The Church of St Mary the Virgin is a church in

South Luffenham South Luffenham is a village in the county of Rutland in the East Midlands of England. The population of the civil parish at the 2001 census was 432, increasing to 455 at the 2011 census. The village lies largely on the north side of the A6 ...

, Rutland. It is a

Grade II* In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

listed building.

History

The church consists of a

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse. Ov ...

and a

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

, which both have

clerestories In architecture, a clerestory ( ; , also clearstory, clearstorey, or overstorey) is a high section of wall that contains windows above eye level. Its purpose is to admit light, fresh air, or both. Historically, ''clerestory'' denoted an upper l ...

, south porch, south chapel, north and south aisles, tower and spire. The church was majorly rebuilt in the 14th century. In the 15th century the clerestory in the chancel was added. The font dates to the 14th century. Also dating from the 14th century, is a table tomb in the chancel of a man in civil costume. The family arms of Culpepper is on the western panel. The chancel was restored in 1850. G. E. Street restored the church in 1861, when the chancel floor was raised and the tower arch opened up. The chapel contains a slab to the daughter of Edward Boswell, a ‘

King of the Gypsies The title King of the Gypsies has been claimed or given over the centuries to many different people. It is both culturally and geographically specific. It may be inherited, acquired by acclamation or action, or simply claimed. The extent of the p ...

’, Rose Boswell. They set up a camp in the parish at

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year ...

1793, and Rose became ill with

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, i ...

. She died on 19 February 1794, aged 17, and is buried in the south aisle.

Clergy

* Robert Cawdrey, compiler of one of the first dictionaries of the English language, the ''

Table Alphabeticall ''A Table Alphabeticall'' is the abbreviated title of the first monolingual dictionary in the English language, created by Robert Cawdrey and first published in London in 1604. Although the work is important in being the first collection of it ...

'', became rector in 1571 but was deprived in 1587 for his puritan sympathies. * Owen Gwyn, Master of St John's College, Cambridge from 1612 and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge 1615–16, was instituted Rector 28 October 1611, remaining in office until his death in 1633. * Robert Scott, (1811–1887) the co-editor with Henry George Liddell of a '' Greek-English Lexicon'', the standard dictionary of

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic p ...

, was rector here for four years before he was elected Master of Balliol College, Oxford in 1854. Balliol held the

advowson Advowson () or patronage is the right in English law of a patron (avowee) to present to the diocesan bishop (or in some cases the ordinary if not the same person) a nominee for appointment to a vacant ecclesiastical benefice or church living ...

from 1855 and many of the priests appointed were fellows of the college and noted scholars. *

James Stephen Hodson James Stephen Hodson DD FRSE (1816-1890) was a British academic and Anglican priest who served as rector of Edinburgh Academy from 1854 to 1869. Life He was born in Clifton, Bristol, in 1816 or 1817, the eldest son of George Hodson (1787–1 ...

, who was rector 1877–81, is commemorated here along with his brother

William Stephen Raikes Hodson William Stephen Raikes Hodson (19 March 182111 March 1858) was a British leader of irregular light cavalry during the Indian Rebellion of 1857, commonly referred to as the Indian Mutiny or the Sepoy Mutiny. He was known as "Hodson of Hodson's ...

(1821–1858), a soldier prominent in the Indian Mutiny - "Hodson of Hodson's Horse".

References

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