St Mary de Castro, Leicester - a photo on Flickriver

            St Mary de Castro is an ancient, Grade I listed church, located within the former bailey of Leicester Castle. It dates its founding to 1107 after Henry I of England granted the lands and castle to Robert de Beaumont, who established it within the castle bailey as a college served by a Dean and 12 Canons - that is, a collegiate church. The collegiate nature of the church lasted until the college was disbanded in 1548 under the Chantry Act of Edward VI.

The early-12th-century church had no aisles, and various parts of these walls survive. It underwent a major expansion in the 1160, with a north aisle, doorways to north and west, and an extension to the chancel. Thirteenth-century alterations culminated in a major reworking of transepts and south aisle, to create an aisle wider than the nave. The tower was built inside the south aisle, apparently as an afterthought. 

The church was closed when the spire was found to be unsafe. The 14th-century octagonal spire, having been rebuilt in 1783, had developed six-metre-long cracks in four of its faces in September 2013. After inspections by structural engineers, it was deemed at risk of collapse. The severe condition of the spire meant it had to be demolished; there are currently insufficient funds to rebuild the spire and repair the tower.

It is rumoured that here, around 1366, Geoffrey Chaucer married Philippa (de) Roet, a lady-in-waiting to Edward III's queen, Philippa of Hainault. The infant king Henry VI was knighted in the church in 1426 by his uncle, John of Lancaster, Duke of Bedford, the Regent of France.

Taken on: March 19, 2025

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Camera: Panasonic DMC-TZ70, f/3.3, 1/400 sec, 4.3mm, ISO 160 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Panasonic DMC-TZ70
Aperture:	f/3.3
Exposure Time:	0.003 sec (1/400)
Focal Length:	4.3mm
ISO:	160
Exposure Bias:	0 EV
Flash:	Off, Did not fire
Exposure Program:	Program AE
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Auto
Color Space:	Uncalibrated
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