GRANBY

CHURCH OF ALL SAINTS

Church Post Code NG13 9PX

Open to visitors

Continuing the look at the Vale of Belvoir Angel gravestones in the church grounds at Granby.

The stone to Mary Riley is quite weathered and hard to read; this one also tells a sad story, with the mother and two young children passing away within two months of each other.

'Here lies the body of Mary the wife of Tho Riley She died Aug ye 27th 1724 aged 40 years'

'Also Henry the son of Tho and Mary Riley died Oct ye 9th 1724 aged 7 years'

'Also Mary ye daughter of Tho & Mary aforesaid died Oct 14th 1724 aged 5 years'

'Blessed are they that in the Lord they die from their labours they rest eternally'

I struggled to photograph the front of the gravestone to William Rick. It was obscured by another leaning stone and vegetation. The inscription on the front is recorded though as being...

'Here lies the body of William the dear child of George Rick by Cassandra his wife he died April the 24th 1710 in the 11th year of his age'

The reverse of this stone does have an inscription though which reads 'Though death has parted you and I our bodys to dust must turn I hope that we shall meet again you have no cause to mourn dear parents do not grieve for me but cheer upnow your heart and strive that you may come to me where death shall no more part'.

A small Belvoir Angel stone, faded and a little sunk in to the ground is to Elizabeth Flower. This one reads

'Here lies ye body of Eliz ye wife of William Flower of Barnston who departed this life Sept 21st 1727 in ye (left blank) year of her age'

'A loving husband and a virtous wife here lies confined both to leave this life And tho their bodys they return to dust their souls I hope are dwelling with the just'

The one that I missed has the following recorded...

'Here lies the body of Robert Willomet who departed this life Nov the 21st 1722 aged 84 years'

'Spectators all who ere you be see that you live and die as he Loe here he is laid in the dust waiting the rising with the just As we'll be judged so must we all when God almity pleased to call'

SOME NOTES FROM MY VISIT

For anyone taking a look at my pages covering the church of All Saints at Granby you will notice a difference between the photographs of the Belvoir Angels and the church itself. The angels were photographed in the late autumn of 2020, on a dull and gloomy day which pretty much summed up the mood of the country at that time. Covid 19 was a huge problem still at that time; churches were allowed to be open, but in reality not all that many were. We were allowed to travel, for a time at least with those in the know predicting a further lockdown in the near future. It was an ideal chance to concentrate on the church grounds.

The church of All Saints was closed that day but open on a revisit in early spring 2025; a beautiful sunny Saturday when I attempted to see inside several of the churches within the catchment area of this site, which had previously been closed. I have kept the photographs of the gravestones from that original visit as it is easier to see the details on the stone in those dull conditions, away from the glare of the sun!

Granby is a very pleasant village which can be found in the Rushcliffe District of Nottingham, with Nottingham itself to be found some 14 miles away to the west with Grantham a little less distance away to the east. This is an area of small pleasant villages with Belvoir Castle a prominent landmark across the fields to the south east.

The parish recorded a population of 507 at the time of the census of 2021 with those figures including the hamlet of Sutton. The population of Granby itself was a little less than 400.

There was a church and a priest mentioned here at the time of the Domesday Survey in 1986. There is evidence of habitation and worship here before that though with a Roman altar dug up in the church grounds in 1812.

The church of All Saints sits on raised ground towards the south east of the village, alongside a crossroads with small green opposite the church with bench facing the church itself. It was a very pleasant Saturday lunchtime; with the first real warmth of the year. The daffodils were in full bloom running along the north wall of the church grounds; a couple of horses with a single rider trotted past heading north.

As mentioned earlier there was a church and priest listed here in 1086 but nothing of that structure remains. The church that we see today predominantly dates from the 13th and 14th centuries; and is a fairly basic structure consisting of west tower, nave with north and south porches and chancel. The present church has been reduced in size with a north aisle and chapel being taken down in the 1770’s and in 1777 All Saints was struck by lightning, which destroyed the spire; the tower being rebuilt without a spire.

Certainly the condition of this church over the centuries has been of concern. In 1587 the wardens of the day reported that the chancel had fallen and in a four year period until 1812 the vicar lived away from the village as the vicarage was unfit to live in.

There was restoration here in 1888 during which the 14th century east window was removed and replaced, with further restoration here during the mid 20th century.

The four stage tower dates back to the mid 13th century with the lower stage and tower arch dating back to that time. The tower is buttressed and battlemented with crocketed pinnacles. The pinnacle at the south west corner and the grotesque below it has each met with some misfortune over the years, with the latter missing a head. Grotesques face out from the other three corners; beast like and holding mouth open in gesture of insult!

A frieze of a repeated ‘X’ design runs along the tower; the church clock faces out from the west wall and was telling the correct time, which is unusual enough an occurrence scare enough to mention!

As mentioned earlier there was a north aisle here that was taken down in the late 18th century. This is not immediately obvious when looking at the church exterior from the north, but is obvious when looking at the same wall from the interior. The north porch which would have been added after the removal of the aisle is not a work of architectural beauty to be fair. The east window is of three light; the rest of the east end of the church being plain.

There are six bells in the ring here with the first and second of the ring each being cast by Taylor of Loughborough in 1959; the second of the ring being a recasting of a previous bell which was cast by George I Oldfield of Nottingham. This 17th century bell was inscribed ‘God Save His Church’.

The third and fourth of the ring were each cast around 1520 by John Seliok of Nottingham. The third is inscribed ‘ECCE ANCILLA DM’ which translates as ‘Behold the Hand maiden of the Lord’ The fourth reads simply ‘SCA MARGARETA’ ‘St Margaret’.

The fifth of the ring was cast, again in Nottingham, by founder Thomas Hedderly in 1761. This one reads ‘Of Granby’s praise I sing all ways’. The sixth is another from George I Oldfield with this one inscribed ‘All men that heare my mornful sound repent before you lye in ground’.

The church was open to visitors, with the visitor entering in through the north porch. It is immediately evident from the interior that there had been a north aisle here at one point; octagonal piers and capitals with tall pointed arches bricked up with a window punched through in through each bay. There is also a bricked in bay which would have led from the chancel in to a north chapel. These were each taken down due to their severe state of disrepair with the bays being bricked up and the north aisle windows being saved and used in the rebuilt north wall.

The work of the Victorian restorers is very much in evidence throughout; looking to the west the tower arch is considerably older, dating from the mid 13th century, the same time as the earliest stage of the tower.

Moving in to the chancel the altar is plain and simple with a purple altar cloth which is a liturgical colour used during Lent, the period which were in. This would be changed on Palm Sunday to red which symbolises the blood which was shed.

Against the south wall of the chancel are two piscinas and an aumbry. The piscina was used to wash the holy vessels used during the Mass in pre reformation churches when the state religion was catholic. Why two though? I wonder if one of them came from the demolished north chapel, being saved and reset in to the chancel! The aumbry, which is normally to be found against the north wall, was used to store the holy vessels used during the Mass.

The east window holds the only stained glass to be found in the church here. This is a single light window which is modern, dating from 2002, and which shows Jesus as the Good Shepherd; dressed in a red cloak which is symbolic of his blood shed. The Holy Spirit can be seen above in the form of a dove.

There is a collection of fine medieval poppyhead carvings including a very weathered mermaid who appears to be carrying a mirror. Certainly this would fit in with what we see elsewhere. Mermaids were carved quite often in to church fittings; often shown holding a mirror and comb to warn against vanity and pride. In amongst these we also see grotesque heads and foliage as well as entwined creatures around a coat of arms.

Also of note is the Victorian font which appears to be using an upturned 14th century font as a pedestal; which is certainly not something that I have come across before.

I was primarily interested in the Belvoir Angels in the church grounds here, of which there are a good few, but there is more of interest apart from these. There is a great deal of slate in the grounds here as you would expect with the stones weathering very well, again as you would expect. There are several groups of gravestones here which have their own Grade II Listing.

A carving of a human skull above crossed bones is a memento mori symbol which reminds the onlooker that they will go the same way as the deceased. We also see death in the form of a skeleton about to strike! In this case the skeleton is about to through an arrow or dart at the soon to be deceased; this symbolling the fragile nature of human life and the sudden ending of a life. The person holds on to a cross and anchor, each being a Christian symbol with script alongside reading ‘My hope is in the Lord’.

Close by we have an ouroboros, a serpent with its tail in its mouth. This was an often used symbol for eternity with script alongside reading ‘Life how short eternity how long’. Central to this stone is again the cross and anchor with the ouroboros and a human skull flanking these; this stone pointing out in symbol form that death is inevitable but eternity is the reward for those who are deemed to be righteous on the final day.

It was time to move on. I enjoyed looking around the church here both in terms of the church itself and enjoying the area around the church which was quiet, peaceful and picturesque. I daresay that this would not necessarily be the case at rush hour during the working week but here and now, an a peaceful Saturday, time moved slowly and that was a good thing. We headed north west, towards Bingham; our Nottinghamshire crawl continued.