Early History

Although the first recorded mention of Brooksby Church was in the Matriculus of 1220, it is believed that the Church dates back to the 10th century when the village first evolved. Brooksby was one of a few Danish settlements at that time in the area and although it is known that the Vikings were very enthusiastic church builders, no information can be found before the 13th century. In the courts, there was a suit involving Clerebald de Brooksby and the de Villiers family in 1268. A suit was the mediaeval way of establishing a claim to something and the buying and selling of land was conducted through the courts.
Alexander de Villiers had married Cecily de Seis, who was the heiress of Gilbert, or possibly William, de Seis, of Donington. The de Seis, or de Sagto, or Saxo, family, had connections with Brooksby for more than one generation. Gilbert de Seis flourished in 1210. In 1220 the rector of Brooksby was Walter de Sagio, and the living was in the gift of William de Sagto. “Saxo’ suggests that this was a pre-Norman family, and the name of Clerebald would seem to confirm this.
The Church is built in the Perpendicular style. The outside is decorated with battlements embellished with shields, quatre foils and pilasters. The base of the tower is early 14th century whereas the east of the tower is late 15th Century. The tower was extended and restored in 1620. The Gothic windows in the tower are different due to the restorations. The upper windows are 15th century and the lower windows are early 14th century.
The spire is small and well crocketted. The crockettes on the spire are late 19th century, although they are well weathered. Below the upper windows of the tower and on each of the four corners are gargoyles. These are grotesquely carved figures with pipes emerging from their mouths with a dual purpose of keeping the rainwater off the stonework while “warding off evil spirits”.
At the east end of the church above the battlements is a coat of arms of a shield with a raven and shells. The shells denote protector of providence and were part of the Villiers arms. The raven denotes divine providence and is thought to represent the Wright family connections. There is a similar coat of arms in the East window. This continues the Viking element in its History. Odin, the Norse God, was, according to mythology, accompanied by two Ravens.
An unusual feature of the church is the presence of two doors, a South door and a North door. The South door is the original entrance and was built to face the village. The door is of Gothic origin and the present door may be the original. Of solid oak, it dates back at least 500 years. This door is one of the finest of its age in the county. After the village of Brooksby disappeared, as a result of the enclosure of the land for sheep grazing by Sir John Villiers in the late 15th century, the Lords of the Manor decided they did not want to walk from the hall to the rear door, so a smaller door was built on the North Side facing the Hall.
The inside of the church consists of a chancel, a nave and a vestry at the back.

Windows

The windows of the nave are of the Tudor period but are of a much simpler design than the windows in the tower. The small window to the right of the south door was donated by Joseph Grout Williams to commemorate the Coronation of George V and Mary in 1911.
The East window and the South window are decorated with shields showing the alliances of the Villiers’ family. All of these represent the family of George Villiers, the first Duke of Buckingham, born at Brooksby in 1592. There are 16 shields in the windows today, (12 in the East and four in the South); although John Nichols states that there were 24 in his “History of Leicestershire” published in 1795.
Nichols also states that there was a very fine gothic doorway at the west to the vestry and in it a fine window. The archway remains, but there is no door. This was probably destroyed in the late 19th century when the church was struck by lightning.
There is a plain stone font at the back of the church. It is octagon shaped and has an old wooden cover, mounted with a cross.

Monuments

At the east end of the church, on the north side of the chancel is a fine white marble monument to Sir William Villiers and his wife Dame Ann Villiers. Their life size figures arc wearing the dress of the period apart from their Roman style cloaks. The monument is built in the style of Grinling Gibbons. Both the arms of the Villiers families are set above the figures. The inscription on the monument reads:

“Sacred to the memory of Sir William Villiers, Bart. Descended from a race of worthy ancestors, upward of 500 years happily enjoying the great revenue of their County, in a right noble and hospitable use thereof; by much lamented death is determined. The male line of the eldest house of that honourable name in Britain; to none of whom he was inferior in all accomplishments requisite to adorn his quality. He departed this life on 27th day of February 1711-12. Near also rests Dame Ann Villiers, wife of Sir William, daughter and heir of Charles Potts, of the county of Norfolk Esq., a lady of singular virtue, piety and charity. She died the 31st day of July 1711.”

Both William and Ann are buried under two large flat stones in the Chancel of the church. You will have noticed that there are two dates given for William Villiers’ death. This is likely to be due to the change from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar.
Between the flat stones of Ann (buried at the foot of the marble monument) and William, is a large slab of alabaster. This is now very worn, but shows the engraved figures of William Villiers in full armour and his two wives, Joan and Agnes. They are dressed in gowns and belts and have large open-veiled headdresses. The traditional lion lies beneath the King’s feet. The surrounding inscription is in Latin and can be read with some difficulty. The translation reads: "Here lies William Villiers Kt., and his wives Joan and Agnes, William died - day of the month AD1480. Joan died April 26 1475 and Agnes died 14…. On whose souls God have mercy."
Also in the chancel are two flat stones to Nathan Wright, the grandson of the more famous Nathan who purchased the Brooksby estate after the Villiers line ended in 1711, and Elizabeth, his wife. Nathan died in 1793 and Elizabeth in 1780. It is interesting to note that they were not only man and wife but also first cousins.
On the south side of the chancel is a marble plaque to Arthur Carter, who was rector of the church from 1887 to 1923. Arthur Carter is buried in the churchyard.
Other monuments in the church include a bronze bust of Earl Beatty of Brooksby and the North Sea, who was tenant at Brooksby from 1906, purchasing it from J G Williams in 1911. There is also a similar bust of Beatty outside the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. The Union flag, which he flew from his flagship when he sailed as Admiral of the Fleet, hangs on the north wall. You will also find a memorial tablet carved in stone to the officers and men killed at the Battle of Jutland, May 31st 1916.

Later Renovations

It is written that before the church was struck by lightning in 1874, the church was in a barn-like condition with plain open seats on each side. There were great improvements after this lightning strike. Ernest Chaplin lived at Brooksby from 1865 until 1890 and was largely responsible for organising (and no doubt raising much of the money required) for the major repairs after the storm. He worked hard for the church and his wife Sophie, played the organ.
Around £800 was raised for the restoration which included £300 from a bazaar held at the Hall selling donated goods from local inhabitants and tradesmen. The restoration included a pitch pine roof and seating for 100 people.
The oak pulpit was donated by Lady Cardigan who had it carved under her own supervision. Mr Winter Johnson, the architect, presented the reading desk and the lectern was given by Mr Gregg.
Mary Gregg and her sister Elizabeth had raised the money to pay for Mr Gregg’s incumbency. Mary & Elizabeth, under their maiden name of Kirby, wrote a few books of poems, essays and natural history books together, but they were better known for the moral stories they wrote for children. These 3 kind people are buried in the churchyard at the East end of the church. Their books can still be found in antiquarian bookshops.
Rev Arthur Carter raised the money for the altar as a thanksgiving for Peace after the First World War.
The Church plate dates from 1624 and consists of a chalice (communion cup) and a paten (plate for holding the host ‘bread’). A bell was hung in the tower in 1749 and there has been a church register since 1620.
Captain Stanley Williams, was the tenant of his eldest brother Joseph Grout Williams of Pendley Manor, Hertfordshire, who bought the Hall in 1890 and extended it in 1891 to the building we see today. The captain was resident with his wife and 5 children at Brooksby until a tragic hunting accident in 1897. Stanley was the grandfather of Dorian Williams and great grandfather to Robin Knox-Johnson who circumnavigated the world single-handed in 1969. There are two bibles in the church, one a gift from Joseph Grout Williams, and another to the memory of George G.A. Williams, the Captain’s third son who died in 1936?
The Hassocks were given in memory of a William Wilkinson, a well respected rural crafts instructor at Brooksby Farm Institute. He was affectionately known as “The Mole” and died in 1970.

The 20th Century

For most of the 20th century, Brooksby was closely linked with Thrussington. For 33 years the Rev HST Gahan was rector. He was, incidentally, the minister who administered the holy sacrament to Edith Cavell before she was executed during the First World War. On his death in 1956, Brooksby joined the parish of Hoby, with Rotherby and Ragdale. The subsequent vicars were Rev TH Evans 1956-58 and Rev DVS Asher 1958 -75. During the incumbency of Richard Chatham (1975-1985) Thrussington was joined with the parish until 1991, then Thrussington went its own way and the Parish of the Upper Wreake was formed uniting Hoby, Rotherby, Brooksby and Ragdale with Frisby on the Wreake and Kirby Bellars. An informal service to launch the new Parish was held at Brooksby on 5th May 1991.

The Lightning Strike

Mary Kirby, widow of Rev H Gregg, Rector of Brooksby at that time, gives this account:
“One sultry afternoon in August, we had a violent storm, so violent that the thunder shook every pane of glass in our windows at Melton, and Mr Gregg observed that he feared some serious damage must have been done. Fortunately we escaped, but the next morning the postman brought us the news that the spire at Brooksby Church had been struck. The Squire himself was in town, but his wife was at home, and was just going in at the front door of the hall, when the crash came so loud and powerful that it made the ground tremble under her feet and alarmed her very much. We went over to see what damage had been done. Happily no-one was hurt, but the poor spire presented the appearance of having had a piece nipped out of one side, as clearly cut as though it had been bitten by a dog or some other animal.
Mr Gregg’s first thought was whether it could not be saved from becoming an entire wreck; but the builder declared it was in far too dangerous a condition to meddle with. Mrs Chaplin told us that the church had been full of sulphurous vapour and when the door was first opened it came out like smoke. We ventured into the belfry and saw upon the floor a circle of deep grooves, as though the electric fluid had whirled round and round in its efforts to escape.
In the course of a few days, from the effects of weakness and a slight wind blowing upon it, the spire began to lean and bent so much that it looked exactly as if it were hanging in the air. But it could not remain long in that perilous state and the upper portion soon fell, dashing stones through the roof and hurling them about at random. As a few loose stones continued to fall, no-one liked to go near and services were suspended. When we went ourselves, we saw a large hole in the roof through which the stones had forced an entrance and noticed that they lay together in one corner all in a heap. The monument and the interior of the Church had escaped injury”

The 21st Century

The 2003 Quinquennial Inspection and subsequent surveys revealed that widespread repairs were necessary. From may 2007 to February 2008 restorations works included:

* replacing all gutterings and rainwater goods
* strengthening the arch above the East Window
* dismantling and rebuilding the upper part of the spire
* repairing and re-gilding the weather vane
* replacing the softwood louvres in the tower with new oak ones
* strengthening the buttresses at the West of the tower
* strengthening the timbers supporting the nave roof
* replacing the trapdoor onto the lower roof
* repairs and replacement of the tower and nave walls stonework

In addition new handrails were fixed either side of the churchyard steps and in the entrance to the North Door. A portable ramp has also been purchased to give wheelchair access.

In 2007 the Parish of the Upper Wreake formed the South Framland Cluster with the Burrough Hill and the South Croxton Groups, Rev'd Martin Dale being the first Priest-in-Charge.

Rectors & Patrons