St James' Church, Burton Lazars

Welcome to St James Burton Lazars

“Too share the love of Christ with the people around us and make the Gospel relevant in today’s world”

Situated a mile South of Melton Mowbray on the A606 St James Church Cross Lane Burton Lazars LE14 2UH has served the village since the 11th Century.  In 2017 we underwent a refurbishment of our facilities upgrading of heating lighting redecoration and new facilities of a kitchen and servery, fully accessible toilet and meeting room.  The Church is run and maintained by our Deputy Wardens Jenny Pengelly and Janet King see the contact page.
Flower

Services and Activities

Our Sunday services start at 11.15am regularly see the Calendar on the Homepage for details in the following rotation.

• 1st & 3Rd Sundays Traditional Holy Communion
• 2nd and 4th Fresh “Expressions Church” Connect Service which are less formal musical, participative and reflective.
• Coffee Mornings 1030 till 1200 fortnightly
• Stay & Play Preschool Group 930-1100 Wednesdays Termtime
• We also hold Baptisms, Naming Ceremonies, Weddings, Wedding Blessings, Funerals and Thanksgiving Services, special services at Christmas Easter and other occasions see the Homepage calendar for information.

We are fortunate to have comfortable chair seating which enables us to move the layout in the building to accommodate the activities and events we hold, this combined with central heating catering facilities and meeting room ensures the building is used regularly. Car parking is available in layby outside the building, in Cross Lane and by agreement, in the Village Hall Car Park opposite.

HISTORY

The Village has an interesting history “Burtone” the Saxon name became Burton St Lazarus in the 12th Century, when Lord Roger De Mowbray established a Leper Hospital The emblem of the Order that ran the hospital was a red cross on a white background – possibly the origins of the symbols of the Red Cross Organisation. This work continued until 4th May 1544, when the Hospital was disbanded under the dissolution of Henry V111th. The Village Church of St James is also believed to have been founded by Roger de Mowbray – though the body of the church is in the later Norman style.

FIND ST JAMES’ CHURCH, BURTON LAZARS, LE14 2UH

FIND ST JAMES' CHURCH

HISTORY AND ARCHITECTURE

While the earliest part of the church is contemporary with the oldest remains of St Mary’s Church in Melton Mowbray, the main body of the church is in the later Norman style and is probably an enlargement of an earlier and smaller church.

Here are the remains of an altar and piscine in each aisle of the nave and an islet can be seen on either side of the chancel arch, which may have originally supported a rood screen.

The chancel was rebuilt in the 20th century and the altar is one which served St Mary’s in Melton Mowbray for many years. The font is attributed to the latter part of the 14th century and is surprisingly in a perfect state of preservation.

Two bells are hung from the curious but handsome little bell turret at the west end of the church.

The twenty feet high Georgian memorial in the churchyard, was erected to the memory and vanity of a local man, William Squires, and is adorned with carved figures representing Life, Death, Time, Faith, Hope and Charity, as well as a stone globe of the world and was refurbished in 2022 by the Historical Churches Trust.