WALTHAM ON THE WOLDS : CHURCH OF ST MARY MAGDALENE

Church Post Code LE14 4AH

Open to visitors

It was the summer of 2020 and the country was starting to find a little normality, for a time at least, as covid 19 was at its worst. The first national lockdown had ended and churches were allowed to be open for private prayer and then for worship itself; the church of St Mary Magdalene at Waltham On The Wolds was open but in reality very few were at that time.

The church here is part of the Ironstone group of churches benefice; a friendly and welcoming benefice of seven churches, six of whom are featured or will be featured on this site. The churches at Scalford, Goadby Marwood, Eaton, Stonesby and Eastwell all have Belvoir Angel gravestones and can be found in the ‘Leicestershire’ section of this site.

The church here at Waltham has no Belvoir Angel stones and therefore can be found in the ‘Other Churches’ section. The church at Chadwell is, at the time of typing this, closed to visitors and for worship due to structural issues.

Waltham on the Wolds is is a pleasant village which can be found in north east Leicestershire; with Melton Mowbray some five miles away to the south west. Grantham is around 11 miles off to the north east. Belvoir Castle can be seen across the field to the north when heading towards Grantham. The village recorded a population of a little over 1,000 at the time of the census of 2021, with these figures incorporating that of nearby Thorpe Arnold, with whom it forms a civil parish.

.The village here was mentioned at the time of the Domesday Survey in 1086 but no church or priest was recorded here at that time. The church of St Mary Magdalene stands central, close to the main road, the A607 which runs through the centre of the village connection Melton to Grantham.

This was a third visit; with the first seeing the church covered in scaffolding following damage to the spire caused by an earthquake back in 2008. A return visit saw the church open to visitors but access restricted due to decorators being in. The third visit saw the church open and the photographs of the interior are an interesting look back to covid seating arrangements, with each of the chairs set out on the day having a card on them which was to be turned over after that chair had been sat on, so that it could be cleaned.

The church that we see today consists of central tower with broach spire, nave with north and south aisles and clerestories, north and south transepts, north and south porches and chancel.