The Church of St Peter and St Paul is a church in

Langham, Rutland Langham is a village and civil parish in Rutland in the East Midlands of England. The village is about north-west of Oakham, on the A606 main road linking Oakham and Melton Mowbray. Etymology The village's name means "homestead/village which i ...

. The

Church of England parish church A parish church in the Church of England is the church which acts as the religious centre for the people within each Church of England parish (the smallest and most basic Church of England administrative unit; since the 19th century sometimes ...

is a

Grade I listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

History

The church dates to the 13th century. The

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

arch and the arcades in the

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 ...

date to the 14th century and the aisles, transepts and

clerestory A clerestory ( ; , also clearstory, clearstorey, or overstorey; from Old French ''cler estor'') is a high section of wall that contains windows above eye-level. Its purpose is to admit light, fresh air, or both. Historically, a ''clerestory' ...

were added in the 15th century. Above each column and around the walls are carvings which are thought to have been carved by some apprentice masons who did some work on

Canterbury Cathedral Canterbury Cathedral is the cathedral of the archbishop of Canterbury, the spiritual leader of the Church of England and symbolic leader of the worldwide Anglican Communion. Located in Canterbury, Kent, it is one of the oldest Christianity, Ch ...

. Sir Henry Clarke-Jervoise is remembered in a stained glass window in the south transept by

Ninian Comper Sir John Ninian Comper (10 June 1864 – 22 December 1960) was a Scottish architect, one of the last of the great Gothic Revival architecture, Gothic Revival architects. His work almost entirely focused on the design, restoration and embellishm ...

, who was also responsible for the east window's glass. In the south transept is a marble slab remembering John Clarke and one of his wives. To one side is a calligraphy scroll commemorating

Simon Langham Simon Langham (1310 – 22 July 1376) was an English clergyman who was Archbishop of Canterbury and a cardinal. Life Langham was born at Langham in Rutland. The manor of Langham was a property of Westminster Abbey, and he had become a mon ...

(1310 – 1376) who was born in the village. He was a monk at

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an Anglican church in the City of Westminster, London, England. Since 1066, it has been the location of the coronations of 40 English and British m ...

who became Archbishop of Canterbury and a cardinal. The

font In metal typesetting, a font is a particular size, weight and style of a ''typeface'', defined as the set of fonts that share an overall design. For instance, the typeface Bauer Bodoni (shown in the figure) includes fonts " Roman" (or "regul ...

dates from the 14th century. There is also a 16th-century oak chest. There are also some unusual

elephant Elephants are the largest living land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant ('' Loxodonta africana''), the African forest elephant (''L. cyclotis''), and the Asian elephant ('' Elephas maximus ...

carvings on top of the

vestry A vestry was a committee for the local secular and ecclesiastical government of a parish in England, Wales and some English colony, English colonies. At their height, the vestries were the only form of local government in many places and spen ...

wall, carved to remember the Owen family who supported the church. The family were involved in the

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...

. There is a plaque commemorating

John Brocklehurst, 1st Baron Ranksborough John Fielden Brocklehurst, 1st Baron Ranksborough (13 May 1852 – 28 February 1921), was a British soldier, courtier and Liberal Party (UK), Liberal politician. Background and education Brocklehurst was the son of Henry Brocklehurst, of Foden ...

. Outside, situated near the south door, is a stump of a cross. There is also a grave remembering Sir Kenneth Ruddle, a member of the

Ruddles Brewery Ruddles Brewery (G. Ruddle & Co) was a brewery in Rutland, England. The brand is now owned by Greene King who still brew beers under the Ruddles name in Suffolk, although the current recipes are not those used at the original brewery. The brewe ...

family.

References

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