Our Lady & Saint Gregory’s Church, Market Bosworth

In 1923 a small congregation of Catholics in the town of Market Bosworth began to meet for Mass monthly at rooms in the Red Lion Inn in the town. The masses were celebrated by the parish priest of Earl Shilton, Father Leonard Middleton. In the later 1920s when Earl Shilton had no resident parish priest itself, the communities in the two villages were served by the parish priest of Coalville.

From 1929 to 1931 the mass centre for the village became the home of Mrs Trivett. Again, the support of devout local families was crucial in the sustaining of the Mass in the village, as in Earl Shilton and Hinckley.

The initiative for building a church came from Father Degen, the long standing and vigorous parish priest from Coalville. Land for the church was given by the brother of a Mrs Sutton, Sir Arthur Wheeler. At the time of its opening in 1931, the church had a capacity for 65 people but this increased via extensions over a number of years. Mrs Sutton donated a statue of the Madonna and Child, brought back from a pilgrimage to Lourdes, which is still in situ over the doorway, greeting worshippers as they enter the church 

The early names associated with the church in Market Bosworth continue to this day. The church was served faithfully from Earl Shilton for many years by Father Terry Fellowes.