St Mary's Church, Broughton Astley

St Mary's Church is a church in Broughton Astley, Leicestershire. It is a Grade II* listed building.^[2]

St Mary's Church, Broughton Astley
Denomination	Church of England
History
Dedication	St Mary
Administration
Diocese	Leicester
Archdeaconry	Loughborough[1]
Parish	Broughton Astley, Leicestershire

History

The church dates to 1220 but the nave walls contain evidence that there was an earlier building dating from c1100.^[3] It consists of a tower with spire, nave, chancel and north aisle.^[4][2]

The church was restored in 1881-82^[5] by W. Bassett-Smith^[2] and the north porch was built in 1897.^[5] The tower used to have coats of arms for the Beauchamp, Astley and Willoughby families but these have now gone. The north aisle has a stained glass window depicting the Blessed Mary holding keys by the font.^[4] In 1900, it was reported that the Quorn hounds had pursued a fox into the church on 4 February where the congregation was in worship. The huntsman oversaw the kill in the churchyard.^[6]

By the entrance to the church is a holy water stoup. There are 8 bells in the tower, the earliest dating from 1637 and the newest from 1972.^[4]

Sir John Grey, the second cousin of Lady Jane Grey, and his mother, Lady Anne Grey, were buried in the chancel but were moved to the cemetery on Frolesworth Road.^[4]