St Mary the Virgin Church, Thorpe Arnold

Thorpe Arnold, just outside Melton Mowbray on the A607 to Grantham, has an ancient church with a nave dating from 800, and a very active, friendly and welcoming congregation.

Services are held at 9.45am each Sunday and, in addition, a quiet communion service at 6pm on the first Sunday of the month. The congregation support each other and the wider community with prayer partners, regular coffee mornings, lunches for senior citizens, social events, collecting provisions for Storehouse, supporting the wider parish and Churches Together in Melton Mowbray.

The church-owned Village Hall was refurbished beautifully and re-opened in the Spring of 2011 with wonderful facilities including a catering kitchen, sound system and Wi-Fi. It is available for social and corporate hire. Click here for more information. There are regular coffee mornings in the hall as well.

And for visitors interested in searching their ancestry, Mrs Gillian Lane has been a wonderful resource with many historical documents on hand.

The church is under the watchful eye of Tricia Lynott and Catherine Shenton, Churchwardens.
 

HISTORY AND ARCHITECTURE

The present church building dates back to 1150AD, with extensions and numerous periods of rebuilding and repairs, the last major scheme being in the 1860’s, where the whole building, from the clerestory upwards, was taken down and rebuilt. It was during the period that the medieval glass was removed. The only stained glass windows that we now have are late Victorian. The font dates back to 850AD.

Over the past 20 years, the nave and chancel roofs have been replaced, a new lighting scheme installed, external walls re-pointed, tracery windows repaired and a new set of 5 bells hung in the tower. In 2007, the Chancel was reordered, with the choir stalls being removed, new carpet being laid and new chairs purchased.

*Visit the Thorpe Arnold Village Hall website by clicking HERE.

A number of folk have been asking how they can give to the work of St Mary the Virgin Church, especially with the Church not being open all the time during the present pandemic and the fact that many people no longer carry cash around with them. This problem is now solved as you can now donate online. Please click HERE to find out more.

FIND ST MARY THE VIRGIN, THORPE ARNOLD, LE14 4RU