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Tour of St Lawrence Church
16. Sponne Chapel

Image of Sponne's tomb
Sponne's Tomb

Archdeacon Sponne's bequests to the town are noted on a board in the northeast angle of the chapel.
Image of bequest board


Image of Sponne's coat of arms in East window

 Image of medieval stained glass window
Sponne's coat of arms (15th century glass) in the East window of this chapel originally comes from a window in the Talbot Inn.
The other pieces of glass in this window are medieval

Image of wall painting
Image of wall painting
Drawing by T. Trotter in 1802

On the south wall of the Sponne chapel a Pelican in Piety is painted in a canopied niche. This mural of a pelican feeding her young with her own blood was a popular symbol for Christ feeding the church. The bracket at the bottom is made of three different stones and retains much medieval colour. It is of an angel holding a shield, the angel's wings would have been red, the bracket mouldings green, red and blue, but unfortunately has been damaged. (Fr. J. Bertram F. S. A believes the painting is mid 15th century)
Image of wooden panelling
Bracket supporting the niche Oak panelling in south chapel


In 1627 an oak gallery was given by "Henrie Newby, Citizen and Haberdasher of London, born in this towne of Towcester...". Later it became an organ gallery and some of the panels from it can be seen behind the altar of the south chapel and also in the pulpit.