The Secret Room and The Contract for the Building of Fotheringhay Church.

The book has 40 pages and is just under A4 in size with a glossy  squared back cover and contains 72 illustrations and drawings.
A story about how the writer found a secret room underneath the floor of the entrance porch whilst doing restoration work on the bells and lantern tower of Fotheringhay church in Northamptonshire.

The Introduction of the book.

Many books have been written on the subject of Fotheringhay Church, none have mentioned a chamber or room beneath the entrance porch. Some person must have known about its existence.

So I will call it "The Secret Room".

It is not mentioned in the contract of 1434 so it must have been an extra for the free-mason William Horwood. It was not just by chance that the room was found, as the writer passed over it hundreds of times during the restoration of the tower and bells and observed that there was probably more to this section of the building than the eye could see. The complete experience of the restoration was a chance to observe parts of the church that had not been seen since the original construction.

The photograph shows the early stage of the excavation (a hole in the floor).

The copy of the Contract for the building of the Church is a fascinating document. It is known to be the only complete contract for the building of a church during the 15^th century. It also uses the title 'free-mason' for William Horwood. This is a very early use of this addition of the the word 'free' to mason and possibly the first time in a major document.

The Secret Room Contains 40 pages 90 photographs and drawings. Contents- The go ahead What was the room used for? The Finds The Missing Stained Glass The Contract for the Building of Fotheringhay Church.

Drawing of Fotheringhay Church by Lieut. John Bradshaw c 1850.