VI.
THE TWELVE DEMOLISHED
CHURCHES AND CHAPELS.
A GREAT deal has been written about the mediaeval churches which still exist at Leicester, but not so much about those which have been destroyed. It may be worth while therefore to recall what is known of them. They include three parish churches within the town, those of (1) St. Clement, (2) St. Peter, and (3) St. Michael; (4) the church of the Grey Friars, and (5) the church of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin in the Newarke; and two smaller buildings, (6) the chapel of St. John's Hospital, and (7) the chapel of Wigston's Hospital. Outside the walls of the town were (8) the church of St. Leonard, (9) the church of St. Sepulchre, or St. James, (10) the little chapel on the West Bridge, (11) St. John's chapel in Belgravegate, and (12) the church of the Abbey of St. Mary of the Meadows.
Of the ancient churches or chapels of St. Austin and St. Columban, which may have existed at Leicester before the Conquest, there is little authentic information; and practically nothing seems to be known about the church of the Austin Friars.[1]
(1) THE CHURCH OF ST. CLEMENT.
The ancient parish church of St. Clement belonged to Leicester Abbey, and stood within the walls of the town, between the North Gate and the River Soar. The parish suffered very severely from the sack of 1173, and in 1220 it was so poor that it could hardly support a chaplain. By the year 1291 it had
- ↑ Throsby said that he had discovered the traces of this church, the direction of which was "from East to West, agreeably with the custom of church-building." According to his measurements, it was in length about 150 feet, and in width 90. It stood near the centre of what Leland calls the "ile between the arms of the Soar."
69
