Come Ye Blessed...
COTTESMORE, RUTLAND. CHURCH OF ST NICHOLAS
Church Post Code LE15 7DH.
Church Open to Visitors
The two Vale of Belvoir Angel headstones here were not included in the Heathcote's 1970's study. These type of headstones are very rare in Rutland, with the only other recorded being in Ashwell. These are to members of the Laxton family, with Thomas passing away in 1703 and William in 1708.
The gravestone to William Laxton dates from 1708, and the age of death is left blank. A message to the onlooker, carved across the top says reads 'Remember Thy End'
This stone reads 'William Laxton died ye day of June 24 1708 in the (blank) year of his age'
An interesting passage at the foot of the gravestone reads 'Farewell vain world I've had enough of thee. I value not what thou canst say of me. What fault thou'st seen in me take care to inur. Go look at home there's something to be done'.
The Laxton family graves have sat side by side for more than 300 years. Curiously each grave is simply to the deceased. No other family mentioned.
The stone to Thomas Laxton has the hourglass and crossed bones symbols, the latter being badly damaged,
This stone reads ' Here lieth interred the body of Tho Laxton who departed this life May 9 1703 in the 69th year of his age'
At the bottom, it is inscribed...
'Grieve not for me my glass is run. It is the Lord his will be done'.
SOME NOTES FROM MY VISIT
The church of St Nicholas is situated in the centre of the village, with post office and fish and chip shop close by. A thatched cat stretches out against a chimney on the roof of a cottage close to the church. The last of the previous day’s snow was stubbornly hanging around in the shade against the perimeter wall. Despite the cold, a touch of spring was in the air. The light quality was really good.
The church consists of nave, with north and south aisles, clerestory, west tower with spire, chancel, with vestry to the north and two storey south porch. The eastern part of the north aisle is given over to a memorial for the RAF airbase. At first glance, this is an impressive church. A real statement piece for what would have been small settlement at the time of building. The three stage tower is from the 13th century, is heavily buttressed and has a broache spire with two sets of lucarne windows to each face. The church clock in the traditional colours of blue and gold faces out to the south. Corbel strings contain some very quirky designs, including a human figure with surprised expression banging a drum. The usual mouth puller is in evidence, as it usually is.
At the time of North’s Victorian study of the church bells of Rutland, there were five bells hanging here, with four of these being cast by the Norris family, from their premises in Stamford. Thomas Norris cast the first and third of the ring in 1660, with Tobias Norris III adding the fourth and fifth of the ring in 1699, this being the last year he was active before his death. The second of the ring was the oldest, dating from 1598 and being cast by Henry Oldfield II at Nottingham. This is engraved “God Save His Chvrch”
These days there are six in the ring, with a new first bell cast by Taylor of Loughborough in 1935. The fourth and fifth bells of the old ring were each re-cast by Taylor in 1885.
The church of St Nicholas is situated in the centre of the village, with post office and fish and chip shop close by. A thatched cat stretches out against a chimney on the roof of a cottage close to the church. The last of the previous day’s snow was stubbornly hanging around in the shade against the perimeter wall. Despite the cold, a touch of spring was in the air. The light quality was really good.
The church consists of nave, with north and south aisles, clerestory, west tower with spire, chancel, with vestry to the north and two storey south porch. The eastern part of the north aisle is given over to a memorial for the RAF airbase. At first glance, this is an impressive church. A real statement piece for what would have been small settlement at the time of building. The three stage tower is from the 13th century, is heavily buttressed and has a broache spire with two sets of lucarne windows to each face. The church clock in the traditional colours of blue and gold faces out to the south. Corbel strings contain some very quirky designs, including a human figure with surprised expression banging a drum. The usual mouth puller is in evidence, as it usually is.
At the time of North’s Victorian study of the church bells of Rutland, there were five bells hanging here, with four of these being cast by the Norris family, from their premises in Stamford. Thomas Norris cast the first and third of the ring in 1660, with Tobias Norris III adding the fourth and fifth of the ring in 1699, this being the last year he was active before his death. The second of the ring was the oldest, dating from 1598 and being cast by Henry Oldfield II at Nottingham. This is engraved “God Save His Chvrch”
These days there are six in the ring, with a new first bell cast by Taylor of Loughborough in 1935. The fourth and fifth bells of the old ring were each re-cast by Taylor in 1885.
I was a little surprised to see that there were just three perpendicular clerestory lights running the length of the nave to north and south, and my initial thought was that the chancel was very long and would probably have been lengthened at some point. The oldest part of the present church, the south doorway, is Norman and dates from 1300. This is finely carved with zig zag designs and is not in situ.
Moving inside and I was immediately struck by how bright and welcoming it was inside, especially considering how much stained glass there is here. Obviously three clerestory windows to north and south is ample enough! Chairs are modern, stacking and looked very comfortable. I am totally in favour of chairs that can be moved around to suit the churches purpose at a particular time. I strongly suspect that many find comfortable chairs as unacceptable in a church and probably see hard pews as some sort of penance that is required for their spiritual growth.
There are four bays to north and south, with these dating from the 14th century. As mentioned briefly earlier, the east end of the north aisle is a memorial chapel to the RAF base. A very ancient looking union jack hangs high up to the north and the nave leads to a wide elegant, pointed chancel arch. There is some real history to the font. It is suggested that the base of the font dates back as far as 1200, with the octagonal bowl and stem dating from 14th or 15th century.
There is some high quality glass to be seen here. The east window is of five light and is on two levels. The top level depicts the crucifixion whilst the bottom level shows five scenes from the life of Christ. We start with the nativity, followed by Jesus being baptised by John the Baptist. Central is the transfiguration, followed by the triumphal entry as Jesus enters Jerusalem on a donkey. Finally, a few days later we see Judas betraying Jesus with a kiss in Gethsemane on the night of Jesus’ arrest.
I was very taken with a three light window which details Easter morning; albeit with a fair amount of poetic license so to speak. The risen Christ is normally absent from this scene, as the three Mary’s encounter the angels. Here though, Christ is central, crucifixion wound visible on hand raised in blessing. There is a faint wound still visible on Christ’s forehead from the crown of thorns.
Christ is flanked by an angel on each side. They hold banners which read ‘He is not here He is risen’. The head and shoulders of the three Mary’s appear over the top of the angel to the left as we look at it. Peter and John appear over the top of the angel on the right.
High up in the tracery golden haired angels with golden wings and flaming nimbus play stringed instruments whilst another holds a golden crown above Jesus’ head.
Moving back outside and the sun was just starting to dip. The breath was coming out in steam as the temperature dropped a little further. The church grounds are large and with much of interest.
Rutland is a delight but there are comparatively few really interesting churchyards to be seen in that county. Cottesmore is one of the more interesting though, with several box tombs lined up towards the south east of the church. On checking the British Listed Buildings site, I was a little surprised that nothing in the church grounds is listed with the exception of the First World War memorial, which is dated 1920. The oldest legible headstone that I could see dates from 1686.
This is a lovely church in a delightful Rutland village. It was open and welcoming, as most in this county are and I enjoyed my stay here very much. That was it for the day; it was time to head back towards Peterborough, fortunately the cycle was going in the back of a friend’s van. The church here, and the area as a whole to be fair, is well worth taking a look at if you are around.
