Church Of St Mary The Virgin And St John The Baptist

The Church of St. Mary the Virgin and St. John the Baptist is a church dating from the 13th to 15th centuries, with a restoration and a rebuilt chancel in 1878, designed by R. Reynolds Rowe of Cambridge. It is constructed of granite rubble stone with stone dressings, and has a roof of Swithland slate, partly with battlements and stone coped gables, some featuring cross finials.

The west tower is of three stages, incorporating clasping buttresses which become polygonal at the second stage and angular at the third. A doorway with traceried spandrels is set into the west face, above a 3-light window containing stained glass from 1879. A clock face, quatrefoil, and 1-light windows are positioned on the second stage, while four 2-light bell openings, a quatrefoiled lozenge frieze, and battlements adorn the top. The tall nave arch has deeply hollowed mouldings resting on semi-circular responds. The north arcade consists of four and a half bays from the 13th century, with unchamfered arches supported by circular piers. The south arcade has four bays, with double chamfered arches seated on octagonal piers. A restored Perpendicular clerestory has four 3-light windows on each side. The roof is a low-pitch tie beam structure with restored timbers; the original tie beams feature carved bosses.

The north aisle, dating back to the 14th century, has four windows with renewed Reticulated tracery, three filled with stained glass from the 19th century. The north-east window with Intersected tracery opens to the 19th-century organ chamber. A north door and porch are also present. The chancel arch is double chamfered, resting on polygonal responds. The chancel has a polygonal boarded roof and most windows filled with later 19th-century stained glass. The 14th-century south aisle features windows with renewed Curvilinear tracery, with the southeast window containing stained glass from 1897. A piscina with a cusped niche is also present, alongside a small and a larger south door.

The church holds a fine series of monuments, including a tomb-chest with an incised lid to Bartholomew Kyngston, who died in 1486, and his wife, inscribed with Kyngston's Will and a coat of arms. An incised slab is dedicated to Robert Vincent and his two wives, circa 1530. Another tomb-chest commemorates Humfrey Babington, who died in 1549, and his wife. A hanging monument depicts Thomas Babington, who died in 1567, and his wife. A panel from a 16th-century monument displays two mermaids holding the coat of arms of the Kyngston and Skeffington families. A wall monument is dedicated to Anne Babington, who died in 1648, constructed of alabaster and black and red marble, showing busts of Anne and her husband, Mathew Babington, and is attributed to Edward Marshall. Further fixtures include a 19th-century wall monument, oak choir stalls, and a brass lectern. The round Norman font, decorated with a pattern of concentric lozenges, sits on 19th-century shafts. A Perpendicular chancel screen, with 1-light divisions and ogee arches decorated with foliage, is also present. It is said to be dated 1520. Local sources, such as Kelly's Leicestershire, Rutland, Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire (1881), also date the tower to 1425.