Newton Solney - Church of Saint Mary the Virgin

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The church of Saint Mary the Virgin at Newton Solney, though much altered through several restorations, was founded in the 12th century. A trade directory of 1912 describes the church as a "picturesque building of stone, consisting of chancel, clerestoreyed nave, aisles, south porch and an embattled western tower, with octagonal spire, containing 3 bells, the first and third cast respectively in 1615 and 1638, the second being a 15th century bell. A blocked-up doorway in the north aisle and some fragments of the original chancel arch are of Norman date. The Early English period is illustrated by several lancet windows in the same aisle, but the greater part of the church belongs to the Decorated period, including the arcades of the nave, the east window and the tower and spire. During the Perpendicular period, the walls of the nave were raised and a clerestory constructed, the roof being flattened; there is a small piscina niche in the south wall of the chancel, and an octagonal font of the 14th century. Placed in an erect position against the wall of the south aisle is the mutilated stone effigy of a knight in armour, probably of the 13th century; another knightly effigy, headless, and now placed on a substructure or brick, dates from about 1375; in the chancel is the recumbent alabaster effigy, in good preservation, of a knight in armour, on an altar tomb of the same material and dating from the last quarter or the 14th century. These three monuments are supposed to represent members of the Solney family who resided here in the 13th and 14th centuries. In the chancel is a large marble monument to Sir Henry Every in 1709." The church was restored in the early 1880's and re-opened for divine service on Easter Monday in April 1882. Directed by the Derby architect F. J. Robinson, the restoration, which included the extension of the south aisle, took 18 months to complete. When the foundations were excavated several monumental slabs were discovered. These were cleaned, restored and placed in the floor of the tower, the arch of which was restored as it was an important piece of Norman architecture.
Date: 23rd June 2009  Source: Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX150