formed in 1947 and the church was designed in 1948 by the architects Reynolds & Scott, who built a number of parishes in the Diocese of Nottingham. The church was designed in a stripped basilican style. The broad west tower is a recognisable local landmark due to its distinctive nature. Whilst there were a number of Catholic churches within Leicester at the time of the church's construction, St Thomas More's was the first to be built to serve the community of Knighton. The foundation stone was laid by Bishop Edward Ellis, Bishop of Nottingham, in 1950. The church was officially opened for use in 1952. The design incorporated a domed baldacchino over the altar and altar rails, all of which have been removed. At the time of the re-ordering which removed the baldacchino, a parish hall was built adjacent to the church. Stained glass windows along the nave of the church include references to key elements of the Roman Catholic faith, with symbolic representations of Christ's ministry and a number of the sacraments. In the late 1990s to modernise and to make the church suitable to the reforms implemented during the Second Vatican Council the baldacchino, traditional altar, altar rail and marble lectern were replaced with mosaics implanted into the floor of the sanctuary, a mosaic cross was installed in the confessional and new decorational pieces were placed above the new, unusual octagonal altar. Notable people Henry Knighton: wrote a history of England from the Norman conquest until 1396, the year he died. Sir William Lindsay Everard: MP, brewer and pioneer aviator. Clare Hollingworth: journalist and first person to alert the world that World War II had started References External links Areas of Leicester Former civil parishes in Leicestershire