Church of St John the Baptist, Whitwick.

Whitwick Parish church was probably built on a former pagan shrine and site of a natural spring. The present church is in the old English style and dates from about 1300 with the tower from about 1220, it is also probable that a wattle and daub Anglo Saxon church occupied the site in 673AD as there are surviving fragments of a pre-Norman Cross Shaft in the Chancel Wall. The main West Door and the Porch date back to 1350 and the relatively recent Clerestories were added in 1620.

Best viewed from Church Lane the tower is 64 feet high and has two niches on on the south face which probably contained statues of St John the Babtist and the Virgin Mary in pre-Reformation times. The clock in the West Wall has a slate face and was made by Samuel Deacon of Barton-in-the-Beans around 1810. Prior to the clock a sundial was incorporated into the West Face and this was dated at 1752 when a stone was discovered with the date engraved during restoration work in 1951.

The nave and aisles date from 1300 but were extended another 16 feet in 1848. In the 14th century, Sir John Talbot mustered a small army to lay claim on Whitwick Castle which he believed was more rightfully his than that of Sir Henry Beaumont who had inherited the castle. Sir John evicted Sir Henry and razed the castle to the ground. Sir John Talbot died in 1365 and is tomb can be found next to the wall in the north aisle. The east window depicts the crucifixion and is dedicated to local miners and quarry men who lost their lives in industry. The outside stonework to this windows dates from 1290. In the south aisle wall there is a fourteenth century piscina and the east window depicts the return of the tithes to Whitwick in 1235.

The tower contains eight bells with the tenor weighing in at 11 cwt and have the following inscriptions:

Treble	Given by Thomas Jesson of Ashby-de-la-Zouch to the Glory of God and in memory of His Ancestors and Relatives.
2nd	In memorium H.F.T Obit A.D. 1890 d.d. A.F.T.
3rd	In memorium T.E.T Obit A.D. 1883 d.d. B.R.T.
4th	Given by Elizabeth Dalby to the Glory of God and in memory of her Parents and Relatives.
5th	God Save the King.
6th	Celorum Christe Platiat Tibi Rex Sonus Iste 1628.
7th	Ih's Nazarenus rex Ivedeorum Fili Dei Miserere Mei 1628.
Tenor	Ih's Nazarenus rex Ivedeorum Fili Dei Miserere Mei 1628.

 

Left: South Aisle East Window depicting the return of the Tithes to Whitwick in 1235. Depicted in the window are Sir Henry de Lacey, patron of the church, William de Shalwell, rector of the church and Robert Grossetest, Bishop of Lincoln.
Right:North Aisle East Window depicts the crucifixion and is dedicated to those local miners and quarrymen who lost their lives in industry. The Coalville Times of 25th September 1914 reported that the window was dedicated by the Bishop of Leicester on Sunday 20th September 1914 and cost £126.

Thomas William Walters RD, Honorary Canon 1913 - 1937, Reverend Walters oversaw the dedication of the window in the North Aisle and the War Memorial.

Service Times
Morning: 10am   Evening: 6pm