The Church of St John the Baptist is a church in

Belton, Leicestershire Belton is a small village and civil parish in the North West Leicestershire district of Leicestershire, England. The village is located approximately northwest of the town of Shepshed, west-northwest of Loughborough, and northeast of Ashby-de ...

. It is a

Grade II* In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

listed building.

History

The church is built in the Early English style and consists of a

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

clerestory In architecture, a clerestory ( ; , also clearstory, clearstorey, or overstorey) is a high section of wall that contains windows above eye level. Its purpose is to admit light, fresh air, or both. Historically, ''clerestory'' denoted an upper l ...

, south porch, tower with spire and 3 bells, and a

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse. Ove ...

. Each of the nave arcades have 4 arches and are supported on octagonal piers with moulded capitals. The chancel screen was restored in memory of Miss Louisa Blakeney in 1894. The chancel also has a

piscina A piscina is a shallow basin placed near the altar of a church, or else in the vestry or sacristy, used for washing the communion vessels. The sacrarium is the drain itself. Anglicans usually refer to the basin, calling it a piscina. For Roman ...

as does the east end of the aisles. In the north aisle, there is a restored upper slab belonging to the altar tomb of

Roesia de Verdun Roesia de Verdun (c1204 - 10 February 1247), also spelled ''Rohese'' and ''Rose'', was a Norman femme sole and one of the most powerful women of Ireland in the 13th century. Biography Very little is known about the early life of Roesia de Ve ...

(died 1247), who founded nearby

Grace Dieu Priory The Grace Dieu Priory was an independent Augustinian priory near Thringstone in Leicestershire, England. It was founded around 1235-1241 by Roesia de Verdun and dissolved in October 1538. It was dedicated to the Holy Trinity and St Mary. Today ...

. The south aisle has a memorial window to Charles Thompson. The church was restored in 1850 and 1877.

References

Belton Belton {{Leicestershire-struct-stub