England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
South Luffenham St Mary

The Parish

The parish of South Luffenham lies in southern Rutland not too far from its border with neighbouring Northamptonshire. South Luffenham is located roughly 5 miles east of the small market town of Uppingham and sits on and mostly north of the A6121 road which links Stamford with the A47 (Peterborough to Leicester) road.  is a small and compact village which sits in the shallow valley of a small tributary of the River Chafer, properties lie on both sides of this small stream as well as on the route of the A6121. Whilst, like many of the parishes in this area, South Luffenham was a largely arable farming community the parish also was dominated by a large area of unproductive land to its east, now South Luffenham Heath. Modern developments have come to the area, the railway line linking Stamford and Oakham passes through the northern reaches of the parish without granting South Luffenham a station, a second former rout headed for Market Harborough is closed and largely dismantled. The Chafer runs less than a half mile to South Luffenham's north and drains the parish northeastwards joining the Welland and passing through Stamford en route to the North Sea arriving through The Wash. South Luffenham is sited at around 50 metres above the sea in gently rolling countryside where local heights rise to 115 metres a couple of miles to the west. At just over 1,200 acres South Luffenham parish was fairly typically sized for the area, within that acreage a population of around 300 parishioners would have been supported. In Domesday times South Luffenham was largely held by Countess Judith and could offer 6 ploughs and a small meadow.

The Church

St Mary's church sits between the A6121 and the stream running through the centre of the village on the narrow lane of The Street. Externally the church appears to all be of the 14th century and a mixture of Decorated and Perpendicular styles but forensic work internally by Pevsner reveals that the church has much earlier origins. The earliest piece which is identified is that of the northern arcade which shows the late 12th century style of the short-lived Transitional period whilst its matching southern arcade is slightly later and from the Early English Gothic period of the early 13th century. By contrast the southern chapel and chancel arch are both given a tentative date of c1300 when the Decorated era was just emerging. As mentioned the exterior, including the splendid western tower all dates either from the 14th century or from later restoration work. The church has a typical Perpendicular clerestory added to improve internal lighting. Victorian restorations came in two phases, the first of 1852 tackled the chancel whilst the remainder received similar treatment in 1861. The Street is rather narrow but outside the church a small triangular green enables careful parking avoiding blocking traffic which is nevertheless light within the village. That western tower sits flush to the local limestone walling and tight to neighbouring properties, metal gates grant entry to the wider churchyard which has a few trees needing careful selection of viewing angles for the photographer.