page_title: Freeby
section_title: Parish church
hierarchical_section_title: Freeby / Parish church
caption_attribution_description: English: St Peter's parish church, Saxby, Leicestershire, seen from the northeast
context_page_description: Freeby is a village and civil parish in the Melton district of Leicestershire, England, about 3 miles east of Melton Mowbray. As well as the village of Freeby the civil parish includes the villages of Brentingby, Saxby, Stapleford and Wyfordby. The 2011 Census recorded the parish population as 244.
  Isaac Watts preached at the Congregational chapel, which became in United Reformed Church the early 1970s.
context_section_description: The oldest parts of the Church of England parish church of St Mary are 14th century. The building is mostly in an Early English style. The parish register starts around 1604 but is fragmented until the beginning of the 19th century. Like so many medieval churches it has been repaired and altered many times, the last thorough restoration around 1894. As with many churches in this area it is built of ironstone and limestone ashlar. The aisles were added some time later and the limestone tower was built in the 16th century. Ornamental medieval corbels adorn each south window and the church has a north door.
  The church is on a prominence on the north side of the road through the village and that is apparently its downfall. That hill is not solid rock and, according to a BBC video is sand which has resulted to constant repairs throughout the last 700 years as the church settles.
  The church would seat 200 but it has been closed for some time because of its small congregation and its state of repair. English Heritage, after a survey of churches say, "The church serves a small community, who have maintained it extremely well over the years, but some of the stonework needs urgent repairs. English Heritage and the Heritage Lottery Fund is providing a scheme of repair grants to places of worship like St Mary's.” The church has been found unsafe and closed. Photographs in the gallery show the extent of the damage to some extent but the author has no access to the interior.
  There is a preservation order, granted on 24 August 1999 by Melton Borough Council, on a dozen trees on the north side of the churchyard.
  At present the villagers worship in the chapel, which is a small building a short walk across the road from St Mary's. The chapel was built before 1881. It has a double-arched window and a porch.
caption: St Peter's parish church, Saxby
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