The Interior

Starting at the porch door, go into the nave and to the entrance to the tower. Above the belfry door, on the white screen, are the Royal Arms. These were designed and produced by the Loughborough College of Art in 1968, the practice of displaying the Royal Arms dating back to the Commonwealth. At the side of the doorway is a list of rectors of Hathern. The tower contains an octave of bells, tuned in the key of G sharp major.

Turning to face the altar, you will have a full view of the church. Look up into the roof. The ridge of the nave is offset from the centreline of the chancel and tower. There are many guesses why this should be so, but no one knows for sure. The ten Hathern angels can also be seen in the roof. Two of them have exchanged a wing during repair in 1980, can you see which they are? There are also some stone portrait carvings on the corbels of the roof trusses.

Next, enter the North aisle. About half way along there is a plaque commemorating Phoebe Bradford, who left money for the benefit of the widows of Hathern, which is still being administered.

The North Transept was built in memory of the Revd Phillipps and his family, who are buried beneath the floor under the initialled memorial floor tiles. Brass plaques on the interior wall and a large inscription on the exterior give the details. The transept now contains the organ, purchased second hand in 1923. Notice, too, the two carved foliated capitals on the columns leading from transept to chancel. Between the transept and vestry is a small picture showing the church immediately after its restoration.

In the chancel the striking item is the East Window, with its glowing blue-purple colours. It was installed in 1871 in memory of members of the Middleton family, one of whom was rector of Hathern during the last decades of the eighteenth century. It replaced a window reputed to date back to 1298! Among the chancel memorials is one to Revd Matthew Trigge, rector from 1682 to 1691, who rebuilt the rectory now known as the Stints Farm. The later rectory was built in 1820 and is now privately owned.

Enter the South aisle, passing the pulpit, carved with symbols of the evangelists. Along the wall are memorials to past rectors of Hathern and their families. The Saxon font is reputed to be the oldest in Leicestershire. It was discarded at the 1860 restoration in favour of a new one near the church door and until 1928 stood in the churchyard and rectory gardens. It is now used again.

The Victorian font of the 1860's stands by the Remembrance Corner. The names of Hathern men who fell during and after the two Great Wars are recorded here, and in the memorial book, given in 1968, are written the names of deceased members of the parish.