Lutterworth, England
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Lutterworth is a market town and civil parish in the
Harborough Market Harborough is a market town in the Harborough district of Leicestershire, England, in the far southeast of the county, forming part of the border with Northamptonshire. Market Harborough's population was 25,143 in 2020. It is the ad ...
district of
Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ; postal abbreviation Leics.) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East Midlands, England. The county borders Nottinghamshire to the north, Lincolnshire to the north-east, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire t ...
, England. The town is located in southern Leicestershire, close to the borders with Warwickshire and Northamptonshire. It is located north of Rugby, Warwickshire and south of
Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city l ...
. At the
2021 UK census The decennial 2021 censuses of England and Wales and of Northern Ireland took place on 21 March 2021, and the census of Scotland took place on 20 March 2022. The censuses were administered by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) in England an ...
, the civil parish of Lutterworth had a population of 10,833. The built up area of Lutterworth, which also includes the adjacent village of
Bitteswell Bitteswell is a small village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Bitteswell with Bittesby, in the Harborough district of Leicestershire in England. It is situated just north of the town of Lutterworth, and in the 2001 census had ...
had a population of 11,364.


History

Lutterworth was originally an
Anglo Saxon The Anglo-Saxons were a cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo-Saxons happened wit ...
settlement, its name is probably derived from the
Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...
''Hlutre Worth'': Lutterworth was mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086. Lutterworth was granted its market charter in 1214 by
King John King John may refer to: Rulers * John, King of England (1166–1216) * John I of Jerusalem (c. 1170–1237) * John Balliol, King of Scotland (c. 1249–1314) * John I of France (15–20 November 1316) * John II of France (1319–1364) * John I o ...
and became a small but busy market town. In the 14th century, the religious reformer John Wycliffe was rector in
St Mary's Church, Lutterworth St Mary's Church is the parish church of the town of Lutterworth, Leicestershire. The church building is 13th-century, with 14th- and 15th-century alterations. A spire on the church was blown down in 1703 and rebuilt in 1761. Sir George Gilbert Sc ...
between 1374 and 1384, and it was here that he is traditionally believed to have produced the first translation of the Bible from Latin into English. The church was restored in the 19th century and a large tower replaced the original spire. The church still contains some 15th-century wall paintings. The Irish statesman Robert le Poer was parish priest here c.1318.
Lutterworth Grammar School Lutterworth College is a large 11–19 non-selective, inclusive, comprehensive, Church of England Secondary School and Sixth Form College with academy status. Lutterworth College is situated in the rural market town of Lutterworth in the dist ...
was founded in 1630, by 1676 the population of Lutterworth had reached 644. In the days of the
stagecoach A stagecoach is a four-wheeled public transport coach used to carry paying passengers and light packages on journeys long enough to need a change of horses. It is strongly sprung and generally drawn by four horses although some versions are draw ...
, Lutterworth was an important stopping-place on the road from
Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city l ...
to Oxford and London, and many former
coaching inn The coaching inn (also coaching house or staging inn) was a vital part of Europe's inland transport infrastructure until the development of the railway, providing a resting point ( layover) for people and horses. The inn served the needs of tra ...
s remain in the town. The town also contains a number of well preserved
half-timbered Timber framing (german: Holzfachwerk) and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large wooden ...
buildings. Frank Whittle, inventor of the
jet engine A jet engine is a type of reaction engine discharging a fast-moving jet of heated gas (usually air) that generates thrust by jet propulsion. While this broad definition can include rocket, Pump-jet, water jet, and hybrid propulsion, the term ...
, developed some of the world's first jet engines at the
British Thomson-Houston British Thomson-Houston (BTH) was a British engineering and heavy industrial company, based at Rugby, Warwickshire, England, and founded as a subsidiary of the General Electric Company (GE) of Schenectady, New York, United States. They were kno ...
works in Lutterworth, and in nearby Rugby, during the late 1930s and the 1940s, with his company
Power Jets Power Jets was a British company set up by Frank Whittle for the purpose of designing and manufacturing jet engines. The company was nationalised in 1944, and evolved into the National Gas Turbine Establishment. History Founded on 27 Januar ...
. A replica of his first jet aircraft the Gloster E.28/39 stands in the middle of a roundabout just south of the town as a memorial and a number of papers and documents relating to Whittle's development of the jet engine are displayed at the town's museum. The M1 motorway was built just to the east of Lutterworth in 1964, and the M6 motorway was built a few miles to the south in 1971. At the time of the first national census in 1801, Lutterworth had a population of 1,652, this had nearly doubled to 3,197 by 1901. By 2001 it had reached 8,294. Further population growth in the 21st century has brought the population up to nearly 10,000 by 2017.


Notable buildings


Cavalier Inn

One of the established landmarks of the town is the 17th-century building on the corner of George Street and Leicester Road, previously a tavern called the Cavalier Inn. The Cavalier Inn was located just on the northern edge of the town centre of Lutterworth. Although the building has been modified over the years, it still retains its rustic charm with stone walls and low ceilings and beams. Originally called the "Ram Inn" – that part of George Street was called Ram Lane – it changed its name in the early 1970s after a brewery 'make-over' which greatly improved the interior. It is said that the brewery did not like the name Ram Inn and prudishly renamed it 'the Cavalier' after claims that wounded royalist soldiers sheltered in Lutterworth following the Battle of Naseby in 1645. In October 2010 the Cavalier Inn closed and was changed in status to a log-burning store, retailing log-burning fires and similar products and services.


Lutterworth Town Hall

The architect of
Lutterworth Town Hall Lutterworth Town Hall is a municipal building in the High Street in Lutterworth, Leicestershire, England. The structure, which operates as a community events venue, is a Grade II listed building. History In the 1830s the town masters of Lutterw ...
was
Joseph Hansom Joseph Aloysius Hansom (26 October 1803 – 29 June 1882) was a British architect working principally in the Gothic Revival style. He invented the Hansom cab and founded the eminent architectural journal, ''The Builder'', in 1843. Career Ha ...
, who also designed
Birmingham Town Hall Birmingham Town Hall is a concert hall and venue for popular assemblies opened in 1834 and situated in Victoria Square, Birmingham, England. It is a Grade I listed building. The hall underwent a major renovation between 2002 and 2007. It no ...
and took out the first patent of the horse-drawn hansom cab.


Shambles Inn

Another of the landmarks of the town centre is the thatched roof & timber-framed building now known as the 'Shambles Inn'. This former abattoir and butcher's is the oldest timber-framed building in Lutterworth, dating back to the 16th century. It was first used as a public house from 1791 until 1840, when it was converted back to a home and butcher's shop. In 1982 it was converted back into a public house and named the Shambles.


Local economy

To the west of the town [] is a large logistics and distribution centre called Magna Park, Lutterworth, Magna Park, which is the main source of employment in the Lutterworth area. Magna Park is built upon the site of the [ old Bitteswell aerodrome. Also near Lutterworth is Stanford Hall. A controversial issue in the town is how to manage the traffic flows emanating from Magna Park and the nearby M1 and A5 trunk roads. Approximately 3,000 heavy goods vehicles pass through the town every day and pollution levels are reported as being high. The Census 2011 Summary also indicates an overall growth in residents' vehicles, which is likely to add to traffic and pollution concerns according to the Census summary. There is a Morrisons Food Store (formerly
Safeway Safeway is an American supermarket chain founded by Marion Barton Skaggs in April 1915 in American Falls, Idaho. The chain provides grocery items, food and general merchandise and features a variety of specialty departments, such as bakery, d ...
) on Bitteswell Road, as well as a
Subway Subway, Subways, The Subway, or The Subways may refer to: Transportation * Subway, a term for underground rapid transit rail systems * Subway (underpass), a type of walkway that passes underneath an obstacle * Subway (George Bush Interconti ...
on High Street. Waitrose opened on 11 March 2010 on a site previously occupied by Netto. Aldi opened a new store on Rugby Road on 12 Aug 2021. On the Greenacres Housing estate in the town there was an estate public house, recently called 'The Sir Frank Whittle' and previously called 'The Balloon'. This building was sold by the brewery to the Co-op who changed the use and structure of the premises to be the new Co-op store in the town. The Co-op Food Store previously located on George Street closed in June 2014 coinciding with the opening of the new store. Lutterworth also houses the headquarters of the free Bible distributors 'Good News for everyone'. This organisation, formerly known as British Gideons, has been headquartered in Lutterworth since 1974.


Transport

Lutterworth lies on the A426 Leicester–Rugby road, adjacent to the M1 motorway at junction 20. It is also located within a few miles of the M6 motorway and A5 trunk road. A southern bypass, the A4303, was opened in 1999, providing a route for traffic from the M1 to the A5 to avoid Lutterworth town centre. The nearest railway station to Lutterworth is Rugby railway station about six miles to the south. The town formerly had its own railway station on the former
Great Central Main Line The Great Central Main Line (GCML), also known as the London Extension of the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway (MS&LR), is a former railway line in the United Kingdom. The line was opened in 1899 and built by the Great Central Railw ...
which opened in 1899, and closed in 1969. Historically there were another two railway stations close to Lutterworth: The first was Ullesthorpe & Lutterworth, about to the north west, on the former Midland Railway (later part of the
LMS LMS may refer to: Science and technology * Labeled magnitude scale, a scaling technique * Learning management system, education software * Least mean squares filter, producing least mean square error * Leiomyosarcoma, a rare form of cancer * Lenz ...
) line from
Rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...
to
Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city l ...
, closed on 1 January 1962. The second was Welford & Kilworth at one time known as Welford & Lutterworth, some east on the London & North Western Railway (also later LMS) line from Rugby to Market Harborough and Peterborough, closed on 6 June 1966. Arriva Midlands and
Centrebus Centrebus is a bus company based in Leicester operating services in Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire and Rutland. Centrebus have a 51% shareholding in High Peak Buses and since December 2019 through c ...
are the main operators of bus services around Lutterworth with services into
Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city l ...
, Market Harborough, Rugby, Warwickshire and Hinckley.


Sport

The town supports two individual local football teams :
Lutterworth Athletic F.C. Lutterworth Athletic Football Club is a football club based in Lutterworth, Leicestershire, England. They are currently members of the and play at Hall Park. History The club was established in 1983 as a youth team under the name Lutterworth ...
and
Lutterworth Town A.F.C. Lutterworth Town Association Football Club is a football club based in Lutterworth, Leicestershire, England. They are members of the and play at Dunley Way. History The club were playing in the Lutterworth & District League at the start of the ...
who both play in the United Counties League There is also a tennis club – Lutterworth Tennis Club – located just outside Lutterworth on Hall Lane. Banger Racing was once staged in the town on farmland adjacent to the Coventry Road on the A4303. Racing ceased in the late 1990s.


Education


Primary schools

There are two primary schools in Lutterworth: John Wycliffe Primary School and Sherrier Primary School. Sherrier was originally housed in a
Victorian Victorian or Victorians may refer to: 19th century * Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign ** Victorian architecture ** Victorian house ** Victorian decorative arts ** Victorian fashion ** Victorian literature ...
building on Churchgate before moving to a new location on Bitteswell Road in 1983. Sherrier featured on the BBC TV children's TV programme ''
Blue Peter ''Blue Peter'' is a British children's television entertainment programme created by John Hunter Blair. It is the longest-running children's TV show in the world, having been broadcast since October 1958. It was broadcast primarily from BBC Tel ...
'' on 5 February 2008.


Secondary schools

The local secondary schools are
Lutterworth High School Lutterworth High School is a coeducational academy An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership) ...
(for ages 11–16) on Woodway Road and
Lutterworth College Lutterworth College is a large 11–19 non-selective, inclusive, comprehensive, Church of England Secondary School and Sixth Form College with academy status. Lutterworth College is situated in the rural market town of Lutterworth in the distr ...
(for ages 11–18) on Bitteswell Road, both of which achieve good results in applicable exams. A new Studio School called
Sir Frank Whittle Studio School The Sir Frank Whittle Studio School was a 14–19 Studio School, part of The Lutterworth Academies Trust. It was situated alongside Lutterworth College in the rural market town of Lutterworth, South Leicestershire. The school specialised in e ...
opened in 2015 (for ages 14–18) that offers purely vocational courses. In 2019 the Sir Frank Whittle Studio School closed due to a lack of students and minimal further interest.


Health services

Feilding Palmer Hospital, run by
Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust provides mental health, learning disability and community health services across Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ; postal abbreviation Leics.) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East Mi ...
is situated in the town. It has a ward which provides general rehabilitation and palliative and end of life care. Under the Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland Sustainability and transformation plan it is proposed to close.


Popular culture

Mark Corrigan of the British television series '' Peep Show'' describes a trip to Lutterworth by public transport as taking so long that it feels like going to Mordor, a reference to Tolkien's '' The Lord of the Rings'' trilogy. The 1973 sitcom ''Me, myself and Nigel Wright'' was set in an ostrich farm near the town.


See also

*
Bitteswell Bitteswell is a small village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Bitteswell with Bittesby, in the Harborough district of Leicestershire in England. It is situated just north of the town of Lutterworth, and in the 2001 census had ...


References


External links


Lutterworth Town Council
{{authority control Towns in Leicestershire Market towns in Leicestershire Civil parishes in Harborough District