Church Heritage Record 619347

Small church in grounds of manor house and adjacent to farm complex. Four-bay aisleless nave and shallow chancel with two-stage tower attached to W, entrance with porch on last bay of nave on the N side, vestry (now organ chamber) to first bay on the S, low lean-to boiler room at far end of S nave wall.

The church was rebuilt in 1819, replacing a church with medieval origins which had been repaired in 1720. The irregular fenestration in the nave may denote the survival of earlier fabric above ground in one or more of the walls. There is considerable potential for below-ground archaeology within the footprint. There is no evidence of burials outside before 1906. Proposals involving subfloor work inside are likely to have archaeological implications and may raise human remains considerations. Work affecting the walls may have archaeological implications. Any work outside may have archaeological implications and will certainly raise human remains considerations. No known natural environment designations. Two mature limes (recently cut back) by churchyard wall on south side. Otherwise laid to grass between the headstones. Across the Manor lawn, a small wood of broadleaved deciduous trees separates the site from the road to the N.

The church has an early origin. It was likely to have been in existence by the time the Knights Templar acquired the manor sometime in the C12 or during the reign of King John (1199-1216). Its status was as a chapel under the auspices of Kegworth, 6km to the E, as was attested in 1220 when it was confirmed that clergy from the mother church should minister twice a week. The church and manor passed to the Knights Hospitallers in 1312 and in 1630 to the Bowyers Company. Still a chapel, the building was repaired in 1720. It was recorded in 1804 with a description and illustration published in John Nichols’s A History of the Antiquities of the County of Leicester (not seen but see Pastscape reference below).

Soon after, in 1819, it was rebuilt (plaque to left of porch) for £600, £325 of which was given by the rector, £75 by the then patrons of the parish, Christ’s College, and £200 from the newly formed Church Building Society. Quite how the parish attracted what proved to be one of the largest grants given by the Society in Leicestershire for a rebuilding or restoration is not clear: in objective terms Isley Walton cannot have been a very high priority given that it was and is little more than a hamlet. By 1831 there were 65 inhabitants. The new church had 45 free seats. Perhaps it denotes the level of ambition that accompanied the 1818 Church Building Act and the establishment of the CBS. It may be that this was a bid for parochial status. The architect was Joshua Harrison, a Leicester carpenter and builder who also acted as a surveyor. Three other buildings are credited to him, two of them extant, the most significant being an extension and new interiors to the Assembly or County Rooms in Leicester in a Classical style.

The contemporary records suggest that the project was a rebuilding and there is indeed no obvious survival from the previous building except perhaps for the stone plinth. However, the fact that the nave windows do not align with each other north and south and do not strictly relate to the roof bays above may suggest that at least one wall and its openings survive under the render. The church was restored in 1897 (plaque to the right of the porch) and in 1934 when in addition the organ was installed in the former vestry. The 1934 work was paid for by the patron JG Shields, who lived in the manor house nearby and whose heraldic device of a martlet (or similar bird) is carved in the gateposts outside.

Small church in grounds of manor house and adjacent to farm complex.

The first impression from the north is of a simple four-bay aisleless nave and shallow chancel with a somewhat undersized two-stage tower attached to the west. The arrangement of bays may denote a more complex building archaeology, however. On the north side, the westernmost bay is bigger than the rest and has the porch and entrance. Opposite the door, there is neither a corresponding door nor a window. This is not in itself unusual but the three windows on the south side are all situated west of their counterparts on the north side and are irregularly spaced. The easternmost bay on the south side is blind and breaks out transeptally, originally for the vestry but now accommodating the organ. Strictly speaking, then, the windows do not represent an arrangement of bays since that is dictated by the roof and the windows in this church do not relate to the roof construction above. This fact, and perhaps too the presence of the coursed stone plinth on which the nave and chancel rest, suggest that the building is likely to incorporate some of the fabric, and hence some of the quirks, of the medieval church that once stood here, itself repaired in 1720. If there are further clues in the masonry, they are concealed by the render outside and the plaster within. The nave has a relatively shallow pitch terminating in low parapets at the gable ends with flat coping, except where it abuts the tower. The organ chamber has a gable end with no parapet.

The windows are of two lights divided by chamfered Y-tracery with a quatrefoil above. The openings are themselves chamfered in the thickness of the render. The tracery may date from 1819 or the 1897 restoration. If the former, then, as a reasonably accurate rendition of late C13 window tracery, it would be notable bearing in mind that the degree of understanding of medieval forms then prevalent.

The chancel, narrower than the nave, steps out from it as a shallow projection, the roof continuing unbroken above it, terminating in a parapet gable. It has a three light window with three quatrefoils in the tracery.

The tower is of two stages divided by a string course. On its south elevation, the lower stage has a two-light window like those in the nave. The upper stage has square louvred belfry openings on its south and west elevations and an arched louvred opening on the north. There are clock faces on all but the north side. The upper stage has a battlemented parapet above another string course, concealing the flat roof.

The porch is shallow, with a chamfered arch opening and a pitched roof with a parapet gable. Inside, the floor has polychrome encaustic tiles. The door is of a simple arched shape, framed with three rails and vertical oak boards with battens over the joints to the outer face. It has good ironmongery. There is no outer door or gate. Above the porch are two round plaques; that on the left is inscribed REBUILT A.D. 1819., that on the right RESTORED A.D. 1897.

At the far end of the nave on the south side, there is a low lean-to boiler room under a concrete slab roof and with a tall chimney. The organ chamber has a low lean-to housing for the blower attached on its west side.

Setting aside the irregular fenestration, the nave is a simple rectangle, neatly plastered and plainly furnished. There is a single step up to the chancel. The roof structure is of tie-beam construction with kingposts and diagonal struts. The ceiling is lined in softwood boards.

On the south side, the organ fills the former vestry room. The lower stage of the tower serves as vestry and ringing chamber. A ladder leads to the upper stage which houses the clock and belfry, with an intermediate floor between.