"Croxton Kerrial is seven miles south west of Grantham, just over the border in to Leicestershire, and on the way towards Melton Mowbray. The church is set back from the busy main road that runs through the village and the church grounds here are quiet and peaceful.
The church is of an unusual design. The tower is central, but there are no transepts. Instead, a south aisle runs to the eastern edge of the tower. A clerestory of just three windows runs from the western edge of the structure to the inner edge of the tower. A clock can be seen on the south face of the tower. Entrance in to the church is through a humility door, This is a door that is cut very low, so that all who enter in to the church and in to the presence of God must bow down.
As with so many church clocks this one is blue with gold numerals. It was decreed by Henry VIII that church clocks should be 'blew with the signs upon them gilt'. This was decreed accordingto Exodus Chapter 39 when God commanded Moses to make priests garments of blue with Gold bells.
The oldest part of the present structure are some arches under the tower, which date back to the latter years of the 12th century. The church that we see today dates from the 15th century, and is made from Ironstone. The church was restored in 1866.
There are six bells in the ring here. Three are pretty modern and are from Taylor of Loughborough. Two are re-castings of earlier bells and one is a modern addition to the ring. At the time of North's Victorian study of the church bells of Leicestershire, there were only five bells in the ring. Of the others, the oldest is dated 1529 and was cast by Richard Seliok II from his premises in Nottingham. One is from Thomas Norris, who operated out of Stamford. The other is from Henry Dand, and is dated 1580.
The church here is probably most noted for two things, some finely carved medieval bench ends and some mediveal graffiti. Starting with the bench ends, these came from a nearby Abbey which was closed down during the dissolution. According to the imformative church guide, tests on the back boards have suggested a date of mid 15th century. Symbols carved in to the bench ends include monks, noble men, eagles, lions, dragons and a green man. It is thought that some of these are symbols from those people who helped to finance the abbey.
One wooden carving is of two women, and it is thought that this is of two women from nearby Waltham on the Wolds, who were keen supporters of the Abbey. The Abbey was operational from the second half of the 12th century, and was a great importance for a time. In 1216 the Abbot of Croxton Abbey was summoned to Newark Castle where King John lay dying. The abbot heard the king's confession and, following his death, embalmed the king's body. King John's heart was buried in Croxton Abbey church. His son, King Henry III, later made a number of donations to the abbey in memory of his father. The Abbey was dissolved in 1538 and nothing remains of the structure.
With regards the graffiti, this is fascinating. This church has a lot of medieval graffiti of which the most interesting would be a depiction of a soldier carved in to a pillar in the south aisle. The soldier is depicted with a sword and a very small shield. The shield is called a buckler and it is thought that the depiction is from a soldier of the 15th century.
To the west end of the nave is a carving of a fish and close by is a marion mark, or witch mark. This resembles a letter W but is in fact two interlocking V's. These are ritual protection marks and were used to invoke the protection of the Virgin Mary, the Virgin Of Virgins. These were mainly carved in to places where it was thought that evil could enter a church, or other building, so they would normally be found in such places as door and window frames."
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