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Monument Types

• CHURCH (Early Medieval to Modern - 1101 AD to 2050 AD)

Summary

Listed in Matriculus of 1220, the lower stage of the west tower is thought to be Norman. It has an Early English style chancel which was rebuilt in 1848-9. The rest is Decorated except for the Perpendicular clerestory and Late Perpendicular north chapel.

Additional Information

Listed building description:
Parish church. C12, C13, C14, C15. North aisle rebuilt c.1820. Restored and chancel rebuilt by H.I. Stevens, 1848. Coursed and squared ironstone rubble with ashlar dressings and lead and slate gabled roof. Chamfered plinths, moulded string course, coved eaves, and coped gables. West tower with spire, nave with clerestory, north aisle and chapel, chancel, south aisle, south transept with aisle. 3 stage west tower has moulded plinth and string courses, eaves band with masks, frieze of quatrefoils, 4 gargoyles, and crenellated parapet with 4 pinnacles and setback octagonal spire with 2 tiers of lucarnes, the lower tier with double lancets. Above, finial and weathercock. First stage has to west, 2 C19 diagonal buttresses, and ogee doorway. Above it, an ogee double lancet. Above, single square lights to south and west, and C12 round-headed window to north. Second stage has to west, clock. Third stage has four late C14 cusped double lancet bell openings, with hood moulds.
Clerestory, 3 bays, has moulded parapet and to north, 3 restored triple plain lancets with flat heads and hood moulds. South side has similar lancets, that to east covered by the transept roof. North aisle and chapel, 4 bays, has single diagonal and 4 intermediate buttresses. West end has C19 chamfered light. North side has to east C15 double lancet with panel tracery and flat head. To west two C14 Decorated triple lancets and beyond them a C14 blocked doorway. Beyond again, a C19 Decorated double lancet. All these openings have hood moulds and stops. East end has late C15 triple lancet with panel tracery and round head with hood mould. Chancel, 2 bays, has chamfered plinth and sill band. East end has 2 diagonal gabled buttresses and C19 graduated triple lancet. South side has to west a shouldered doorway and to east, a double lancet. Windows have hood moulds. South aisle, 2 bays, has diagonal buttress to west. West end has restored early C14 triple lancet with intersecting tracery. South side has to west, late C15 depressed ogee double lancet with flat head. To its right, C19 moulded pointed doorway. Openings have hood moulds with mask stops. South transept and aisle have to south 2 buttresses and to east, a diagonal buttress. Aisle south end has restored C14 Decorated triple lancet. Transept south gable has restored C14 4 light lancet with flamboyant tracery. Transept east side has C14 ogee triple lancet with flat head. Openings have hood moulds, mainly with mask stops. Restored tower arch, C14, double chamfered and rebated, has octagonal responds, hood mould and C20 panelled glazed screen. Tower chamber has to north and south a blocked C12 round headed window. North arcade, mid C14, 3 bays, has octagonal piers and responds, double chamfered and rebated arches, and hood moulds with beast and mask stops. Similar south arcade, restored, with moulded abaci. Low pitched C19 roof with arch braces, bosses and corbels. North aisle north side has stained glass windows, 1896 and 1927. East end has chamfered archway into chapel. Roof restored c.1820, with arched tie beams and corbels. Chapel east window is flanked by single C14 ogee crocketted niches. Restored C15 roof with arched tie beams and bosses. Chancel has C14 double chamfered and rebated arch with imposts, hood mould and mask stops. North side has to west, a similar archway with mask corbels. To its right, an aumbry. East window has C19 patterned stained glass. C19 scissor braced common rafter roof. South aisle has south west window with stained glass, 1970, and plain lean-to roof. South transept has 2 bay arcade with cruciform pier with 4 filleted shafts, corbel impost to west, and keeled respond to east. Arches double chamfered and rebated. East window has stained glass by Clayton & Bell, 1879. Common rafter roof, C19. Aisle south window has late C19 stained glass. Moulded C19 lean-to roof. Fittings, mid C19, include octagonal font, brass lectern, traceried benches, and stalls with poppyheads and figure carvings. 2 early C19 benefactions boards. C17 chest and carved box with turned legs. Mid C20 octagonal oak linenfold pulpit and Perpendicular style traceried oak screen. Fragment of roof lead dated 1733. Monuments include semi-circular marble tablet to Nicholas Sharpe, 1614. Marble and slate obelisk tablet, 1840. Bronze war memorial tablets c.1919 and c.1945.

Listed in the Matriculus of 1220. (RPJ Dec 86)

Project Gargoyle survey work in 2010 recorded a good selection of grotesque human and monstrous heads from 1290 to 1350 in the nave arcade springers, stylised heads on hood stops, a frieze, faces and gargoyles on tower circa 1350, wooden roof bosses of circa 1450.

<1> Pevsner N, 1984, The Buildings of England Leicestershire and Rutland, p155 (Bibliographic reference). SLE4.

"The lower stage of the W tower may be Norman, see one N and one S window, visible internally. The tower is of ironstone with some modern limestone facing. The top is Dec: battlements, recessed spire with two tiers of lucarnes. Early English style chancel rebuilt at the 1848-9 restoration by H I Stevens of Derby. The rest Decorated, except for the Perpendicular clerestory and late Perpendicular N chapel with its good transomed E window, flanked inside by two tall niches for images. The most remarkable thing about the church is its long, glorious late Decorated S transept with a W aisle. Decorated S aisle (see especially the renewed doorway), humbler Decorated N aisle. The four-light S window, faithfully renewed, has highly flamboyant tracery, the transept E window the interesting design of a straight top and round-arched lights with, below these top arches, for each light two ogee arches one on top of the other. The nave arcades are of a standard design, but the S transept arcade has a pier with a section of four filleted shafts and four deep hollows between ridges in the diagonals. The roof of the transept is determined by the height of the S window and cuts into one of the Perpendicular clerestory windows. The transept roof, which must have been made hipped when the clerestory was put in, changed to a high-pitched one in 1849. - STAINED GLASS. Transfiguration in the S transept by Clayton & Bell, 1879."

<2> Nichols J, The History and Antiquities of Leicestershire, Vol 3 pt 1 (1800), p262 (Bibliographic reference). SLE7.

Nichols (1800) mentions, "A room, or rather a place of rubbish, at the west end, on the north side of the tower (anciently a school, and occasionally used for a vestry)".

<3> 2016, National Record of the Historic Environment (NRHE) accessioning (Website). SLE4981.

SUMMARY: "Parish church. 12th-15th century. North aisle rebuilt circa 1820. Restored and chancel rebuilt by H. I. Stevens, 1848. Coursed and squared ironstone rubble with ashlar dressings and lead and slate gabled roof. Chamferred plinths, moulded string course, coved eaves, coped gables. West tower with spire, nave with clerestory, north aisle and chapel, chancel, south aisle."
URL: 'https://nrhe-to-her.esdm.co.uk/NRHE/RecordDetail.aspx?pageid=8&recordid=305857', accessioned 19/07/2016.

<4> 2020, Heritage at Risk: Midlands Register 2020, p24 (Bibliographic reference). SLE7427.

On Heritage at Risk Register 2020: condition POOR; priority category D(NEW ENTRY); owner type RELIGIOUS ORGANISATION
"Parish church. C12, C13, C14, C15. North aisle rebuilt c.1820. Restored and chancel rebuilt by H. I. Stevens, 1848. Coursed and squared ironstone rubble with ashlar dressings. A number of roof coverings are at the end of their serviceable life and require renewal. Drainage is an issue and appears to be contributing to damp within the church on the north side. A programme of stonework repointing and repair to the tower and nave walling is required. The PCC is keen to effect repairs and have sought permissions to address some of the roofs. Fundraising is proving difficult and is on-going."

<5> 2022, Heritage at Risk: Midlands Register 2022, p22 (Bibliographic reference). SLE7076.

On Heritage at Risk Register 2022: condition POOR; priority category F(F); owner type RELIGIOUS ORGANISATION
"...Recipient of an Historic England Covid 19 Emergency Heritage at Risk Response Fund grant in 2020 to re-roof the baptistry. These works were completed in 2021."

Sources

Associated Finds

None recorded

Designations

• Listed Building (I) 1360878: CHURCH OF ST. THOMAS OF CANTERBURY
• Conservation Area: Frisby on the Wreake

Associated Images

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