alanhitchcock49
The Good Shepherd
Photos taken in the church of St Mary de Castro, Leicester, during a be members of Redditch U3A Digital Photography Group
'Founded in 1107, St Mary de Castro stands within the precincts of the Royal Castle of Leicester, from which it gets its name and of which it was once the chapel. Sovereigns of England, who came to Leicester, stayed at the castle and worshipped in this church. Here too came Simon de Montfort, and Parliament heard mass before its Leicester meetings. King Henry VI was knighted in St Mary's in 1426 and it is also thought that Geoffrey Chaucer was married here. Perhaps the last reigning Monarch to worship in St Mary's was King Richard III, and here his body may have rested briefly after the Battle of Bosworth. The church is within the conservation area which includes the Castle Park area. Architecturally, St Mary's is complex. A Grade I listed building, it has been described as "the jewel of Leicester's churches", and contains much fine work. The richest display of Norman architecture is to be found in the Chancel, documented by Pevsner as "a showpiece of late Norman sumptuousness". The famous triple sedilia, he regards as "the finest piece of Norman decoration in the county", and in his book - 'England's Thousand Best Churches', the author, Simon Jenkins, describes the sedilia as "Leicester's Treasure".'
For more information see:-
The Good Shepherd
Photos taken in the church of St Mary de Castro, Leicester, during a be members of Redditch U3A Digital Photography Group
'Founded in 1107, St Mary de Castro stands within the precincts of the Royal Castle of Leicester, from which it gets its name and of which it was once the chapel. Sovereigns of England, who came to Leicester, stayed at the castle and worshipped in this church. Here too came Simon de Montfort, and Parliament heard mass before its Leicester meetings. King Henry VI was knighted in St Mary's in 1426 and it is also thought that Geoffrey Chaucer was married here. Perhaps the last reigning Monarch to worship in St Mary's was King Richard III, and here his body may have rested briefly after the Battle of Bosworth. The church is within the conservation area which includes the Castle Park area. Architecturally, St Mary's is complex. A Grade I listed building, it has been described as "the jewel of Leicester's churches", and contains much fine work. The richest display of Norman architecture is to be found in the Chancel, documented by Pevsner as "a showpiece of late Norman sumptuousness". The famous triple sedilia, he regards as "the finest piece of Norman decoration in the county", and in his book - 'England's Thousand Best Churches', the author, Simon Jenkins, describes the sedilia as "Leicester's Treasure".'
For more information see:-