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St Nicholas' church - Knaptoft, Leicestershire
Posted by:
SMacB
N 52° 30.044 W 001° 04.635
30U E 630513 N 5818471
The ruined church of St Nicholas stands in the deserted village of Knaptoft. Church services are still held at the church at 3pm on the third Sunday of June, July, August and September.
Waymark Code: WM105KR
Location: East Midlands, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 03/03/2019
Views: 0
The ruined church of St Nicholas stands in the deserted village of Knaptoft.
"St. Nicholas Church, built in 1279, is nearly all that remains of the medieval village of Knaptoft. The once prosperous settlement, with manor house, gardens, two fish ponds, twenty tenants and a miller, suffered in the 1500s when the lord of the manor turned to sheep farming. The buildings began to decay, though it is believed the church was destroyed by Cromwell's forces after the Battle of Naseby in 1645. Open-air Sunday morning services are held throughout the summer, led by the various local churches—Anglican and others. So, this church, likely destroyed over religious differences, is now a meeting place for varying traditons. The ruins are a scheduled ancient monument."
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"Remains of Church. Probably largely C13. Cobble and rubble stone construction. The ruins were consolidated in the earlier C20, and it seems likely that some re-construction was made at the time, throwing doubt on the authenticity of the surviving lay-out and location of specific details. However, possibly the original plan consisted of nave with north tower and chancel: the walls of this tower survive to a height of c6' and are very thick. There is an outer doorway with continuous moulding and the capitals of missing shafts survive. This opens onto a passage terminating with cylindrical clustered shafts. The length of wall running west of this incorporates 2 stumps of shafts, and 2 deeply moulded arches: these fragments may be re-sited however, since both features would appear to relate to doorways. There is also a stub of walling running north, further west than the tower. No west or east walls survive, and the south wall while it exists has been extensively consolidated. The church was reputedly destroyed by Cromwellian soldiers in the wake of the Battle of Naseby."
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