St Mary's Church, Anstey

St Mary’s Church stands in the medieval heart of Anstey, Leicestershire, built from Mountsorrel granite and Swithland slate with a Westmorland slate roof. The church began in the 14th or 15th century and was largely rebuilt between 1845 and 1846 by Broadbent & Hawley at the expense of the rector, Revd. Richard Waterfield. A Norman doorway remains on the north side, and Early English gargoyles appear on three sides. The church is a grade II listed building and became a parish in 1867, having once been a chapel of Thurcaston in 1220. The windows hold memorials to Revd. Richard Waterfield and Elliot John Norman Galer, and one honours those lost in the First World War. The tower contains eight bells, including a tenor inscribed for King Edward VIII’s accession, believed unique in Britain. A clock made by W. Jolley in 1772, donated by churchwardens Robert and Thomas Martin, is set into the south wall of the tower. The organ was built by Taylors of Leicester in 1926. The churchyard includes grade II listed Heard Family tombs from 1740 and 1803, along with headstones from 1739 and 1743. Remains of a 15th-century cross, with its socket stone and part of the shaft, stand in the yard and are also grade II listed and a scheduled monument. The surrounding wall on three sides is likewise grade II listed.