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St Michael's Church,
Rectory Lane, DE12 8AF,
Stretton en le Field, Derbyshire.

Cemeteries

This Church had a graveyard.

Note: any church within an urban environment may have had its graveyard closed after the Burial Act of 1853. Any new church built after that is unlikely to have had a graveyard at all.

Church History

This Place of Worship was founded in the 14th century, though it is now closed, but we don't yet know when.

St Michael's Church is a Grade II Listed Building - see the British Listed Buildings website for details.

Kelly's Directory of 1895 describes it as "a building of grey sandstone, dating from the 14th century, and consisting of chancel, nave, north aisle and an embattled western tower, with pinnacles and an octagonal spire, containing 2 bells". The first bell is inscribed "Cum sono si no vis venire, Nuncuam ad preces cupies ire", and the second "Scelai" in Lombardic capitals. Nave, aisle and chancel are Decorated, "but much injured and debased by subsequent repairs". The flat oaken roof of the nave and the east window are Perpendicular. The aisle is separated from the nave by three pointed arches, on square piers without capitals, placed diamond-wise. The octagonal font dates from c.1662. In the north wall of the aisle is a recess inclosing a 7 foot-long monumental slab, bearing a plain Latin cross. It probably marks the resting place of Osbert de Stretton, who rebuilt the body of the church. In the same aisle is an alabaster slab, with the incised figure of a priest and an inscription to Walter Savage, rector of Stretton, d.1513. In the chancel are several modern monuments to previous rectors, and in the aisle to the Browne family. The earliest register, "which has been recently but indifferently bound" begins in 1637, but there are several blanks.

In 1895, Stretton was described as a township and parish on the river Mease, "at the south-east extremity of the county" 2 miles west from Measham station on the Ashby and Nuneaton branch of the Midland and London and North Western joint railways, 5 miles east of Tamworth, and 4 south-west from Ashby-de-la-Zouch. It was transferred to Leicestershire in 1897 (as was Measham), and St Michael's is now in the care of The Churches Conservation Trust - "where the boundaries of four counties meet".

Denomination

Now or formerly Church of England.

If more than one congregation has worshipped here, or its congregation has united with others, in most cases this will record its original dedication.

Maps

This Church was located at OS grid reference SK3040211922. You can see this on various mapping systems. Note all links open in a new window:

• St Michael's Church, Stretton en le Field shown on a Google Map.
• Places of Worship in Stretton en le Field shown on a Google Map.
• Streetmap.co.uk (arrow on map shows the Place of Worship's location) (verified 2018-10-15)
• Bing (Ordnance Survey option) (verified 2018-10-13)
• Bing Maps ('Bird's Eye' View) (verified 2018-10-15)
• Ordnance Survey "getamap" (NB some of the 'Change Map' options may require a subscription) (verified 2018-10-15)
• OpenStreetMap (Maps © OpenStreetMap contributors, CC-BY-SA) (verified 2018-10-15)
• A Vision of Britain Through Time - useful for Boundary Changes (verified 2018-10-15)
• www.magic.gov.uk (Modern Maps with various overlays) (verified 2018-10-15)

Resources

I have found many websites of use whilst compiling the information for this database. Here are some which deserve mention as being of special interest for Stretton en le Field, and perhaps to Local History and Places of Worship as a whole.

• Learn more about Buildings of special or historical interest on the British Listed Buildings (null) (verified 2018-09-19)
• Preserving “irreplaceable examples of architecture, archaeology and art from 1,000 years of history” - The Churches Conservation Trust (null) (verified 2018-10-07)

The above links were selected and reviewed at the time I prepared the information, but please be aware their content may vary, or disappear entirely. These factors are outside my control.