St Edmund
Egleton, Rutland
An intimate 12th century church noted for its tympanum and other Norman carvings set in a peaceful conservation village on the edge of Rutland Water.
An active church in the centre of a busy rural market town in the smallest county, Rutland. Close to Rutland water and neighbouring Melton Mowbray.
The very splendid church presides over a delightful jumble of old inns, houses and school clustered around the market place with its buttercross.
The south doorway of All Saints, the earliest part of the present building, dates from the early 13th century.
The outside, with its clerestory, pinnacles, battlements and large Perpendicular windows, has the distinguished look of a later church: 15th century for everything except the magnificent tower and slender spire, which are a century older. Most of the interior structure is of 13th or 14th century date. Be sure to look up at the series of intricately carved capitals on the tall, slender piers of the nave, lively medieval depictions of a whole host of creatures and Bible stories.
There is also a fine example of a Green Man, with leaves flowing out of his mouth. The corbels have intricate carvings, too, including one of baby birds in a nest.
The earliest feature in the church is the font, made in the late 12th or early 13th century and carved with intersecting arcades. Most of the other furnishings and fittings are Victorian, as is the chancel with its ornately stencilled and gilded ceiling. It dates from the 1850s, when the church was restored by Sir George Gilbert Scott.
A new organ, its oak case bearing the Rutland coat of arms, was installed in 1995. It plays a key role in a programme of concerts and recitals, for which this spacious, light filled church makes a wonderful setting. Oakham church has a ring of eight bells cast by Gillett & Johnston in 1910, and a priest’s bell of 1840. All Saints has a full range of worship and community activities on every day of the week.