I have probably said before that every so often I will be passing a church and pop in and have a look around. Since most of the churches in the area have a open door policy in Rutland that is easy to do. Some time ago in the blog I talked of doing an occasional post on the churches I visit and for some reason never got round to it. This is the forsy of those posts. The church in this post was the one I was going to start with. It is the church of Michael's and All Angels in Edmondthorpe and previous featured in the post The Place that Time Forgot.
Edmondthorpe is a small village in Leicestershire near the Rutland boarder. It has a population of around eighty people. Having such a small population the congregation was so small that the church in the village was no longer needed and so it fell to the Churches Conservation Trust to preserve the church for future generations. As such the church is open daily for people just to pop in and look around. It is a real gem and looks like time has forgotten it and it sort stuck in a time warp. As I said in a pervious post it would make an idea film location because it is so unspoilt.
St Michael's and All Angels Church is impressive medieval church, which consists of battlemented tower to the west, a nave with a clerestory, north and south aisles, north and south porches, and a chancel. The main fabric of the church dates from thirtieth century, aisles were added a century later, and in the fifteenth century a clerestory was added to increase the hight of the nave. The church basically reminded untouched for six centuries until the ninth century when the church was restored and a new clock was added. In the late nineteen sixties the church became a grade one listed building and as such it has been recognised as a building of exceptional interest.
The church is surprisingly light and airy even on a dullish day, probably because it lacks the large stain glass windows found in may churches in England combined with the light coloured render that was applied in Victorian times. This rendering process sometimes covered older art work depicting bible stories, some believe that the reason for the wall paintings were to tell the stories to people that couldn't read.
There are a number of monuments inside the church the most notable being the grave of 'Grave and Religious Sir Roger Smith Knight" who died in 1665. The main part of the marble monument is on three levels with Sir Roger Smith on the top level and underneath him his two wives, Jane Heron and Anne Goodman. It is said that Anne Goodman was a witch and if you look carefully are wrist you will notice a red mark which was said was a wound that received while in cat of course it could be seam of iron in the stone but why ruin a good story. Later were added waist height busts of his son and grandson and iron railings to protect the monument.
Like many churches of the time the Victorians made substantial contributions to the inside of the church during it's restoration these include a octagonal pulpit, a desk, the stalls, benches, brass lectern as well as stoves for heating.
If you are passing Edmondthorpe it is well worth stopping to have a look around St Michael's and All Angels. It is a lovely church and that feeling that time has forgot it gives it a certain charm and like a lot of churches in the area it is very atmospheric and very beautiful in it own right. Given the size of the communities that these churches supported they are a testament to the faith of those that built such monuments that formed the centre of village life so many centuries ago.
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