You can now help support the work of the Churches Conservation Trust in caring for St Boltoph's by text:

To donate £5 please send WAR to 70970

To give £10 please send WAR to 70191

White-washed serenity in a charming hamlet

Wardley’s early medieval church, dedicated to the Anglo-Saxon Saint Botolph, stands up on its raised churchyard above this tiny, picturesque hamlet on the border of Rutland and Leicestershire. The manor is not mentioned in Domesday Book, but was probably among the unnamed ‘berewicks’ attached to nearby Ridlington. By the early 12^th century it was in the hands of Richard Bassett, who granted it to the priory of Launde in Leicestershire with whom it remained until the Dissolution.

The oldest features of the church are the doorways, with the moulded south doorway dating c.1175 and enclosed in a 14^th century porch. The tower and spire date from the 14^th century, whilst the chancel was entirely rebuilt in 1871.

Inside, clear glazing and whitewashed walls give an atmosphere of muted calm. The pointed tower arch to the west, with its carved mask corbels, is likely to be 14^th century, while the simple oak nave roof is 15^th century. Stone flags in the nave give way to colourful ceramic tiles in the Victorian chancel.

The church was closed for regular worship in June 2010 and vested into our care in April 2016. Following a significant programme of conservation work, including the re-roofing of the chancel with distinctive Collyweston slates, timber repairs and re-glazing, the church re-opened to the community in December 2017.

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