Church Of St Michael And All Angels

This parish church contains fabric from eight centuries, spanning from the 8th century through to the early 16th century, with 19th-century restorations. The building is constructed of ashlar, squared and coursed limestone rubble with lead roofs, battlemented parapets and stepped buttresses throughout. It comprises a western tower, clerestoried nave with aisles, chancel, south porch and vestry.

The Tower

The four-stage early 16th-century ashlar tower has stepped clasping corner buttresses, a frieze of shields in quatrefoils beneath the parapet, and grotesque and human head chutes. The belfry stage features tall two-light louvred openings with cusped transoms and heads, quatrefoils above, rounded heads and hood moulds. The west doorway retains a 13th-century base but was recut in the 16th century with a deeply recessed four-centred arch set within a heavily moulded rectangular surround with quatrefoils in the spandrels. Above this is a large five-light four-centred arched window with panel tracery. Immediately below the string course to the third stage is the matrix of a brass (now inside the church) depicting St Thomas of Canterbury. The second stage has a three-light window with a shallow four-centred head and hood mould.

North Aisle

The north aisle west window is 15th-century, of three lights with cusped heads. In the north wall are three tall two-light windows with cusping below the transoms and ogee heads to the lights, with quatrefoils above, plus a similar blocked light in the east wall. The two westernmost windows are set in full-height openings. The blocked north doorway has a deeply moulded four-centred surround. West of the door, beneath the parapet, is a small blocked 14th-century niche decorated with a small cat's head and fleurons. The two pointed north windows of the chancel are blocked.

East End and Vestry

The east window is 19th-century within a 15th-century opening, of five lights with panel tracery. The 19th-century vestry has a three-light east window and two doorways to the south.

South Aisle and Porch

The south aisle and porch have ornate friezes of quatrefoils and lozenges. In the south wall are two three-light 14th-century windows, and in the east wall a single window with cusped ogee heads to the lights and pointed surrounds. West of the porch is a two-light window, also with ogee heads and a rectangular surround. The 14th-century gabled porch has floriated buttresses and a pointed outer arch with octagonal responds and capitals bearing shields to either side. Above is a nodding ogee. The early 13th-century pointed inner doorway has angle shafts with foliate capitals and a heavily moulded head with dog-tooth ornament.

Interior Architecture

The early 13th-century four-bay nave arcades have quatrefoil piers with slender collared shafts to the angles, annular capitals and heavily moulded arches. The tall early 16th-century tower arch has circular responds with tall facetted splayed bases, octagonal capitals and a double-chamfered arch.

In the south aisle at the west end is an 8th-century relief-carved foliate roundel resting on a contemporary projecting plain string course. This feature was cut by the insertion of the early 13th-century nave arcade and appears to be in situ. At the east end of the aisle at the same level is a similar roundel and string course, suggesting that there was originally an entire scheme of external decoration to the Anglo-Saxon nave.

The nave roof is early 16th-century with moulded arch-braced cambered ties supported by octagonal embattled corbels. Although restored, the roof retains much original timber and some contemporary angel supporters. The aisle roofs are also early 16th-century and have moulded principals and carved bosses.

The early 13th-century chancel arch has rounded responds and capitals with two orders of quirked roll moulding to the head, possibly recut in 1808. In the chancel side walls are two early 16th-century four-centred arched doorways with moulded surrounds. The 15th-century chancel roof has arch-braced cambered ties, and to the spandrels and ridge are pierced friezes of triskeles and trefoil-headed panels.

In the north aisle is the west doorway of a 12th-century chapel of ease built at Scottlethorpe by the Huntingfield family; it was re-erected here in 1967. The doorway has paired angle shafts with simple cushion capitals and two orders of roll moulding. On the keystone of the inner order is a crudely carved face. The tympanum has a sunk panel bearing lightly incised zigzag and geometric figures.

Fittings

The church contains a complete set of early 16th-century pews, restored in the 19th century, having pierced quatrefoils to the back and side panels and carved cusped blank arches to the ends with six carved poppy heads. At the east end of the nave are an 18th-century Gothic pulpit, reader's desk, and Ancaster family pews to north and south, having pierced trefoils and quatrefoils and cusped blank arches to the panels. Above the chancel arch is a handsome carved alabaster set of the Royal Arms, circa 1808.

The 12th-century circular font has engaged shafts with scrolled capitals to the sides, joined by paired arches, with foliage decorating the upper parts. At the west end of the nave is an 8th-century morticed base of an Anglo-Saxon cross shaft of tapering rectangular shape. The sides are ornamented with tight interlace and on one front is a seated female figure beneath a panel containing interlacing foliage.

There is 19th-century stained glass in the north aisle by Baillie and Mayer, 1865. A miniature brass, originally on the external west face of the tower and now reset on the west wall of the chancel, depicts a mitred bishop reputedly St Thomas of Canterbury.

Monuments

In the tower are two pairs of 14th-century effigies: one of a civilian and his wife, much abraded; the other of a knight with chain and plate armour and close-fitting helm. The female figure has a nodding ogee canopy with crockets and a figure of the Virgin, now supported on a 15th-century tomb chest with shields to the side panels. There are also seven white marble monuments to members of the Heathcote family, removed from the church at Normanton in Rutland in 1972.

At the east end of the north aisle is a large wall monument to Robert Bertie, First Earl of Lindsey, killed at the Battle of Edgehill in 1642, and his son Montague. The two memorial tablets have moulded base and cornice and are surmounted by the cartouche of arms and the Ancaster cannon. To the sides are military trophies in high relief and at the base, arms, anchors and helms. Also present is a wall monument to Richard Bertie, died 1686, consisting of a large swagged and scrolled cartouche surmounted by an urn and cornucopia and bearing two scrolled inscription panels, a shield of arms with palms supported by two putti. On the north wall are three 20th-century wall monuments to members of the Willoughby family in early 18th-century style of coloured marble.

In the chancel is a huge marble monument by Scheemakers and H. Cheere to Robert Bertie, First Duke of Ancaster, died 1723, in the form of a classical aedicule with Corinthian capitals supporting an open dentillated pediment with garland, urns and putti. Before the aedicule a rounded pedestal supports a marble image of the deceased attired as a Roman general. A monument to Peregrine, Second Duke of Ancaster, died 1741, by Roubiliac, has a flat obelisk before which stands a life-sized carving of the deceased leaning on an urn, in Roman dress, with a putto holding a medallion of the Duchess Jane.

On the south side is a monument to the Third Duke of Ancaster, died 1778, and Fourth Duke, died 1779, by Charles Harris of London. It has a pointed back panel of black marble before which is a carving of the deceased seated in ducal robes, holding a cameo of the Duchess; beside him stands the Fourth Duke in Roman dress. The figures are flanked by urns. The base is carved with flutes and paterae and to the centre are bronze plates bearing the memorial inscription.

Above the north door is a semi-circular headed wall plaque with acanthus corbels to the Honourable Frederick Burrell, died 1819, depicting the deceased as a babe being borne to Heaven by angels against a background of palm trees. Nearby a freestanding square marble shaft bears a bust of Peter Burrell, the First Lord Gwydyr, died 1820, by Nollekens.

Finally, there is a large semi-circular headed sideboard tomb supporting a black sarcophagus with gadrooned top and lion's feet, erected 1738, commemorating seven members of the Bertie family. The rear has a marble surround with egg-and-dart moulding and scrolled imposts with cartouche of arms at the top. Within are seven classical busts supported on moulded corbels.