Morcott

I visited the church at Morcott by accident in the first week of January 2008, on a morning of blinding sunshine. You might think it difficult to visit a church by accident but this was very much unscheduled. I had a four church crawl of Rutland lined up. Arriving at South Luffenham by bus, moving on to the tiny church at Pilton, on to the wonderful church of St Martin of Tours at Lyndon before finishing at North Luffenham. Four churches visited and a good few miles walked in the beautiful Rutland countryside.

  However, it went wrong when I left the bus at South Luffenham. Sadly, my folder with my map of the area carried on to Uppingham, where it went back and forth to Stamford for the next few hours! Road signs were few and far between and I couldn't see a sign for Pilton. I did see a distant church tower however and I set off for that, thinking that it must be Pilton. It appears that my directional sense is not too good as I was surprised to enter the village and see a sign saying "Welcome To Morcott".

  This was a church that I was going to do anyway in a few weeks time but it did turn a four church crawl in to a five church crawl, as well as adding about three miles to the walk!

  The square, castelated, tower with "Witches Hat" spire stands out for miles, dominating the lovely Rutland countryside despite not being all that tall. The church is centrally placed in the village, raised up a little on high ground, and surrounded by narrow lanes and some lovely old cottages. Easy to imagine that this part of the village had changed little over the years.

  Church grounds were very large and well maintained. Sadly though, as with the neighbouring villages, the vast majority of the "ancient" graves in the grounds had been very badly weathered.

  The church was open, with cleaning ongoing for the following days service. From what I was told by a very pleasant lady who was doing the cleaning, the church is normally kept locked. This is unusual from my experiences in Rutland, where I have found a higher percentage of churches open that anywhere else I have visited. Inside is bright and well looked after. Some elaboratel arches and carvings on the capitals catch the eye.

  Very lovely church, in a beautiful village on a glorious day, just look at that blue sky!, Well worth a visit....now, back to the original plan and onwards to Pilton!!