St Mary's Church is the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

Anstey, Leicestershire Anstey is a large village in Leicestershire, England, located north west of Leicester in the borough of Charnwood (borough), Charnwood. Its population was 7,697 at the 2021 census. This figure is expected to increase due to the building of a ...

, in the

Diocese of Leicester The Diocese of Leicester is a Church of England diocese based in Leicester and including the current county of Leicestershire. The cathedral is Leicester Cathedral, where the Bishop of Leicester has his episcopal chair. The diocese is divided in ...

The church

The church is situated in the

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

heart of Anstey.Anstey Conservation Area Character Appraisal
,

Charnwood Borough Council Charnwood Borough Council is the local authority for the Borough of Charnwood, a non-metropolitan district in Leicestershire, England. Full council meetings are held at Loughborough Town Hall and the council's main offices are on Southfield Road ...

, 2008, retrieved 14 October 2012 Built from

Mountsorrel Mountsorrel is a village in Leicestershire on the River Soar, just south of Loughborough with a population in 2001 of 6,662 inhabitants, increasing to 8,223 at the 2011 census. Geography The village is in the borough of Charnwood, surrounding ...

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 ...

and

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, with a Westmorland slate roof, the church is of

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 9th and 10th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norma ...

origin from the 14th or 15th century, although much of the church was rebuilt at a cost of £4,000 by Broadbent & Hawley between 1845 and 1846 at the expense of the then Rector, Revd. Richard Waterfield, B.D.Pevsner, Nikolaus (1960) ''The Buildings of England: Leicestershire and Rutland'', Penguin Books, p. 46''The Leicestershire & Rutland Village Book'', Countryside Books, 1989, A Norman doorway remains on the North side of the church. Some of the

gargoyle In architecture, and specifically Gothic architecture, a gargoyle () is a carved or formed Grotesque (architecture), grotesque with a spout designed to convey water from a roof and away from the side of a building, thereby preventing it from ...

s, which are placed on three sides, are Early English. The church is a grade II

listed building 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 ...

. Records show that in 1220 a chapel in Anstey was annexed to the parish of

Thurcaston Thurcaston is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Thurcaston and Cropston, in the Charnwood district, in Leicestershire, England. It was the home of Bishop Hugh Latimer. It borders the villages of Anstey and Cropston, ...

; Anstey became a parish in 1867. The windows include memorials to the Revd. Richard Waterfield (East chancel) and Elliot John Norman Galer (South aisle), and one commemorating those who lost their lives in

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. The tower contains eight bells, the tenor bearing the inscription "Recast in the year of the accession of King

Edward VIII Edward VIII (Edward Albert Christian George Andrew Patrick David; 23 June 1894 – 28 May 1972), later known as the Duke of Windsor, was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Empire, and Emperor of India, from 20 January ...

", believed to be the only one in Britain to bear such an inscription, due to Edward's short reign. The church organ was built by Taylors of Leicester in 1926. In the South wall of the tower is a clock made by W. Jolley of Leicester, which was given to the church in 1772 by Robert and Thomas Martin, who at the time were

churchwarden A churchwarden is a lay official in a parish or congregation of the Anglican Communion, Lutheran Churches or Catholic Church, usually working as a part-time volunteer. In the Anglican tradition, holders of these positions are ''ex officio'' mem ...

s. "> File:StMarysAnsteyGargoyle-tower-north.jpg, Gargoyle, North wall of tower File:StMarysAnsteyHeadCarving-north.jpg, Head carving File:StMarysAnsteyCarvedHeads-north.jpg, Head carvings File:StMarysAnsteyCarvings.JPG, Head carvings & lion head gargoyle File:StMarysAnsteyAngelCarving.jpg, Angel carving

Churchyard

The churchyard contains the grade II listed Heard Family tombs, built in 1740 and 1803 with headstones from 1739 and 1743. The church yard also contains the remains of a 15th-century cross, comprising a socket stone and part of the shaft. This is grade II listed and a

scheduled monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage, visu ...

.Listed Buildings: Churchyard Cross St Marys Church, Bradgate Road, Anstey (Ancient Monument)
, Charnwood Borough Council, retrieved 14 October 2012 The wall which surrounds the churchyard on three sides is also a grade II listed building.Wall at Church of St Mary, Bradgate Road, Anstey (Grade II)
, Charnwood Borough Council, retrieved 14 October 2012

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Anstey, Saint Mary Church of England church buildings in Leicestershire Grade II listed churches in Leicestershire 14th-century church buildings in England