St Nicholas' Church is a church in

Thistleton Thistleton is the most northerly village in the county of Rutland, and a civil parish, in the East Midlands of England. The population of the village at the 2001 census was 99. It remained less than 100 at the 2011 census and was counted toget ...

Rutland Rutland () is a ceremonial county and unitary authority in the East Midlands, England. The county is bounded to the west and north by Leicestershire, to the northeast by Lincolnshire and the southeast by Northamptonshire. Its greatest len ...

, England. 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

Most of the church was built in 1879 replacing a church with medieval origins. Of the earlier building, only the 14th-century, three-stage tower, with gargoyles, remains. The nave had been rebuilt in the late 18th century by

George Bridges Brudenell George Bridges Brudenell (23 February 1726''England, Select Births and Christenings, 1538-1975'' – 1 February 1801) was a British politician who sat in the House of Commons for 36 years from 1754 to 1790. Early life Brudenall was the son of ...

. The former rector, the Rev.d

John Henry Fludyer, 4th Baronet John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second ...

rebuilt the church in 1879 and the elaborate chancel is a memorial to his three eldest children who died of scarlet fever. The newer building is fourteenth century in style. The shape of the

apse In architecture, an apse (plural apses; from Latin 'arch, vault' from Ancient Greek 'arch'; sometimes written apsis, plural apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome, also known as an ''exedra''. In ...

is polygonal externally and semi-circular inside. In the apse are terracotta statues of the four evangelists in gabled niches and a relief of the entombment of Christ over the altar by

Mario Raggi Mario Raggi (1821–26 November 1907) was an Italian sculptor who settled in England where he received several public commissions for statues of civic figures. Biography Raggi was born at Carrara, Italy where he learnt to sculpt, and won severa ...

. Most of the internal fittings, including the font and the organ, are relatively modern. Thistleton and Cottesmore parishes were merged and on 1 April 2017, the church became a

chapel of ease A chapel of ease (or chapel-of-ease) is a church architecture, church building other than the parish church, built within the bounds of a parish for the attendance of those who cannot reach the parish church conveniently. Often a chapel of ea ...

References

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