Lutterworth
THE HOME OF JOHN WYCLIFF
=How to get there.=–Train from Marylebone. Great Central Railway.
=Nearest Station.=–Lutterworth.
=Distance from London.=–90 miles.
=Average Time.=–Varies between 2-1/4 to 3 hours.
1st 2nd 3rd
=Fares.=–Single 12s. 4d. ... 7s. 0d.
Return 24s. 0d. ... 14s. 0d.
=Accommodation Obtainable.=–"Hind Hotel,” “Denbigh Arms,"
“Fox,” etc.
Situated in typical English midland scenery, the quiet little country
town of Lutterworth rises from the surrounding undulating pasture-land.
Here, in the beginning of the fourteenth century, when it was probably
merely a fair-sized village, John Wycliff, the “Morning Star of the
Reformation,” and founder of the Lollards, was born. The main street
slopes down the hill, beyond the houses, till it reaches the river side,
where it is carried over the little river Swift on a small bridge.
A good proportion of the church, which is so closely associated with
Wycliff, dates from the fourteenth century. It is a large building, with
a tower and belfry stage, and four crocketed pinnacles. The tower was
formerly surmounted by a wooden belfry, but this was destroyed by the
great gale of 1703. The nave is lighted by a clerestory, and the aisles
are divided by high arches. The church is built in Early Perpendicular
style, but there is a good decorated window at the eastern end of the
south aisle, where there used to be a Lady Chapel. The lower portions of
the walls date from before the time of Wycliff. At the eastern end of
the chancel are an aumbry and piscina. About thirty years ago the church
was restored by Sir Gilbert Scott, when much new stone was inserted.
There are three interesting frescoes in the interior: one is believed to
represent Queen Philippa asking Edward III. to give the living of
Lutterworth to Wycliff. The roof of the nave is formed of fine woodwork
of the Perpendicular period, but the pulpit, a splendid piece of
fourteenth-century oak carving, claims the chief interest, being the
same from which the great reformer preached. The base has been renewed,
and the rest has been much repaired, but the same pulpit has been in use
for more than 500 years. A fragment of Wycliff’s cope or chasuble is
preserved in a glass case in the vestry, but some doubt attaches to the
origin of “Wycliff’s chair,” which seems of considerably later date.
[Illustration: WYCLIFF’S PULPIT IN LUTTERWORTH CHURCH.
It is a fine piece of fourteenth-century oak carving.]
Continue...
Preface •
Ham House and Petersham •
Walton-On-Thames (scold’s Bridle) •
Harrow •
Holwood House, Keston •
Chigwell, Essex •
Waltham Abbey and Cross •
Downe •
Epsom: Its Races and Its Salts •
Epping Forest •
Hampton Court •
Rye House, Broxbourne •
Hatfield House, Herts •
Runnymead, the Signing of Magna Charta •
The Oldest Brass in England •
St. Albans •
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Furness Abbey, Lancashire •
Monkwearmouth, Near Jarrow •
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The Lake District •
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Alnwick Castle •
Lanercost Priory, Cumberland •
Lanercost Priory and Stepping-Stones.] •
St. Ives, Cornwall •
Bamborough Castle, Northumberland
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