The small church has a Norman chancel window, 13th Century lancets, a tower with a broach spire dating back to 1300 and a porch from 1661. There are traces of an earlier building and the massive font is said to be Saxon on a Norman stone base. Diseworth Heritage Centre houses a small museum of artefacts, pictures and memorabilia in the main hall, with regular exhibitions throughout the year reflecting life in Diseworth and nearby Long Whatton in the past.
The four principal streets of the village -Grimes Gate, Hall Gate, Clements Gate and Lady Gate - meet at The Cross; a staggered crossroads close to the Church of St Michael's and All Angels.
The Diseworth Heritage Trust restored the flood-damaged Baptist Chapel building during 2007 to 2009 as the Diseworth Heritage Centre.
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William Lilly was born in 1602 in Diseworth where his family were long-established yeomen . An old thatched cottage standing near the church was his birthplace. A serious student of astrology, he regularly published early almanacs and other works foretelling the future.He received a basic classical education at the school of Ashby de la Zouch, but makes a point of saying that his master never taugh logic. At the age of seventeen, his father having fallen into poverty, he went to London and was employed in attendance on an elderly couple. His master, at his death in 1627, left him an annuity of £20; and, Lilly having soon afterwards married the widow, she, dying in 1633, left him property to the value of about £1000.Lilly caused much controversy in 1652 for allegedly predicting the Great Fire of London some 14 years before it happened. For this reason many people believed that he might have started the fire, but there is no evidence to support these claims. |
