THORPE ARNOLD : CHURCH OF ST MARY THE VIRGIN.

LEICESTERSHIRE

Church Post Code LE14 4RU

Church usually closed to visitors out of service times

.It was a warm and sunny Sunday in August 2026; a record breaking year in terms of temperatures in the UK. We were between fourth and fifth heatwaves; with the heat dropping temporarily for a few days before returning with a vengeance a few days later. Green grass was a distant memory and even the weeds had stopped growing!

It had been an early start to the day; with the plan being to attend two services on the outskirts of Melton Mowbray; starting at Thorpe Arnold and the church of St Mary the Virgin before heading off to Burton Lazars to the south east of Melton. The plan was then to head north east, to the Broughtons; Nether and Upper, before heading back to Ab Kettleby, where the church was kindly being opened up for me.

Thorpe Arnold can be found roughly a mile to the north east of Melton Mowbray itself; a small pleasant village with very much a rural feel considering that Melton is so close. It was quiet and peaceful on this Sunday morning; though that state might have altered as the day progressed and traffic increased, with the ‘Pork Pie Way’ which by passes Melton to the north and east running a short distance away across the fields.

Leicester can be found some 15 miles away to the south west with Nottingham a little further away to the north west. Those fancying a slightly more noisy day than I had planned might care to visit Twinlakes Amusement Park a short distance off to the north.

Thorpe Arnold is a very small village, with around 35 houses, a church and a cricket club; small enough that their census figures are included in with that of Waltham on the Wolds which neighbours the village to the north east. The figures for the two combined was 1166 at the time of the 2021 census with by far the bulk living in Waltham.

There is some history here with the village mentioned in the Domesday Survey of 1086; no church or priest being mentioned at that time in lands owned by Hugh of Grandmesnil. He was an interesting character who fought at the Battle of Hastings in 1086 and was gifted 100 Manors by William the Conqueror after in thanks for his service, with 65 of these being in Leicestershire.

The church of St Mary the Virgin stands on raised ground; with the structure that we see today consisting of west tower, nave with north and south aisles and clerestories, south porch and chancel. As was mentioned earlier there was no mention of a church or priest at the time of the Domesday Survey; the first recorded mention of a church here being back in 1162.

That early structure was expanded and the core of the structure that we see today was built around 1200, with alterations during the 14th century. It is suggested that the north aisle was rebuilt during the 15th century, at which point the walls were heightened and the clerestory windows added.

There was considerable Victorian restoration here with the west tower, south aisle, south porch and chancel arch each being rebuilt at that time. A secondary phase of restoration in 1887 saw the chancel restored.

There are five bells in the ring here with the first of the ring being the oldest, case by John de Colsale who was a founder between 1409 and 1421. Interestingly, de Colsale was an itinerant founder who travelled to where he was to cast a bell, setting up a temporary foundry close to or sometimes in the grounds of the church itself.

The second of the ring is dated 1915 and was cast by Taylor of Loughborough. The third was cast by Watts of Leicester in 1597. My spell checker hates Watts’ inscriptions and this one reads ‘Cum Cum and Pra’.

The fourth was cast in 1685, by William Noone who operated out of Nottingham. This bell has the inscription ‘IHS NAZARENVS REX IVDEORUM FILI DEI MISERERE’ which translates as ‘Jesus of Nazareth King of the Jews son of God have mercy on me’.

The fifth of the ring was cast by Thomas I Newcombe of Leicester in 1520. With regarding bells, it is worth noting that Thorpe Arnold was a storing place for the ‘Brentingby Bell’ which had been taken from the tower at Brentingby when this church fell in to disuse. This bell was cast by John of York in 1380 with this bell being the oldest dated church bell in England.

Taking a leisurely look at the exterior of the church before service started, what we see is an attractive but plain ironstone and limestone church with limestone dressing. The grass in the church grounds had been battered by the heat over the weeks and those looking at the photographs in future years might take an educated guess at the year due to the conditions!

The exterior is difficult to shoot in places due to the proximity of trees; the three stage tower is buttressed, with two light lancets at the belfry stages.The clerestory takes the form of three square headed two light windows. The chancel is long and plain with steeply pitched time roof, with priest’s door to the south. The east window is of three lights.

A series of carved heads look out from the label end of windows; of varying ages with some having features almost weathered away. Some look to be relatively modern and I daresay date from one of the periods of Victorian restoration. Others look far older including one weathered figure with eyes almost weather away to nothing; mouth open in an ‘O’ of surprise!

To be fair the exterior is quite plain; but attractive still’ It was half an hour before service started and it was time to take a look at the interior before the congregation started to arrive. The church was open; the welcome was as warm as the day promised to be, and this set the tone for the rest of the day in this most hospitable and friendly parts of Leicestershire.