Church Of St Mary

Church of St Mary

A parish church located on Church Lane in Ashby Folville. The building dates from the late 13th, 14th and 15th centuries and was restored in 1875 and between 1885 and 1913 by J. Ely. It is constructed from coursed and squared ironstone and limestone ashlar with ashlar dressings and lead roofs. The church features a chamfered and moulded plinth and sill bands, a crenellated chancel parapet with pinnacles added in 1913, and a 19th-century gabled external side wall stack. The plan comprises a west tower, nave with clerestory, north aisle and organ chamber, chancel, south aisle and chapel, and south porch.

The west tower dates to the 15th century and stands in three stages with angle buttresses, two string courses, a moulded plinth, linked hood mould, lozenge frieze, four gargoyles, a crenellated parapet and four pinnacles, one bearing a weathercock. The first stage has a double lancet to the west with hood mould and stops. The second stage has a quatrefoil light to the west. The third stage has four transomed double lancet bell openings, each with hood moulds and stops.

The clerestory comprises four bays with a coped east gable. Each side has four triple lancets, those to the north being more ornate with panel tracery. All have hood moulds and stops.

The north aisle has three bays with three buttresses and three setoffs. The west end contains an early 14th-century Decorated double lancet. The north side has two 14th-century cusped triple lancets with coved reveals and a restored cove and roll-moulded 13th-century doorway with filleted double shafts and studded door. The east end has a 14th-century cusped triple lancet with coved reveal. All openings have hood moulds and mask stops.

The chancel comprises two bays with rainwater heads dated 1912. The north side has a buttress flanked by single late 14th-century segment-headed untraceried triple lancets. The east end has two angle buttresses, a sill band and a coped gable with cross. A restored 15th-century panel-traceried transomed five-light lancet is positioned on the south side, with lower lights blocked. Also on the south side are an altered opening containing a square-headed mullioned casement and a late 14th-century untraceried triple lancet. All these windows have hood moulds and mask stops.

The south aisle has four bays with an angle buttress to the west and a single buttress to the south east. The south side displays an early 14th-century triple lancet with intersecting tracery to the west and an ogee-headed reticulated triple lancet and a triple lancet with flamboyant tracery to the east. The west end has an early 14th-century triple lancet with intersecting tracery. All windows have hood moulds and stops.

The single-bay chapel features ballflower eaves, a gabled angle buttress and a gabled single buttress to the south. The east end contains a 14th-century cusped triple lancet with intersecting tracery, coved reveal and hood mould decorated with ballflower. The south side has an ogee-headed reticulated triple lancet with flat head. The reveal and hood mould also display ballflower decoration.

The south porch has a chamfered plinth, small flanking buttresses and a coped gable bearing the remains of a double sundial. It contains a restored moulded 14th-century doorway with hood mould and octagonal shafts.

The interior has stone benches and a 19th-century common rafter roof with restored moulded wall plate and ridge. A restored 13th-century triple roll-moulded doorway with hood mould, mask stops and an 18th-century studded plank door is present. The tower arch dates to the late 14th century and features double-chamfered and rebated stonework with a hood mould and round responds. It contains the base of a restored 15th-century wooden screen installed in 1970. The west window contains stained glass from 1976.

The north arcade comprises four bays and dates to the 13th century, extended and remodelled in the 14th century. It features round responds with octagonal bases and abaci. The piers have similar shafts and capitals on their east and west sides. The north and south sides of the piers have double coves separated by chamfers. The coved and chamfered arches blend with the pier mouldings. Coved hood moulds lack stops. A similar five-bay south arcade is present. The east bays each contain a Perpendicular-style 20th-century screen. A restored late 14th-century roof features cambered span beams, arch braces, bosses and wall shafts with angels on beast mask corbels. The north aisle central window contains stained glass from around 1935. A Perpendicular-style 20th-century screen at the east end forms the organ chamber. The north east end has a chamfered late 14th-century aumbry. The east end has a squint to the chancel. The south side has a plain opening with plank door to the rood stair. A restored plain roof is present. The south aisle east end has a 20th-century traceried Perpendicular-style screen and a coved 13th-century piscina on corbel. Adjoining this is a double-chamfered and rebated doorway to the chapel. The south side has a doorway with segmental head. An early 20th-century roof features arch braces and shafts on shield corbels. The chapel to the east has a similar roof. The east window, with a remnant of 15th-century stained glass, is flanked to the left by a conical bracket and to the right by a mask corbel. The south side has a cusped 14th-century piscina with moulded corbel, hood mould and mask stops.

The chancel features a double-chamfered and rebated early 14th-century arch with octagonal responds. To its left is a splayed rood stair enclosure with plain doorway above. The chancel north side has a segmental-arched 14th-century tomb recess with double keeled roll moulding to the west and a stained glass window from around 1917 to the east. The east end contains a large ashlar Perpendicular-style gradine and reredos from the 20th century with panelled dado and a stained glass window from around 1930. The south side has a chamfered and moulded early 14th-century piscina to the east and a double-chamfered and rebated archway to the chapel dating to around 1300 with keeled responds bearing nailhead capitals and a hood mould to the west. An early 20th-century roof features moulded tie beams, arch braces, wall shafts on shield corbels and a traceried wall plate.

Fittings include an 11th-century square font with interlaced arcading and four legs. 17th-century items comprise an hourglass holder, chest, small table, two candlesticks made from bedposts and three chairs. Two 18th-century tables and a settle are present, along with 20th-century Perpendicular-style panelled stalls, desks and lectern. Plain benches are also present. A 19th-century octagonal alabaster and ashlar pulpit is included.

Memorials comprise a panelled ashlar chest tomb with quatrefoils containing shields and an armoured effigy, probably of Eustace de Folville, died 1347. A foliated cross slab showing the head and feet of a corpse dates to the 14th century. An incised slab with cadaver dates to around 1485. A 16th-century uninscribed wall monument features a panel flanked by shafts carrying angels with shields and above, a panel of Arms with supporters. A painted alabaster chest tomb with blind arcading containing figures of 11 children, a moulded and inscribed top and two full-size effigies commemorates George and Anne Smith, 1607. A four-poster chest tomb in ashlar and alabaster dating to 1629 and restored in 1850 by R. Smith of London commemorates Francis Smith and wife. The chest features a moulded base and top and empty blind arcading. A decorated crested tester bears a Latin inscription. An 18th-century hatchment, two early 19th-century marble and slate tablets, a brass in crested recess from 1847 and two 20th-century brasses are also present.