St Peter, Ashby cum Fenby

Introduction

The photograph on this page of St Peter, Ashby cum Fenby by Dave Hitchborne as part of the Geograph project.

The Geograph project started in 2005 with the aim of publishing, organising and preserving representative images for every square kilometre of Great Britain, Ireland and the Isle of Man.

There are currently over 7.5m images from over 14,400 individuals and you can help contribute to the project by visiting https://www.geograph.org.uk

St Peter, Ashby cum Fenby

Image: © Dave Hitchborne Taken: 3 Jun 2004

The unbuttressed Early English tower of the church of St Peter was restored in 1959 at a cost of £2,500. The oldest part of the church is the south wall of the nave with its plain Norman doorway. The nave arcade with its three rounded arches was built at the close of the Norman period, but its pointed arch is 14th-century. The chancel is chiefly 14th-century work but the presence of Tudor brickwork shows some reconstruction. The north aisle has this same brickwork and this may all have been done in conjunction with the building of the Wray Almshouses opposite the church. These were founded about the end of the reign of Queen Elizabeth by Lady Francis Wray. The Mediaeval rood screen was repositioned across the tower arch and near it is a collection box set in a Norman shaft piscina. The piscina would at one time have stood in the sanctuary. The oak reredos, in the form of a war memorial, was erected in 1923 by the Reverend H. S. Vlasko Turner, Rector of Ashby 1893-1925. The two bells nearby were taken down during the restoration of the tower in 1959. The church has three fine memorials, one of which lies in the porch under the tower. This is the oldest and is the figure of an unknown knight of about 1300, dressed in chain mail and bearing a sword and shield. In the aisle is another of Sir William Wray and his Lady Francis, who was descended from the Dukes of Buckingham, and their two children. A third monument is of Susanna Drury the sister of Lady Francis, reclining on a marble table supported by greyhounds and with wreaths and cherubs adorning the arch above.

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Image Location

coordinates on a map icon
Latitude
53.489874
Longitude
-0.1114