St Botolph's Church, Shepshed is the

Church of England Parish Church A parish church in the Church of England is the church which acts as the religious centre for the people within each Church of England parish (the smallest and most basic Church of England administrative unit; since the 19th century sometimes ca ...

Shepshed Shepshed (often known until 1888 as ''Sheepshed'', also ''Sheepshead'' – a name derived from the village being heavily involved in the wool industry) is a town in Leicestershire, England with a population of 13,505 at the 2011 census. It is ...

, Leicestershire.

Background

It is the most westerly church dedicated to

St Botolph Botolph of Thorney (also called Botolph, Botulph or Botulf; later known as Saint Botolph; died around 680) was an English abbot and saint. He is regarded as the patron saint of boundaries, and by extension, of trade and travel, as well as vari ...

and was founded in the 11th century. It is a

Grade I listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Ire ...

building. The church sits on top of the highest point in Shepshed, probably on the site of an ancient pre-Christian site of worship. The oldest surviving part of the church, the west tower and spire, dates from the 13th century. The nave, with clerestory and aisles, and chancel are all 15th-century. It is constructed mainly from Charnwood

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained ( phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies und ...

with

Swithland Swithland is a linear village in the Charnwood borough of Leicestershire, England. The civil parish population was put at 230 in 2004 and 217 in the 2011 census. It is in the old Charnwood Forest, between Cropston, Woodhouse and Woodhous ...

slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic ro ...

roofing. The south transept with vestry by Albert Herbert. The pulpit is by

R. Norman Shaw Richard Norman Shaw RA (7 May 1831 – 17 November 1912), also known as Norman Shaw, was a British architect who worked from the 1870s to the 1900s, known for his country houses and for commercial buildings. He is considered to be among the g ...

Bells

The church has a ring of bells for

bell ringing Campanology () is the scientific and musical study of bells. It encompasses the technology of bells – how they are founded, tuned and rung – as well as the history, methods, and traditions of bellringing as an art. It is common to collect t ...

. The present set of bells were all cast in 1948 at the nearby

Taylor's Bell Foundry John Taylor Bell Foundry (Loughborough) Limited, trading as John Taylor & Co and commonly known as Taylor's Bell Foundry, Taylor's of Loughborough, or simply Taylor's, is the world's largest working bell foundry. It is located in Loughborough ...

Loughborough Loughborough ( ) is a market town in the Charnwood borough of Leicestershire, England, the seat of Charnwood Borough Council and Loughborough University. At the 2011 census the town's built-up area had a population of 59,932 , the second lar ...

Organ

The church has a two manual pipe organ by Henry Willis, located in an organ loft to the east of the nave. A specification of the organ can be found on th
National Pipe Organ Register

References

External links

details of bells
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shepshed, St Botolph's Church Church of England church buildings in Leicestershire Grade I listed churches in Leicestershire Anglo-Catholic church buildings in Leicestershire St Botolph's Church