Come Ye Blessed...
COLSTON BASSETT : CHURCH OF ST MARY
Church Post Code NG12 3FX
Ruined Church
The church of St Mary at Colston Bassett is redundant and in ruins, a new church having been built in 1892. There were seven Belvoir Angel gravestones recorded here in the Heathcote's study.
A beautifully crafted gravestone to one Ann Roc is carved with two Belvoir Angel heads across the top, accompanying heart shapes symbolise love.
The stone reads 'Here lyeth the body of Ann the wife of William Roc She died Jan ye 4th 1751 aged 55 years
Also John Kirkley he died August ye 14th 1752 aged 28 years.
O cruell death who could so cruel be to take the fruit then cut down the tree hard hearted death thou (unreadable) A kind and loving wife and mother dear.
Tho long he lay it was all for his gain that he a heavenly kingdom might obtain with conscience pure I hope to see his face and rise again to glorifie his grace.
A heartbreaking gravestone really brings home how hard a life these people had! The small gravestone above, a child's gravestone, is to one Mary Summer. It reads 'Here lies the body of Mary ye daughter of Thomas Summer by Anne his wife who died July 28 1710 aged 10 years'.
If this wasn't sad enough, inscription on the reverse indicates tragedy for this family. Inscribed are the names of five children who all died in their infancy. Eliz died August 24 1696 Tho died Aug 25 1696 Ann died Nov 22 1697 John died Oct 28 1698 John died Jan 15 1702.
The stone has sunk in to the ground and a couple of lines of test are partially obscured. The first time starts off by saying 'dear parents do not grieve for me...' the rest has sunk below ground level but I would imagine that it continued by saying that she would be spending eternity safe in heaven!
Next to the gravestone for their children is the final resting place for the parents.
The stone reads 'Here lies the body of Thomas Summer who departed this life Nov ye 15 1727 in the 62 year of his age. Here lieth the body of Ann (different spelling of her name) ye wife of Thomas Summer who departed this life December 21 1736 aged 67 years.
Inscribed at the bottom, partially sunk in to the earth is 'Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord for they rest from their labours'.
Still proclaiming their faith in God despite all that they had gone through!
Two gravestones to the Church family sit side by side. More basic in style with just the details of the deceased and their passing. No inscriptions at the bottom, just a Christian cross under the angel, which is very unusual on these type of graves and I assume a request from that family getting on for 300 years ago.
The first reads 'Here lies the body of Charles Church Junior he departed this life November 30 in the 35th year of his age'. The second reads ' Here lies the body of Mary the wife of Thomas Church she departed this life June the 18th 1757 aged 38 years'.
Close by, a Vale of Belvoir Angel gravestone to John Spencer is of the very highest quality. This is a double angel gravestone, with minute differences between the two Angels; 'Be Ye Also Ready' carved between the two.
The top lines are carved in relief, the area around a letter is carved away, leaving the letter itself standing proud of the stone. A great skill!
It reads 'Here lies the body of John Spencer He died Jun the 30 1730 aged 40 years
Afflictions for a long time I bore phisitions were in vain but death gave ease as God did please to cure me of my pain.
Script at the bottom has partially sunk in to the ground, but it reads 'He loved peace and quietness who here at your feet lies His reward in eternal bliss above the starry slies.
The final of the seven Vale Of Belvoir Angel gravestones to be found here, leans over at an angle, with the inscription at the bottom of the stone now sunk in to the ground. Hard therefore to photograph.
This is another double angel gravestone, with heart symbolism between the two.
It reads 'Here lyeth the body of John Cam Senior who died February 6th 1750 ages 47 years. Also John son of John and Sarah died December 1756.
SOME NOTES FROM MY VISIT
It was a Saturday afternoon in the summer 2021; a day of contrasting weather with bright sunshine for most of the day, but threatening skies leading to several heavy downpours. We were half way through a day out in search of Belvoir Angels, having started out in Leicestershire and crossed over in to South East Nottinghamshire. We were half way through what turned in to a 15 church crawl when we arrived at the church of St Mary at Colston Bassett.
This pleasant village has two churches, with the one that we were interested in being the church of St Mary; which is now in ruins, which can be found on high ground to the north of the village. The church is isolated from the rest of the village and the information board in the church grounds suggests that this might be due to the rest of the village relocating after the Black Death of 1349.
The church of St Mary dates back to the 12th century, but it is thought that an earlier Saxon church stood on this site. The church consisted of west tower, nave with north and south aisles, south porch, north and south transepts and chancel.
Of the ruins that survive today, the oldest part is the 12th century north arcade. The south arcade, tower arch and chancel all date from the 14th century with the upper stage of the tower being 15th century.
The population of the village dwindled and the church fell in to disrepair, with things being so bad structurally that during the mid 18th century the north aisle, north transept and south porch were all demolished.
In 1892 the interior fixture and fittings were removed and it was instructed that the roof be taken off to make is ruinous. Part of the south aisle collapsed when the roof was removed. At this point in time the newly build church of St John the Divine, central in the village, was opened for worship.
The national church bell database notes that four of the bells hanging at St John across the village came from St Mary. They note that these four were all cast by Nottingham founders with two from Henry II Oldfied, dated 1606 and 1608, one undated from the Seliok family and one from Thomas I Hedderly in 1755. This latter bell made me raise an eyebrow as the date for this is after the date of demolition of much of the north of this church when it was already obviously struggling!
We approached the church from the north with the outlines of the bricked in north arcade already catching the eye, which also included a bricked in doorway against the north wall of the tower. The west tower itself is substantial, and very much still intact; battlemented with crocketed pinnacles with an intricately carved frieze running across the top. Gargoyles of a very high quality still doing their duty, many years after the church itself was retired, including one mythical beast who is holding two persons in its huge talons.
Moving inside and looking at the east wall of the tower there are the marks of two rooflines, with one marking the level of the roof when it was taken down in 1892 and the other marking the previous roofline before the clerestory was added. A circular pier with beautifully carved scalloped capital can be seen bricked in where the north arcade would have been. The south transept would have been an impressive structure; the east end is a delightful patchwork of various types of stone, with east window filled in.
This is a very interesting ruin and there is enough left to know that this would have been an impressive church in its day!
The church grounds are of great interest with the Belvoir Angel gravestones and several others all having Grade II listings. It is recorded that the village suffered with an outbreak of the plague in 1606, with 83 plague victims buried in the church grounds here; with there being no memorials for these.
The Belvoir Angels are already listed above but we also see much other fine work carved in slate, with several of the Grade II Listed stones carved by Wood of Bingham. Amongst the other stones here we see the repeated message of the mortality of Man; driving home the message the all will die, including yourself, so live a good Christian life, trust in God and do not be caught short when your own time comes. In those days of low life expectancy, it might be later than you think so take heed!
One stone has the human skull to one side, with crossed bones beneath with an Ouroboros, a serpent with its tail in its mouth which symbolises eternity, wrapped around a banner which reads ‘Life how short eternity how long’. Close by, a woman leans against a cross and anchor; each of these being a symbol of Christian faith. She also holds a banner this one reading ‘I know that my redeemer liveth’. The message is clear, as reads further script on another stone ‘thou too must join the dead’. Also of interest is a stone which includes a detailed carving of the crucifixion. Such craftsmanship!
While I was here, photographing the Belvoir Angels, a lady walking her dog came over. The lady asked what I was taking photographs of; when I told her she said, 'I thought so, what ARE these?', she had seen them scattered around in church grounds close to where she lives.
As we were chatting, her husband came over, along with two other people, and we spent around 20 minutes talking about these, the style of the stones and the symbols and what they represent. There have been several occasions when people have seen me looking at these stones and have asked the question. I honestly feel that there is a great deal of interest out there. People see these gravestones and can appreciate them and know that they are a little special.
The party of four headed back towards the main road and it was really pleasing to see one of the men touch the lettering on one of the stones and say to his friends 'look, this one is carved in relief!'
An interesting ruin and for those visiting the area, the church of John the Divine, which replaced St Mary as the parish church, was open to visitors when I was there.