St. Michael’s Church

St. Michael's Church is a parish church at Stoney Stanton, Nock Verges. The building dates from the late 14th and 15th centuries, with substantial Victorian additions: the chancel and south aisle were rebuilt in 1842 to designs by H. Goddard, the south aisle was extended in 1882 to form an organ chamber, the north aisle and vestry were added in 1888 to designs by W. Bassett Smith, and the south porch was constructed in 1910.

The church is built of random granite rubble and dressed stone with ashlar dressings and slate roofs. It comprises a west tower with spire, nave with clerestorey, north and south aisles, north and south porches, vestry, chancel, and organ chamber.

The west tower has four stages with a chamfered plinth, moulded band, three string courses, coved eaves cornice with gargoyles, and crenellated parapet. Four clasping buttresses support the tower. The octagonal spire is set back and topped with a finial and weathercock, with pairs of lucarnes to the east and west (the lower pair featuring Y tracery) and smaller pairs to the north and south. The first stage contains a restored double lancet window to the west with geometrical tracery, hood mould and mask stops. The second stage has quatrefoil lights on three sides. The third stage has a clock to the south. The fourth stage has double lancet bell openings on each side with quatrefoil heads, hood moulds and mask stops, all in 14th-century style. The tower west window contains fragments of stained glass.

The clerestorey dates to 1842 and features a coved eaves band, moulded parapet and coped gable with cross, and a square corner stack. To the north are three double lancets with Y tracery, and to the south four double lancets with four-centred arched heads, all with hood moulds and mask stops.

The north aisle comprises four bays with a moulded sill band, coved eaves and moulded parapet. Three buttresses project from the north side, with diagonal buttresses at each end, all featuring setoffs. The west end has an ogee triple lancet with reticulated tracery. The north side displays two Decorated double lancets to the east of the porch and a single similar double lancet to the west, all with hood moulds. The north porch has a coped gable with kneelers and finial, flanked by a pair of buttresses. The doorway is moulded and rebated with responds and hood mould, and each side contains a single lancet. The interior has stone benches, a common rafter roof and a roll-moulded inner doorway with hood mould. The north aisle west window contains stained glass from 1875, and the central north side window contains stained glass from 1975. The north aisle roof dates to 1888 and features arch bracing with traceried spandrels. At the east end is a late 19th-century chamfered and rebated archway with responds and wooden screen, with an angled stairway to the rood loft to its right (fitted with a 20th-century door) and a stoup to its left.

The vestry has a sill band, moulded eaves, coped parapet and a single diagonal buttress. The north doorway is shouldered and has above it a re-set 11th-century tympanum featuring an allegorical scene. To its right is a 19th-century Geometrical lancet with hood mould, and to the east are two 19th-century single lancets with hood moulds and stops.

The chancel comprises two bays with a partial 20th-century plinth, coved eaves and moulded coped gable with cross. The east end has two diagonal buttresses and a 19th-century Geometrical triple lancet with hood mould, mask finial and stops. Below it are ornate slate headstones to the Reverend J. Bold (1751) and another dated 1874. The south side has a moulded Geometrical double lancet with hood mould and mask stops to the west. The chancel interior contains a restored double chamfered and rebated arch with mask impost corbels. A 19th-century Perpendicular-style traceried screen with an ogee central opening separates the nave and chancel. To the left is a double chamfered doorway to the rood stair. On either side of the chancel are central 19th-century chamfered and rebated archways with responds and hood moulds leading to the vestry and organ chamber respectively. The east end features an early 20th-century traceried panelled oak dado with a ramped top and fluted corner posts, and a 19th-century traceried stained glass east window. The chancel roof is 19th-century with traceried scissor bracing and wall posts on foliate corbels.

The south aisle and organ chamber comprise five bays with a chamfered plinth, coved eaves and moulded parapet. The south side has four buttresses with diagonal buttresses at each end, all with setoffs. An off-centre porch flanks the south side, with a moulded Geometrical double lancet to the left and two similar windows to the east. The east and west ends each have a similar window. The south porch matches the north porch in design, with a roll-moulded inner doorway with hood mould and a two-leaf plank door. The south aisle east end has a 19th-century arch similar to that in the north aisle, and all windows have patterned glass. The south aisle roof is a restored 15th-century roof with cambered chamfered tie beams.

The nave interior features a mid-14th-century north arcade with four bays, octagonal piers and responds, and double chamfered and rebated arches. A similar south arcade dates to the 19th century and has piers without bases. The clerestorey openings are moulded. The nave roof dates to 1842 and features arch bracing with traceried single purlin kingpost construction.

The church contains an octagonal painted ashlar font with traceried panelled stem, quatrefoil panelled bowl and triple shafts at the corners, topped with a conical 18th-century cover. A solid hewn 13th-century oak chest, approximately two and a half metres long, is also present. The furnishings include Royal Arms of George III on board, 19th-century traceried stalls and desks with shaped ends, plain benches, an octagonal oak pulpit, three benefaction boards, an early 20th-century wooden lectern, altar table and curtain posts.

Memorials include re-set slate headstones from 1760 and four similar re-set stones, a scrolled slate and alabaster wall tablet with urn (1778), a crested slate tablet by Firmadge of Leicester (1771), a classical slate tablet from the early 19th century by Low of Leicester, and a crested square alabaster and marble war memorial tablet (1919).