ST MICHAEL AND ALL ANGELS
This church is now supported by the National Churches Trust.
Church History.
- The Anglican parish church is dedicated to Saint Michael and All Angels.
- The parish church in its early days had associations with Croxton Abbey and we know that in 1209 Robert de Arraby gave the church to the abbey and convent of Leicester. The outstanding feature is the stone screen between the chancel and the nave and it has been suggested that the church consisted of only the chancel initially.
- The Eyre family remained Catholic through the civil war and aftermath and "appeared to have had a certain religious influence in the village for as late as 1780 Eastwell had the largest population of Catholics in the county apart from Leicester itself." A Catholic Chapel was built in 1798 after the one at the Hall was destroyed when sold to the Duke of Rutland. The Chapel was licenced for marriages [Whites Directory 1863] and seems to have been financially supported by the Exton family. The 1891 census does not show a resident priest and Wrights Directory of 1888 records "R.C. Church service occasionally conducted by a Priest from Nottingham."
If anybody would like to expand to this series please do, I would just ask that you could let Sadexploration know first so he can keep track of the Church numbers and names to avoid duplication
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