The Parish Church
of
St Andrew's
Aylestone
Leicester

(Early 13th Century)

click to see and use the left-hand menu

A more full history can now be seen at the excellent
St Andrews Aylestone website:
http://www.aylestone-parish.org.uk/
There's a marvellous virtual tour of the church itself. Recommended !

Seen from the outside, the church presents a homogeneous appearance.

The Tower, with its single lancets below, and paired lancets under a super-arch in the bell-openings, is early 13th century. The Spire could well be of the same build and is chiefly remarkable for the 'continental broaches' which provide the octagonal pyramid with a square base. The rest of the church looks early 14th century, having mostly three-light windows with tracery of the intersected type. The two most obvious exceptions, the chancel East Window and the window next to the main South Door, are Victorian: an engraving of 1791 shows the south side of the church with intersected tracery throughout.

Standing further back, one can see that the nave acquired a clerestory and flatter roof in the 15th century; the old roof line can be seen against both chancel and tower.

Coming inside again, the visitor will observe a difference between the two arcades. The north, or far one, has the round columns typical of the first half of the 13th century; so there must have been a North Aisle before the present one was built. The South Arcade, with its tall angular bases, is of the Perpendicular style, so must have replaced the original arcade of that aisle.

Looking up from within the nave, one can see where the walls were heightened when the clerestory was added in the 15th century - and note the roof of the same date with its carved bosses. Between the limestone of the clerestory and the arches of the two arcades can be seen what little remains of the masonry of the original nave. One can perhaps detect an earlier heightening but there are no features which would give an indication of date.

To summarise, the Nave is of uncertain date; the Tower and North Aisle were added in the early c.13th; a new North Aisle, South Aisle and Chancel in the early c.14th; and the Clerestory in the c.15th

Visitors who like an architectural puzzle should now go out again and walk round to the north side of the Tower. Above the Choir Vestry of 1936 they will see a blocked arch in the Tower, which internal inspection would show to be of c.13th form. Above this is a drip moulding, which continues down the west wall of the North Aisle. Clearly, there was a room here, communicating with the Tower, and this is confirmed by the way the plinth of the West Wall of the aisle stops short under the drip moulding, though this is now hidden by the Vestry. The usual explanation is that this room was formed from the extreme west end of the old aisle when the new one was built in the c.14th, though why it should have been left is unclear.

The real puzzle is that, set in the wall blocking that tower arch (though now obscured by the Vestry) is a small window with a triangular head, which both in its shape and in the precise arrangement of the stones that comprise it shows the characteristics of Anglo-Saxon work and of no later period. Why should such a window have been re-used there? Indeed, where it could have come from is unclear: the West Window of the aisle shows by the ogee heads to its lights that it is later that the other c.14th work in the church and by its position that this North-West room was still there when it was built, so the only part of the church standing then and not now was the North-West room itself. Was the old North Aisle itself Anglo-Saxon in origin or is the window Elizabethan and its Anglo-Saxon appearance purely fortuitous?

Immediately to the left on re-entering with be found the font, c13th, though with a restored base. Behind it are plaques from the old lead of the roof, recording the churchwardens responsible for its repair at various times. To their right is a cast, taken from a stone now in the Jewry Wall museum, and which may have formed part of a preaching cross here before the first church was built.

Behind the bookshelves opposite is a stone screen, probably of the c.16th, with simple stone benches on its far side. This screen originally ran all round the South Aisle, which has in the past been known as the Manners or Vernon chapel, after the Lords of the manor, and also as the Glen Aisle after the parish of Glen Parva, which for some centuries used St Andrew's as its parish church. A painted panel with the Manners crest still hangs at the east end of the aisle.

In the Nave, the Pulpit dates from 1894 in its present form but may incorporate earlier work; its bookrest was added about 1932 by H.Taylor. A wooden screen here separated the Chancel from the Nave until it was taken down in 1832. Some of the tracery from the screen has been re-used in the fronts of the pews that face each other across the Nave at this point; their outer bench ends are also old and bear the arms of the Vernon family. The rector's stall also incorporates woodwork of high quality.

The East Window above the main alter and portraying the Ascension was designed by Harry A. Payne in 1930 and still shows Pre-Raphaelite influence. The Communion Rail, of about the same date, is again by H. Taylor. To the left is the church's only brass, to William Heathcote, who was rector from 1560 to 1595. Above the Vestry door is the best of the c.18th monuments, to Gustavus Hawes, who was rector from 1694 to his death in 1715/16*; he had been up at Trinity College, Cambridge, in the final years of the Commonwealth and his epitaph describes how he had attended services there "according to the most excellent liturgy of the Anglican church, not without danger to his head". One suspects that by the late 1650's the danger was largely imaginary.

A reminder of yet earlier liturgy is to be found on the opposite wall within the Sanctuary, namely the Sedilia or seats for the priest, deacon and sub-deacon officiating at the Mass. From their use of the ogee arches, they appear to have been added after the Chancel was completed. Certainly they have been inexpertly rebuilt at some time, which has resulted in their present skew appearance.

Back towards the Choir Stalls is the old chest, provided with three locks as was the custom. The key to one lock was held by the rector, those to the other two by the two churchwardens. Thus all three had to be present in order for valuables such as church plate or the registers to be removed.

NOTES:
this history and details are taken from
the pamphlet notes
by R.C.Wheeler in November 1983

See the new
Aylestone St Andrews own website.
for much more information about the
church, photos of the interior,
a virtual tour, etc.
It's brilliant !

At the time this site was put onto the Web, June 30th, 2000, there appeared to be no other site containing the history of Aylestone St Andrews. In light of the phenomenal amount of information about other churches now on the Web, we thought it timely to attempt put this right. The photos now shown are mine, although the first one we used was taken (borrowed !?!) from a general site of Leicester churches.

There is now the comprehensive and informative new site run by Aylestone Parish itself, at the address above. We'd like to concentrate on general apsects Aylestone village, of which the church is an intregal part. We do not want to duplicate what the church site itself does, merely to link to them and co-operate in spreading information about Aylestone's history.

If anyone has any other picture/s, or information to add about the village itself, we would be very pleased to hear from them. If anyone living in Aylestone would like to take this page on, and make it even better, please get in touch. I would gladly relinquish this page . . I'm so busy elsewhere now. And it needs someone that can do it justice, and make more pages, links, etc, than I can. Go on, have a go . . you can't do worse than me!

In the meantime, for those of you who were once part of St Andrews parish, were baptised or married there (as we were), or have relatives buried there, we hope our page will bring quiet enjoyment, and refresh many memories. Do go on to visit the church site itself; there's a photo of the font in which you were very likely christened.
For those of you who still live here . . . you lucky people !!
Aylestone is a lovely village, and despite modern times, still has much to commend it. We hope that people feel that this page helped to somewhat redress what was an imbalance . . up to now. Well, Wigston and Blaby can't have it all their own way, can they !

For those of you who have recently, or are about to, get married in St Andrew's, we both send our good wishes; it is over thirty years for us now, and all I can say is . . . it gets bettererer and bettererer !!

There is now a New Page of some 10 or so images
around Aylestone village.

St Andrew's today, full addresses,
Rector, administative details, etc.

AYLESTONE St. Andrew (13th c),
Old Church Street, Aylestone

Patron:
The Bishop of Leicester

Rector:
Rev Dave Appleby
The Rectory, Old Church Street, Aylestone,
Leicester LE2 8ND
tel 0116-299 7624 (Fax) 0116 2997653 ::
e-mail: arace@leicester.anglican.org

More details are now available on
St Andrews own website
which we're very happy to promote here.

The 6th Leicester Scout Troop
can by contacted at:
Mr M Parsley .. Tel.: 0116 283 2924 Email: scouts@clips1.demon.co.uk



In the meantime, Leicestershire Scouts takes you
to the wider county scene of Scouting.