Nominal: 549 Hz Weight: 3682 lbs Diameter: 56.88" Bell 1 of 14
Founded by John Taylor & Co 1921
Dove Bell ID: 3942 Tower ID: 10495 - View Tower Listed: No Canons: Removed Turnings: unturned Cracked: No
Leicester: St Margaret
Diocese of Leicester
Major Parish Church, 619040
http://www.stmargaretsleicester.comThis church is on the Heritage at Risk Register (verified 2025-11-06)
View more information about this church on the Heritage at Risk website
Overview
Grid reference: SK 585 50
The Church is grade 1 listed, medieval, City Centre opposite the bus station. The churchyard is maintained by the City Council. It has a tower containing 14 bells and the clock which was installed in 1899.
Visiting and facilities
Building is open for worship
Building
Ground Plan Description and Dimensions
Footprint of Church buildings: 1446 m²
Description of Archaeology and History
there was a diocese of Leicester from the late seventh century until its bishop moved to Dorchester during the period of the Danelaw, and from there to Lincoln in the second half of the eleventh century. A very large episcopal estate already existed c. 1060, coterminous with the bounds of the medieval parish of St Margaret’s and encompassing half the open fields of Leicester together with the large chapelry of Knighton. Its parallels at other former Roman towns, such as Canterbury, Worcester, and Gloucester, and at Anglo-Saxon towns like Coventry with divisions between royal or comital and episcopal or abbatial ‘fees’, make it arguable that the estate, with its church and adjoining hall (Leland thought it a bishop’s palace), represented a royal founder’s endowment, perhaps when Wilfrid was bishop in the 690s. It is probable that the then cathedral was the church which in 1123 became St Nicholas, on the site of the entrance hall of the Roman baths, or possibly the church of Ss Augustine and Columba in the adjoining forum, still remembered in the fifteenth century. St Margaret’s is best seen as an extramural episcopal minster. It had prebendal status from the twelfth century, and throughout the Middle Ages was the destination of an annual Easter procession from all the intramural churches of Leicester in homage to the diocesan patron, The Blessed Virgin Mary. Several of its incumbents were Archdeacon of Leicester, including Robert Grosseteste the famous thirteenth-century thinker who had been director of studies at Oxford University and subsequently became Bishop of Lincoln. St Margaret’s remained the ‘bishop’s church’ in Leicester until St Martin’s became the cathedral of the restored diocese in 1927.
Interior
Interior Description
St Margaret’s tower of 1441, showing early signs of the Renaissance, and its chancel of about 1500, add Perpendicular grandeur (tastefully maintained by the Victorian restorers, notably Sir George Gilbert Scott) to the ‘Early English’ lightness of the interior arcades. One pillar shows unusual signs of transition from the Romanesque, and excavations in the late 1940s and early 1950s left exposed what were claimed to be late Anglo-Saxon footings, perhaps of a central transeptal crossing. The west entrance and large south porch with ‘parvis’, together with the spacious side aisles (clasping the tower) and stately chancel, speak of a church designed for large gatherings and civic and ecclesiastical ritual.
The church has a rich range of stained glass from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, including a memorial to Ernest Morris, former verger and tower-captain, in the Modern style, circa 1960. There is also a fragment of medieval glass in one of the porch windows.
Bells
Nominal: 1650 Hz Weight: 645 lbs Diameter: 26.25" Bell 2 of 14
Founded by John Taylor & Co 1921
Dove Bell ID: 28067 Tower ID: 10495 - View Tower Listed: No Canons: Removed Turnings: unturned Cracked: No
Nominal: 1468 Hz Weight: 648 lbs Diameter: 26.88" Bell 3 of 14
Founded by John Taylor & Co 1921
Dove Bell ID: 28068 Tower ID: 10495 - View Tower Listed: No Canons: Removed Turnings: unturned Cracked: No
Nominal: 1384 Hz Weight: 545 lbs Diameter: 27.63" Bell 4 of 14
Founded by John Taylor & Co 1921
Dove Bell ID: 28069 Tower ID: 10495 - View Tower Listed: No Canons: Removed Turnings: unturned Cracked: No
Nominal: 1234 Hz Weight: 631 lbs Diameter: 29" Bell 5 of 14
Founded by John Taylor & Co 1921
Dove Bell ID: 28070 Tower ID: 10495 - View Tower Listed: No Canons: Removed Turnings: unturned Cracked: No
Nominal: 1099 Hz Weight: 747 lbs Diameter: 31.25" Bell 6 of 14
Founded by John Taylor & Co 1921
Dove Bell ID: 28071 Tower ID: 10495 - View Tower Listed: No Canons: Removed Turnings: unturned Cracked: No
Nominal: 1036 Hz Weight: 805 lbs Diameter: 32.63" Bell 7 of 14
Founded by John Taylor & Co 1921
Dove Bell ID: 28072 Tower ID: 10495 - View Tower Listed: No Canons: Removed Turnings: unturned Cracked: No
Nominal: 923 Hz Weight: 988 lbs Diameter: 35.38" Bell 8 of 14
Founded by John Taylor & Co 1921
Dove Bell ID: 28073 Tower ID: 10495 - View Tower Listed: No Canons: Removed Turnings: unturned Cracked: No
Nominal: 822 Hz Weight: 1183 lbs Diameter: 38.25" Bell 9 of 14
Founded by John Taylor & Co 1921
Dove Bell ID: 28074 Tower ID: 10495 - View Tower Listed: No Canons: Removed Turnings: unturned Cracked: No
Nominal: 733 Hz Weight: 1763 lbs Diameter: 43.13" Bell 10 of 14
Founded by John Taylor & Co 1921
Dove Bell ID: 28075 Tower ID: 10495 - View Tower Listed: No Canons: Removed Turnings: unturned Cracked: No
Nominal: 691.5 Hz Weight: 1900 lbs Diameter: 45.25" Bell 11 of 14
Founded by John Taylor & Co 1921
Dove Bell ID: 28076 Tower ID: 10495 - View Tower Listed: No Canons: Removed Turnings: unturned Cracked: No
Nominal: 616 Hz Weight: 2474 lbs Diameter: 50.5" Bell 12 of 14
Founded by John Taylor & Co 1921
Dove Bell ID: 28077 Tower ID: 10495 - View Tower Listed: No Canons: Removed Turnings: unturned Cracked: No
Nominal: 1846 Hz Weight: 551 lbs Diameter: 25.75" Bell 13 of 14
Founded by John Taylor Bellfounders Ltd 1996
Dove Bell ID: 28078 Tower ID: 10495 - View Tower Listed: No Canons: Removed Turnings: unturned Cracked: No
Nominal: 978 Hz Weight: 906 lbs Diameter: 34" Bell 14 of 14
Founded by John Taylor & Co 1945
Dove Bell ID: 28079 Tower ID: 10495 - View Tower Listed: No Canons: Removed Turnings: unturned Cracked: No
Churchyard
Grid reference: SK 585 50
Burial and War Grave Information
The church/building is consecrated.
The churchyard has been used for burial.
It is unknown whether the churchyard is used for burial.
The churchyard is closed for burial by order in council.
The date of the burial closure order is 19/10/1855
It is unknown whether the churchyard has war graves.
Environment
Ancient, Veteran & Notable Trees
Caring for God's Acre is a conservation charity working to support groups and individuals to investigate, care for, and enjoy the wildlife and heritage treasures found within churchyards and other burial grounds. Look on their website for information and advice and please contact their staff directly. They can help you manage this churchyard for people and wildlife.
To learn more about all the species recorded against this church, go to the Burial Ground Portal within the NBN Atlas. You can check the spread of records through the years, discovering what has been recorded and when, plus what discoveries might remain to be uncovered.
There are no records of Ancient, Veteran or Notable Trees within the curtilage of this site.
Renewables
| Renewable | Installed |
|---|---|
| Solar PV Panels | No |
| Solar Thermal Panels | No |
| Biomass | No |
| Wind Turbine | No |
| Air Source Heat Pump | No |
| Ground Source Heat Pump | No |
| Ev Charging | No |
Species summary
There are no records of species within the curtilage of this site.
Caring for God's Acre is a conservation charity working to support groups and individuals to investigate, care for, and enjoy the wildlife and heritage treasures found within churchyards and other burial grounds. Look on their website for information and advice and please contact their staff directly. They can help you manage this churchyard for people and wildlife.
To learn more about all the species recorded against this church, go to the Burial Ground Portal within the NBN Atlas. You can check the spread of records through the years, discovering what has been recorded and when, plus what discoveries might remain to be uncovered.
'Seek advice' Species
More information on species and action to be taken upon discovery.
Caring for God's Acre is a conservation charity working to support groups and individuals to investigate, care for, and enjoy the wildlife and heritage treasures found within churchyards and other burial grounds. Look on their website for information and advice and please contact their staff directly. They can help you manage this churchyard for people and wildlife.
To learn more about all the species recorded against this church, go to the Burial Ground Portal within the NBN Atlas. You can check the spread of records through the years, discovering what has been recorded and when, plus what discoveries might remain to be uncovered.
Further information
Submit a change
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