St Michael's
Stoney Stanton
Notices
Explorations.........
Entering the church by the North Door you will become aware of the development which has taken place over the centuries as each generation has used the building to reflect the needs of its own time. For a village church, the building is quite large, light and airy.
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The Font is at the front of the church, on the North side in the baptistry area, this was described as 'ancient' by County Historian John Nichols in the late eighteenth century. It originally stood at the entrance of the ringing room at the western end of the church, but was moved to its present position during the re-ordering of the 1980's. Here you will also see one of the oldest parts of the church, the Perpendicular North arcade. The stone columns have now been stripped of the paintwork which covered them into recent times, exposing octagonal piers and double-chamfered arches. |
| The interior has been lightened by the
replacement of much opaque Victorian glazing with clear glass. To the left of the door on the north side of the church, you will see a modern stained glass window, given by members of a local family, to the memory of Mrs E. Tansey. To the right of the door is a window with a panel set within depicting the words "I was sick and ye visited me" (Picture below - click on image to enlarge)
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The re-ordering, to suit modern needs of worship is most apparent as you turn to face the present nave altar. The area created around the altar provides ample space for the concerts which take place from time to time in the church. Carved altar-rails were created, using wood from the surround of a former South Aisle altar. The pulpit was much reduced in size and relocated. Also moved several inches eastwards was the screen, placed in the church as a memorial to the fallen of the 1914-18 war, which was shifted away from the chancel arch to allow a greater space around the altar. There is an ancient spiral staircase, in the north side of the arch, which would have led to a former rood screen, indicating that a medieval screen had predated the present one. Note the opening at the top of the staircase on the top left of the picture. | |
| As you move towards the Eastern end of the church,
behind the present Nave Altar, you will enter the chancel area, now used as a chapel for
weekday and smaller services. The organ, a fine Victorian two-manual instrument, built by
the Lane family, required the building of an organ chamber which was completed on the
South side of the church in 1882. A recent addition to the sanctuary was the aumbry for
the Reserved Sacrament, which has meant that the church has been able to develop its
ministry to housebound people throughout the village.
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The chancel, along with the nave roof, clerestory and south aisle were built by H.Goddard the noted Leicester architect, in 1842-3, but if you look back towards the western arch, above the belfry, the line of the earlier roof can still be detected in the stonework. The carved heads in the clerestory window-lintels are ancient, and were almost certainly re-used from an earlier site. (Click on image for larger picture) |
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Moving into the south aisle, you will see, close to the South door, one of the most notable artefacts in the building. This is the ancient parish chest, roughly hewn from an oak of great antiquity. It has long since ceased to be used for its original purpose, the storage of valuables, and the village records also held in the chest are now in the care of the Leicester and Leicestershire Records Office. However, the walking stick belonging to the saintly eighteenth century curate of the place, John Bold (of whom, more later!) and some ancient service books, donated by his successor are stored within. No attempt has been made to date the chest, though it may well be around 800 years old, which suggests that the oak-wood from which it is made may have been growing in the very early centuries. |
| Looking back, eastwards, you will see, over the chancel arch, a large crucifix, given in memory of Rev’d Henry Cadle, Rector of the church throughout the 1960’s. This period saw the beginnings of the development of the village into the larger settlement it has become today, with the building of the first modern private housing estate on the field known as the Fleet. Rev’d and Mrs. Cadle also became the first residents of the new Rectory in Nock Verges, the Old Rectory, adjoining the church having been sold. Since those times, pastoral re-organisation has meant that the ministry of the church itself has seen many changes, first as a United Benefice with Croft, and later even changing Deaneries to become part of a Team Parish with Broughton Astley in Guthlaxton 1, - echoes of that first Domesday entry when the village found itself in Guthlaxton Wapentake! |  |
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The Chancel alter and window in the east side of the church which is particularly beautiful, was given by a Victorian Rector, Rev'd Sankey. |
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