St Botolph's Church, Shepshed is the

Church of England Parish Church A parish church in the Church of England is the church which acts as the religious centre for the people within each Church of England parish (the smallest and most basic Church of England administrative unit; since the 19th century sometimes ...

Shepshed Shepshed (often known until 1888 as ''Sheepshed'', also ''Sheepshead'' – a name derived from the village being heavily involved in the wool industry) is a market town and civil parish in the Charnwood Borough of Leicestershire, England with ...

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire to the north, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire to the south-east, Warw ...

Background

It is the most westerly church dedicated to

St Botolph Botolph of Thorney (; also called Botolph, Botulph or Botulf; later known as Saint Botolph; died ) was an English abbot and saint. He is regarded as the patron saint of boundaries, and by extension, of trade and travel, as well as various aspec ...

and was founded in the 11th century. It is a

Grade I listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

building. The church sits on top of the highest point in Shepshed, probably on the site of an ancient pre-Christian site of worship. The oldest surviving part of the church, the west tower and spire, dates from the 13th century. The nave, with clerestory and aisles, and chancel are all 15th-century. It is constructed mainly from Charnwood

granite Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...

with

Swithland Swithland is a linear village in the Charnwood (borough), Charnwood borough of Leicestershire, England. The civil parish population was put at 230 in 2004 and 217 in the 2011 census. It is in the old Charnwood Forest, between Cropston, Woodhous ...

slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous, metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade, regional metamorphism. It is the finest-grained foliated metamorphic ro ...

roofing. The south transept with vestry by

Albert Herbert Albert Herbert (10 September 1925, Bow, London, Bow in London – 10 May 2008) was a British abstract and religious artist, Painting, painter and etcher. Education He went to West Ham secondary school and then worked in the ''News Chronicle'' pic ...

. The pulpit is by R. Norman Shaw.

Bells

The church has a ring of bells for

bell ringing Campanology (/kæmpəˈnɒlədʒi/) is both the scientific and artistic study of bells, encompassing their design, tuning, and the methods by which they are rung. It delves into the technology behind bell casting and tuning, as well as the rich ...

. The present set of bells were all cast in 1948 at the nearby Taylor's Bell Foundry in

Loughborough Loughborough ( ) is a market town in the Charnwood (borough), Charnwood Borough of Leicestershire, England; it is the administrative centre of Charnwood Borough Council. At the United Kingdom 2021 census, the town's built-up area had a popula ...

Organ

The church has a two manual pipe organ by Henry Willis, located in an organ loft to the east of the nave. A specification of the organ can be found on th
National Pipe Organ Register

References

External links

details of bells
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shepshed, St Botolph's Church Church of England church buildings in Leicestershire Grade I listed churches in Leicestershire Anglo-Catholic church buildings in Leicestershire St Botolph's Church