Lyndon. church : st martin of tours
When I first had the idea for this site, one of the most important things for me was to visit some lovely places; places that I would have not otherwise ever have visited. Lyndon is a good example of this. The church and village is exquisite, but I would never have visited here if it wasn't for my website. On days like this I think that starting this site up was one of my better ideas!
Lyndon is a tiny village just over a mile from North Luffenham, right on the very edge of the catchment area of this site. Edith Weston is roughly equidistant and the shores of Rutland Water are also close by to the North. I visited here first whilst with friends in April 2007. Re-visited in February 2008, armed with a better camera. The road from North Luffenham cuts through some breathtakingly beautiful countryside. Rutland at its very best.
The church of St Martin of Tours sits in gloriously attractive grounds, surrounded by huge trees. Martin was an officer in the Roman army who once cut his robe in half, giving half to a naked begger in the bitter cold. Turning to Christianity he was baptised and, after a struggle, he was discharged from the army. In 370 AD he was made Bishop of Tours and soon after moved to a quiet place where he could lead a medititive life. Throughout his life he showed a genuine concern for every human being, whether poor or rich. He died at the age of 82, and was one of the first non-martyre saints.
The church itself is, for the most part, thirteenth and early fourteenth century. The font is thought to be earlier, and may point to the existence of an earlier church here. In past times this church has been in a very poor state of repair. I found a quote, dated from 1605, which stated that "the rain cometh in most intollerablie",
As recent as Victorian times the church was in need of much repair and much repair was undertaken in the 1860's. The three stage tower is 14th century, with the top part being rebuilt a cetury later. The church has four bells with the earliest of these bein dated 1597. Another bell, dated 1624, was cast by our old friends Tobie Norris, Bellfounders of Stamford, whose work pops up all over the place in the area. This is inscribed "Let all things be done for the Glory of God".
As mentioned earlier, the font is thought to be earlier than the rest of the church. This is thought to date from the 12th century and i was found buried in the church grounds in 1865, when the Victorian restoration was in progress.
The chancel dates from the fourteenth century. The marble pulpit dates from 1856: the marble reredos erected in 1865 depicts on the north side of the altar the Passover in Egypt, with the death of the firstborn as described in Exodus Chapter 12. On the south side Moses with the bronze snake from Numbers Chapter 11. On the centre panel the symbols of the four evangelists: the winged book of St Matthew, the winged lion of St Mark, the winged bull of St Luke and the eagle of St John. A quite superb piece of work. The Pulpit is also marble.
The church was open and welcoming, and was beautifully set out with flowers on my first visit which might have been left over from Easter. Inside, the sunshine streaming in through the south windows made for a very pleasing light quality. A lovely place to spend some quiet time alone.
On the South ad North extrior walls some very large, and distinctive, gargoyles are to be found. In the church grounds some of the gravestones are carved to a very high degree. Some very fine Georgian work to be seen here.
A very pleasing time spent here. A place that will live in the memory. It doesn't have a massive wow factor and there is no massive history attached to it. To my mind though this is everything that an ancient English Parish church should be. As I said earlier, exquisite! Well worth a visit if you are in the area.
