St Gregory's Church is a redundant Anglican church in

Fledborough Fledborough is a hamlet in Nottinghamshire, England. Although now redundant, the Anglian parish church of St Gregory's, earned the hamlet the nickname of "the Gretna Green of the Midlands" in the 18th century, due to the ease in which couples c ...

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated Notts.) is a landlocked county in the East Midlands region of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The trad ...

, England. It is recorded in the

National Heritage List for England The National Heritage List for England (NHLE) is England's official database of protected heritage assets. It includes details of all English listed buildings, scheduled monuments, register of historic parks and gardens, protected shipwrecks, a ...

as a designated Grade I

listed building 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 ...

, and is under the care of the

Churches Conservation Trust The Churches Conservation Trust is a registered charity whose purpose is to protect historic churches at risk in England. The charity cares for over 350 churches of architectural, cultural and historic significance, which have been transferred in ...

. The church stands at the end of a lane, in meadows near the

River Trent The Trent is the third-longest river in the United Kingdom. Its source is in Staffordshire, on the southern edge of Biddulph Moor. It flows through and drains the North Midlands. The river is known for dramatic flooding after storms and ...

History

The oldest fabric in the church is the lower part of the tower, which was built in the 12th century. Much of the rest of the church dates from the first half of the 14th century. By 1764 the

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. Ov ...

was in "a ruinous condition", and it was rebuilt and shortened. It was rebuilt again in 1890, and the

aisle An aisle is, in general, a space for walking with rows of non-walking spaces on both sides. Aisles with seating on both sides can be seen in airplanes, certain types of buildings, such as churches, cathedrals, synagogues, meeting halls, par ...

s and south porch were rebuilt in 1912. During the 18th century the church gained a degree of notoriety because its

rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...

, Rev W. Sweetapple, granted licences for marriage to runaway couples. Because of this it came to be regarded as "the

Gretna Green Gretna Green is a parish in the southern council area of Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, on the Scottish side of the border between Scotland and England, defined by the small river Sark, which flows into the nearby Solway Firth. It was histori ...

of the Midlands". In 1820, Thomas Arnold, later headmaster of

Rugby School Rugby School is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) in Rugby, Warwickshire, England. Founded in 1567 as a free grammar school for local boys, it is one of the oldest independent schools in Britain. ...

, married Mary Penrose, the daughter of the rector, in the church. The church was

vested In law, vesting is the point in time when the rights and interests arising from legal ownership of a property is acquired by some person. Vesting creates an immediately secured right of present or future deployment. One has a vested right to an ...

in the Churches Conservation Trust on 1 January 1991.

Architecture

Exterior

The church is constructed in stone with some brick in the

clerestories 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 ...

. The tower and porch are roofed in tiles, while the rest of the church has slate roofs. Its plan consists of a four- bay

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 ...

with a low clerestory, north and south aisles, a south porch, a chancel, and a west tower. The tower is in two stages separated by a string course. It has angle

buttress A buttress is an architectural structure built against or projecting from a wall which serves to support or reinforce the wall. Buttresses are fairly common on more ancient buildings, as a means of providing support to act against the lateral ( ...

es and a pyramidal roof. On the south side of its roof is a

bellcote A bellcote, bell-cote or bell-cot is a small framework and shelter for one or more bells. Bellcotes are most common in church architecture but are also seen on institutions such as schools. The bellcote may be carried on brackets projecting from ...

. In the lower stage is a west door, above which is a 12th-century lancet window. In the upper stage are two-light bell openings on all sides. The north aisle has a doorway with a pointed arch between three-light windows, one to the west and three to the east; there is a similar window on its east wall. In the north and south walls of the clerestory are three two-light windows. The chancel has a three-light window in the north wall, and two three-light windows in the south wall. The east window also has three lights, the central one of which is partly blocked with masonry. On the ridge of the east

gable A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aesth ...

of the chancel is a cross. The south aisle also contains three three-light windows, and on its east wall are a blocked pointed

arcade Arcade most often refers to: * Arcade game, a coin-operated game machine ** Arcade cabinet, housing which holds an arcade game's hardware ** Arcade system board, a standardized printed circuit board * Amusement arcade, a place with arcade games * ...

arch and a blocked doorway. In its west wall is another three-light window. The south porch has diagonal buttresses, a coped gable with a ridge cross, and an arched entrance. Its east wall contains a sundial. Built into the exterior of the wall of the south aisle is the carved effigy of a woman, holding what is thought to be a heart. It dates from the 14th century and originally lay recumbent on a tomb.

Interior

The nave is divided from the aisles by four-bay arcades. In the north wall of the chancel is 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 Ca ...

, over which are remaining parts of an

Easter Sepulchre An Easter Sepulchre is a feature of British church interior architecture. Description The Easter Sepulchre is an arched recess generally in the north wall of the chancel, in which from Good Friday to Easter day were deposited the crucifix and s ...

. These consist of panels carved with depictions of sleeping soldiers, angels, and Christ rising from the dead. There is another piscina in the south aisle wall. Beside the south doorway are the remains of a

stoup A holy water font or stoup is a vessel containing holy water which is generally placed near the entrance of a church. It is often placed at the base of a crucifix or religious representation. It is used in the Catholic Church, Anglican Churches ...

. Also on the south wall is a simple alms box bearing the inscription "Remember the Poor 1684". The middle light of the east window, partly blocked by masonry, contains a canopied

niche Niche may refer to: Science *Developmental niche, a concept for understanding the cultural context of child development *Ecological niche, a term describing the relational position of an organism's species *Niche differentiation, in ecology, the ...

. The windows on each side contain 14th-century stained glass. The right window has a depiction of the

Virgin and Child In art, a Madonna () is a representation of Mary, either alone or with her child Jesus. These images are central icons for both the Catholic and Orthodox churches. The word is (archaic). The Madonna and Child type is very prevalent ...

, under which is a

knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...

. In the left window are depictions of

John the Baptist John the Baptist or , , or , ;Wetterau, Bruce. ''World history''. New York: Henry Holt and Company. 1994. syc, ܝܘܿܚܲܢܵܢ ܡܲܥܡܕ݂ܵܢܵܐ, Yoḥanān Maʿmḏānā; he, יוחנן המטביל, Yohanān HaMatbil; la, Ioannes Bapti ...

and Saint Andrew. There are more fragments of stained glass from this period in other windows. Most of the church furniture, including the pulpit and the octagonal font, dates from the 19th century. In the north aisle are tombs dating from the 14th century. Inside the tower is the broken

alabaster Alabaster is a mineral or rock that is soft, often used for carving, and is processed for plaster powder. Archaeologists and the stone processing industry use the word differently from geologists. The former use it in a wider sense that include ...

effigy of a knight.

External features

A group of five headstones dated between 1735 and 1737 in the churchyard is listed Grade II.

References