Below are notes of interest to be found at Ashby St Ledgers church. Each section is numbered and relates to the buttons in the left hand column. Click these buttons to get an information page which includes a photograph and text suitable for downloading or printing
1As you enter the gate the Norman architecture of the square tower dominates the view of the Nave and the South porch. The standing headstones, in the foreground, commemorate members of the Butlin family
2 This South facing aspect shows evidence of a former Chapel/Chantry which was demolished in the 17C. The pitch of the South porch (main entrance) was made more acute sometime after the 15C.
3 On the North East corner, close inspection will reveal, a Consecration Cross, which has withstood the ravages of the elements over hundreds of years. Also note the sword marks on the portal of the porch which may have been made by soldiers prior to the battle of Naseby/Bosworth or by Cromwell’s men or even the local militia sharpening their arrow heads.
4 Upon entering the Church, and looking East, from the central crossing, the left side of the aisle is commanded by the Jacobean three tier Pulpit. Just beyond can be seen one of the two Manorial pews, of the same period, which abuts the Rood screen.
5 Looking straight ahead you will see the beautiful
Rood Screen of fine delicate carving which was created in 1500. There is no evidence that a Rood was ever in situ but the access stairs, through a door on the right, within the Jacobean manorial pew, shows much wear and tear. The Gospel was always read from the top of the screen before the Reformation.
6 The beautiful East window, of English stained glass, commemorates the lives of the Senhouse Family who owned the Manor in the 19th Century.
7 Floor brasses commemorating five generations of the Catesby family can now be seen: Emma and John founders of the Catesby dynasty in the village (wall mounted in the Arnold chapel), Sir William Catesby (carver to King Henry VI), William Catesby with his wife and children (Battle of Bosworth Field 1485),George Catesby (To whom the Nave and the Rood screen are attributed) and Sir Richard Catesby. The brasses of the Stokes family (with 16 children included). The Revd Smight (former vicar of Oxhill in Warwickshire and Yelvertoft in Northamptonshire and perhaps chaplain to the Catesby family) and Thomas Wallym who may be a member of the Catesby family (also wall mounted) can also be inspected.
8 Alongside and in front of the organ beneath a trap door. A brass rubbing, printed on silk, is displayed on a pier nearby and a facsimile of this brass is also displayed at the battle of Bosworth Field Visitor Centre (within the Catesby Chapel there).
9 In the most Western of the windows, in the South wall, can be seen this small, but delightful, figure of an unknown Bishop. Efforts have been made to confirm that it does depict St. Leodegarius but without success.
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