Church Heritage Record 619259

The tower is a low two stage unbutressed Perpendicular tower, with the upper stage slightly inset over the dripmould. There are two gargoyles on the northern elevation. The two-light belfry openings in the upper stage have C15 windows, restored in the C19; in the lower stage, the west window has two lights with quatrefoil, probably C14, restored in the C19. The small stained glass window is to the memory of William Simons who died in 1865. The tower is accessed by a ladder formed from a single plank of timber with narrow footholds cut in it, rising to the bell chamber. The chancel has a south vestry. In the chancel are two windows to the south and one to the north, all C14 and restored in 1866. There is a double-chamfered chancel arch, with two doorways to the left, both with recessed Tudor-arched surrounds, formerly doorways to the rood-loft. In Pre-Reformation times, the church possessed a Rood-loft and the stairs by which it was reached still remain in the north wall, their worn steps testifying to their long usage. The nave has a north porch. The nave has late C14 Perpendicular windows, though the north wall seems earlier fabric. There is projecting ashlar work to the left of the porch on the north side of the nave which marks the position of the rood stair. The south doorway has an elliptical arch. The nave has two windows to the south. The window reveal in the nave with short, squat columnar respond is possibly C12. The nave appears to have been built out in the C14, leaving the chancel off-centre.

Norman Font Perpendicular Period Tower & Nave (C15) C19 Major restoration in the 1860s: Chancel rebuilt in the Decorated style with a small vestry on the southern side in 1868; the nave was restored and the fine Perpendicular roof renewed and covered with lead; the seating re-arranged and tiled throughout. The porch was rebuilt in the Decorated style. The tower was restored in 1889. Re-ordering in 2008 The font was relocated near the door, its position in Victorian Times; two pews were removed at the rear.

The altar: The altar is made from wood, beautiful in its simplicity. In 1777, Elizabeth, the wife of the Rector John Rowton, and daughter of a former Rector, was buried in a vault within the rails of the altar. The benches, screen and pulpit: These are C19. The pews have carved ends and the two at the front have carved fronts. The lectern: the rear candlesticks were added in 1889. The font: The C12 font has a Norman hemispherical bowl on a C19 octagonal base, with a kneeling step. In 2008, it was moved to its previous position in Victorian times near the door. The west window: This stained glass window is by Lavers and Barraud, dated 1866. Lavers and Barraud were part of the Gothic Revival movement that affected church architecture in the C19. The sculptural relief: a small white marble relief of The Holy Family Under a Tree, which is C18 and is perhaps North Italian. The bells: the church has three bells, the oldest inscribed “Serve the Lord 1591”; the second “Be yt knowne to all that doth see mee that Newcombe of Leicester made mee, 1605”; and the third “Newcombe of Leicester made mee, 1607”. Reredos: the marble reredos was erected to the memory of John Boucher Wrey who died in 1868, a child of the then rector. The stained glass east window: this was inserted in 1892 in memory of John Winifred Ley who died in 1883 aged nine, a child of a former rector. The screen: the carved oak screen was erected to the memory of Dulcibella Sidgwick who died in 1906, a former rector’s wife. The south wall window: the stained glass window is to the memory of Mabel Paton Goodacre who died in 1941, the wife of Hugh Goodacre of Ullesthorpe Court. It is based on the opening lines of a Hymn for a Boy Scout written by Hugh Goodacre when he was Scout Commissioner for Leicestershire. The window is by G Maile & Sons of London. Monuments, plaques: There is a wall mounted timber war memorial on the south wall of the nave; a stone monument dating from 1864 on the north wall of the nave; a tapestry of the Last Supper and memorial in the chancel; painted timber benefactors boards and a wall mounted memorial in the tower