Our District Churches
No 18 – St Denys at Stonton Wyville
Continuing our series looking at the churches in the Kibworth & District Chronicle delivery area.
Stonton Wyville is a tiny village, almost a hamlet, about 11 miles southeast of Leicester, in the Market Harborough district. It is part of the Gartree Hundred, an administrative area that had been around since 1086, the date of the Doomsday Book.
1086
Back in 1086, there was a priest living in the parish, however the earliest parts of the current church date back only to around 1300. It is made of ironstone rubble and limestone and has a chancel, bell-cote and nave. The south wall of the nave used to have a South aisle with four bays (now blocked) that formed an arcade. It is these bays that date back to 13th century. The windows that were put in the blocked arcade are 18th century when the church was restored.
Goddard’s of Leicester did some work on the church in 1863. They put on a new roof for the chancel and nave, they fixed up the south porch and nave walls with ironstone and limestone. In 1951 they built the east wall of the chancel.
The chancel has a stunning alabaster table tomb of Edmund Brudenell. He died in 1590 and his tomb reliefs of his three children and his wife (now decapitated) is carved thereon. There are other memorial plaques to the other Brundenlls in the Chancel. Stonton Wyville was the first part of the Brudenells estates and in 1628 Thomas Brudenell became baron Brudenell of Stonton.
The Brudenells live at Deene Park, in Northamptonshire.
1931
The church was joined with Glooston in 1931 and the rector lived there. There are not many houses or farms in this tiny village but there is a manor house and earthworks which were previously fish ponds.
This church is very small and peaceful. The monuments in the chancel are worth a visit. The 13th century arches in the south nave wall are excellent.
One of the earliest photographs to be printed in full colour in the Kibworth & District Chronicle was of the stained glass window in St Denys.
Picture courtesy of leicestershirechurches.co.uk
For more about St Denys visit https://www.leicestershirechurches.co.uk/stonton-wyville-st-denys/
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