St Margaret of Antioch
Stoke Golding, Leicestershire
‘One of the loveliest churches in Leicestershire’ (Pevsner) with a rich history spanning over 800 years.
This is an ancient landmark. The tower was probably constructed on the instruction of the Earl of Leicester between 1130 and 1180 AD. It is the oldest surviving part of the Norman church and the oldest building in the area. However, there was almost certainly a Saxon church here before 1100 so the presence is much older, possibly dating back to Roman times.
The rest of the Norman church was demolished and replaced in 1791 by the current nave and that was further extended in 1854 with the south aisle. There are some fine stained glass windows dating from around 1901, many were installed as family monuments.
Lord Geoffrey Fisher, the 99th Archbishop of Canterbury, was born in Higham and attended this church where his father was the Rector.
The village war memorial (WW1) hangs on the north wall and a second memorial remembers the masters and boys of Lindley school which was in the parish. There are also two commonwealth war graves in the north churchyard.
From the lower churchyard you can see the church steeples at Stoke Golding and Market Bosworth which would have been used for navigation by the armies marching to the Battle of Bosworth in 1485.