St Michael's & All Angels, Croft
                                
 

Home
What's New
Groups
Village and Community
History
Bells, Tower and Clock
Peal Records
Weddings and Baptisms
Never Been before
Christmas Programme
Notices

Our Rector writes.......

 
Dedication of kneelers just before Christmas 2004

The Church

The dedication of Croft Church of St Michael and All Angels may well indicate a 7th Century foundation. The settlement of Croft dates from Saxon times and there may have been an earlier church which was destroyed by the Danes. In Cartularium Saxonium, a survey of place names compiled in 836 AD, Croft is named as Craeft. The Domesday Survey gives the names Crebe and Crebre, but the survey does not mention the presence of a priest in the village.

The parishioners of nearby Potters Marston seem to have used Croft Church for registration in the past, though the hamlet was, and still is, attached to Barwell rectory. Many entries also appear in Croft registers from Sutton in the Elms and others from Thorpe Parva, now known as Littlethorpe. Both of these places would seem to have been attached for a time to Croft.

John Nichols, in his history of Leicestershire in 1779, tells us that "the church of St Michaels consists of a nave and chancel only, it was greatly repaired and mostly rebuilt, covered with Swithland slate and new pewed oak in 1769, and is paved with brick quarries. The king's arms were put up in 1776. Its tower steeple, with three bells and still remaining a fine specimen of a gothic arch of the old church with a West Window of some age also is an old square font Saxon".

It is only 30 years after these repairs that we can read in the Archdeacon's report at his visitation of 1797, " April 11th 1797 REV T ADNUTT rector"

Weather boards to be put up to guard the belfry windows.

The bushes growing near the walls to be grubbed up.

The plaster in the chancel where broken to be mended and painted, and the walls of the church and chancel together with the roof to be white washed and coloured, also casements to be put in to the windows in opposite directions to let in air and ventilation.

A new prayer book to be provided for the clerke.

A new long brush to be provided.

The Pall or Hearse cloth to have a new edging or border.

The church yard fence next to the farm yard to be mended so as to keep out the pigs and other animals.

The Archdeacon also mentions the parsonage house which is beautifully situated but a very indifferent one and in bad condition which must undergo therefore thorough and substantial repairs.

In 1872 the Rev James Brookes became rector of Croft. He was the son of William and Ann Brookes of Croft House. James wrote a number of very interesting letters to the Rev Alfred Blackmore who followed him at Croft in 1917. He wrote, "I found things very miserable. Communion was only six time a year, always after matins. The choir in the gallery, 2 fiddles, a base fiddle, a double base and a clarinet, there were some men singers, all of whom but one should have been excommunicated for drunkenness or immorality and a few women singers who were quite decent folk, but I had a good deal of trouble at first I must say"

In 1874/5 the old rectory was pulled down and a new one was built. Rev Brookes never lived in the old house but with his parents at Croft House. James next turned his thought to improving the church. 
For this work he engaged one of the very best church architects of the day, William Smith of Adelphi, London (It was by deed poll on 29/3/1881 he changed the family surname - becoming William Bassett-Smith.) The faculty for the rebuild dated 21st Feb 1878 states "All old architectural features would be preserved", but with the exception of the tower there was very little to preserve, so we have a new church built to a 14th century tower.

Materials used were red syenite granite, quarried in the village, Attleborough and Weslewood dressed stone and Staffordshire roof tiles. Main roof timbers, doors pews and pulpit are of best oak and the common rafters are Baltic fir. 

 The side windows in the chancel were designed by Clayton and  Bell , who also made alterations to the original East Window in 1898.

 When the original work on the church was completed, Bishop Magee of Peterborough consecrated afresh the whole building on July 17th 1879 .