 to 18, including a sixth form. Guilsborough School is in the top 500 schools for GCSE and A levels. It takes children from surrounding villages and has about 1,500 pupils. [The school had a total of 1311 pupils on roll during 2016/17 of which 49.3% were girls and 50.7% were boys.] The school currently has technology college status.
context_section_description: A church at Guilsborough is mentioned in the Domesday Book (1086), but there is no evidence of an Anglo-Saxon church remaining. Guilsborough was probably 'Christianised' by the monks of Brixworth, an outpost of the monastery of Peterborough or, as it was then called, Medeshamsted. The church was possibly a minster of Brixworth, which is one of the oldest remaining Saxon churches in England. There are Anglo-Saxon remnants among the Norman architecture of Guilsborough church.
  The oldest part of the current church is the tower which was built during the first half of the 13th century. The nave was completed around 1400 and the north and south porches added during the 18th century. The tower arch was closed about 1700 when a large gallery was erected in front of it to accommodate the boys from the grammar school. An extensive restoration was carried out between the years 1815 and 1820, including the oak roof, preserving the bosses carved in wood illustrating the Seven Ages of Man. The vicar gave the open seats of oak in the nave. Another extensive restoration of the Church took place in 1923 and 1924 when the Chancel was distempered, the roof repaired and the pillars and arches of the nave cleaned of plaster to show off the stone-work. The gallery at the west end was removed and a sub-arch under the chancel arch was taken down. Fairly recently, a number of projects have taken place: conversion of the north porch into a toilet and kitchen; provision of a sound, audio and loop system; and, in celebration of the Queen's Golden Jubilee, external floodlighting. Recently, the south porch entrance and footpath have been improved giving better access for disabled visitors.
  There are rumours that it may have been founded by Saint Wilfred; however these probably belong to the realm of myth and legend. This church was originally dedicated to St Wilfred and it is unusual to see a renaming in favour of a female saint. However, Wilfred and Etheldreda's paths are said to have crossed when Wilfred supported the Anglian queen's decision not to grant her second husband conjugal rights. Despite having been married once before, it is said that St Etheldreda (also known as St Audrey, from where the word 'tawdry' originates) remained a virgin.
   Another unusual aspect to this saint is that she appears to have two saint's days. The most commonly cited day is 21 June, however, certainly around the 17th century, villagers in Guilsborough were celebrating her feast day on the first Sunday after 17 October.
caption: Stained glass window in Guilsborough church displaying St Etheldreda (left) and St Wilfred (right)
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