Assumption of Our Lady, Ashow

In the small village of Ashow, about 2.5 miles southeast of central Kenilworth, we find this little gem of a church. It is a Grade 1 listed church that dates largely from the 12th century.

Naturally, the pews and the stained glass is much more recent, but two things set this church apart from the vast majority of the churches in England. First, it is a Catholic church that somehow missed the ravages of the reformation. Secondly, It also missed the typical Victorian "fancying-up" that nearly every place endured. there is an added tower dating from the 17th century but the bulk of the structure is Norman.

The small space has a small pipe organ to fill it with sound.

Ashow, like its church, has also missed the growth typical of a small English village. There are only 51 houses and this church here. We wondered if we were on the right road as we drove in to the church. It was at the end of the one lane that passed through the settlement and required a walk from the end of the road/parking area through a gate to the secluded church yard.