St Margaret's Church is an ancient

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

parish church situated on St Margaret's Way in

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city l ...

, England. It is a 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 ...

History

Parts of the

transept A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform churches, a transept is an area set crosswise to the nave in a cruciform ("cross-shaped") building withi ...

date from c. 1200, and parts of 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, parl ...

s from the late 13th century. Most of the church was rebuilt in

Perpendicular In elementary geometry, two geometric objects are perpendicular if they intersect at a right angle (90 degrees or π/2 radians). The condition of perpendicularity may be represented graphically using the ''perpendicular symbol'', ⟂. It can ...

style c. 1444, under

William Alnwick William Alnwick (died 1449) was an English Catholic clergyman. He was Bishop of Norwich (1426–1436) and Bishop of Lincoln (1436–1449). Educated at Cambridge, Alnwick was an ecclesiastic priest. He was probably the same hermit who lived in ...

, the

Bishop of Lincoln The Bishop of Lincoln is the ordinary (diocesan bishop) of the Church of England Diocese of Lincoln in the Province of Canterbury. The present diocese covers the county of Lincolnshire and the unitary authority areas of North Lincolnshire and ...

. The west tower, which is high, was built at that time. It contains a ring of 14 bells including a flat sixth. There was a

Victorian restoration The Victorian restoration was the widespread and extensive refurbishment and rebuilding of Church of England churches and cathedrals that took place in England and Wales during the 19th-century reign of Queen Victoria. It was not the same proce ...

George Gilbert Scott Sir George Gilbert Scott (13 July 1811 – 27 March 1878), known as Sir Gilbert Scott, was a prolific English Gothic Revival architect, chiefly associated with the design, building and renovation of churches and cathedrals, although he started ...

in 1860, and another in 1881 by

George Edmund Street George Edmund Street (20 June 1824 – 18 December 1881), also known as G. E. Street, was an English architect, born at Woodford in Essex. Stylistically, Street was a leading practitioner of the Victorian Gothic Revival. Though mainly an eccle ...

. The church contains stained glass by

Thomas Willement Thomas Willement (18 July 1786 – 10 March 1871) was an English stained glass artist, called "the father of Victorian stained glass", active from 1811 to 1865. Biography Willement was born at St Marylebone, London. Like many early 19th centu ...

dating from the 1840s, and

William Wailes William Wailes (1808–1881) was the proprietor of one of England's largest and most prolific stained glass workshops. Life and career Wailes was born and grew up in Newcastle on Tyne, England's centre of domestic glass and bottle manufacturing. ...

of 1864.

Tombs

The

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 includes ...

effigy of John Penny dates from 1520, although his original tomb was replaced in 1846. He was the abbot of

Leicester Abbey The Abbey of Saint Mary de Pratis, more commonly known as Leicester Abbey, was an Augustinians, Augustinian religious house in the city of Leicester, in the East Midlands of England. The abbey was founded in the 12th century by the Robert de Be ...

from 1496 to 1509, and subsequently

Bishop of Carlisle The Bishop of Carlisle is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Carlisle in the Province of York. The diocese covers the county of Cumbria except for Alston Moor and the former Sedbergh Rural District. The see is in the city of Car ...

The churchyard contains the 1765 tomb of

Andrew Rollo, 5th Lord Rollo Andrew Rollo, 5th Lord Rollo, (18 November 1703, Duncrub – 20 June 1765, Leicester) was a Scottish army commander in Canada and Dominica during the Seven Years' War, who led the British land forces in the capture of Dominica on 6 June 176 ...

. The

Doric Doric may refer to: * Doric, of or relating to the Dorians of ancient Greece ** Doric Greek, the dialects of the Dorians * Doric order, a style of ancient Greek architecture * Doric mode, a synonym of Dorian mode * Doric dialect (Scotland) * Doric ...

, Grade II* listed structure is faced with slate

relief sculpture Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that the ...

Organ

The organ dates from 1773 but is now much enlarged. A specification of the organ can be found on the National Pipe Organ Register.

Organists

*1785–1845

Ann Valentine Ann Valentine (11 January 1762 – 13 October 1842 or 13 October 1845) was an English organist and composer, part of a talented family of Leicester musicians. Life Ann Valentine was born on 11 January 1762 in Leicester and christened on 15 Marc ...

*1845–1897

George Augustus Löhr George Augustus Löhr (20 April 1821 - 20 August 1897) was an organist and composer based in England. Life Born in Norwich, he was educated at Magdalen College, Oxford where he was a chorister and then Leipzig University and Munich University. H ...

References

14th-century church buildings in England Churches completed in 1444 Saint Margaret Saint Margaret Grade I listed churches in Leicestershire {{UK-anglican-church-stub