Church of St Mary the Virgin, Bottesford
English Heritage List Entry Number: 1075095
Heritage Category: Listing Grade: I
Location: CHURCH OF ST MARY, CHURCH STREET (NORTH END), Bottesford, Melton, Leicestershire
52/100 Church of St Mary 1.1.68 GV I Parish church. C13 chancel, altered C15. C14 north transept, south aisle and south porch. North aisle and south transept C15. West tower and spire originally C15 but completely rebuilt 1876. Many restoration projects in later C19. Nave roof restored 1967, chancel re-roofed 1968. Ironstone and limestone. 3 stage west tower, externally of 6 stages defined by string courses. Stepped angle buttresses. Arched west door with shields in spandrels under square hood. Shields have emblems of Passion and arms of de Roos family. Above is 4-light transomed window. 2-light ringing chamber windows and similar, taller, 2-light belfry windows. Crenellated parapet with 4 square corner pinnacles. Recessed octagonal crocketed spire with 3 tiers of gabled lucarnes placed to alternate facets, each of 2 lights. 3-light Perpendicular nave windows under square hoods on label stops. Tall gabled south porch with moulded arched entrance below upper Window. Blocked external door on west side led to parvise (porch now open on interior). Side buttresses and upper reticulated window to east side. Gabled transepts supported by angle buttresses and lit through 5-light Perpendicular windows, that to south gable of south transept under pointed arch, the corresponding north window under a basket arch. South transept with parapet frieze of shields within quatrefoils. 11 clerestory windows arranged 2 per bay, all 3-light with lozenge tracery and arched heads below hoods. Between windows are elaborate gargoyles. Parapet with frieze of shields within quatrefoils. Parapet carries 2 crocketed pinnacles per bay and terminates at east returns with larger polygonal pinnacles. Chancel has 2 tiers of windows to south, all of 3 cusped lights under square heads. 3 to lower stage, 6 to upper. North chancel has Perpendicular 3-bay vestry with windows of varying design and size. 5-light Perpendicular east window under depressed arch. Interior. 4-bay arcade of octagonal piers with moulded polygonal capitals and bases. Double chamfered arches.Wider quatrefoil piers support transept arches to east. C19 chancel arch with large coat of arms and initials V R (Queen Victoria). Above are faint fragments of wall paintings, subject not decipherable, nor date. Clerestory windows with moulded jambs. Nearly flat nave roof of ties on wall posts, ridge piece and one pair butt purlins. Restored C15 octagonal font, the stem of 3 bulbous carved shafts, the bowl with carved flowers and angels in arched panels. Details are mostly C19. Polygonal timber pulpit 1631: arcaded panels with much floral design; hexagonal stem. North side of chancel has C13 arcade leading into Perpendicular vestry. Chancel roof similar to nave. Chancel is crowded with monuments, first to de Roos family and others, later to Manners family; that is, the Earls and Dukes of Rutland. Inscription plate to Robert de Roos and wife 1285, with, probably, a marble figure of Robert. Brasses to Henry de Codynton 1404 and John Freeman early C15. 2 effigies of knights on chests each side of altar: William de Roos, 1414, and John de Roos, 1421. Monuments to first 8 Earls of Rutland are positioned further west, the first six of alabaster, the rest of marble. First Earl, by Richard Parker, 1543. Second Earl 1563. Third Earl by Gerard Johnson, 1591. Fourth Earl also by Gerard Johnson, 1591. Fifth Earl by Nicholas Johnson, 1612. Sixth Earl, 1632. Seventh Earl by Grinling Gibbons, 1684. Eighth Earl also by Gibbons, 1684.
SK 80733 39126
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