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History
of St Denys
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The
building of the present church began around the year 1200 and was
dedicated on 9th October 1219 by the Bishop of Lincoln. The
South Aisle was added at the beginning of the 14th Century and the
North Aisle was built in 1340. The chancel had to be rebuilt
in 1867 as a result of years of neglect. In 1957-58 the Clergy
and Choir Vestries were built with access from a door in the South
Aisle which had been blocked up since 1840. The tower and spire are
the only parts that remain of the original church.
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The font
is early 13th Century and has stood in the church for over seven and
a half centuries. It is cylindrical or tub shaped and its design is
of late 11th or early 12th Century Norman origin. The cover is
modern but there are signs on the rim of the font of the original
staples which locked the medieval cover in position to prevent the
theft of holy water.
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There is a
parish chest in the South Aisle which was probably constructed in
the early 16th Century. In the early days it contained the
Parish Register, Churchwardens' accounts and records of the civil
parish as well as other vital village documents. It also
served as an alms box, bible box and cope chest.
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There were
originally four bells, the earliest being dated 1605. In 1990 the
old wooden bell frame was replaced with a steel one and a new bell was
given by a former churchwarden in memory of his wife. In 1994 a
further bell was added to commemorate the 775th Anniversary of the church.
The largest bell (the tenor) weighs just over 16 hundredweight.
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The
churchyard is now closed for burials apart from where there is space
in family graves. Dr Cyril Bardsley, the first bishop of the
Diocese of Leicester when it was re-founded in 1926, is buried here.
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