Rutland Water Benefice

St Mary the Virgin - Manton

Village

The village of Manton sits to the south west of Rutland Water, close to Oakham. Just to the east is Lynton nature reserve, and to the north is Egleton nature reserve, home of an annual bird watching festival.

In the late 16th century a major coaching route ran through Manton. The traffic eventually brought great prosperity to the village and several houses in Manton date from the 17th and 18th centuries.

Manton played its part in the great railway age of the late 19th century. In 1875 a rail tunnel was built under the village, and the line was still in use. The village had a railway station, Manton Junction, situated to the south of the village. It closed in the 1960s and the station buildings are now used as a factory.

Manton also has a number of other attractions including the pub, the 'Horse and Jockey'. Manton holds regular social events including book clubs and safari suppers.

Church

The church of St Mary at Manton is unusual in that is has no tower - distinctive as most of the churches in our parish and the surrounding area have towers.

The earliest church was probably from the 12th century and consisted of an aisle-less building with small square ended chancel. About 1200 a north aisle was added, together with an extra bay at the west end, increasing the nave to its present length.

In the 14th century a chantry college was founded inside the church.

The chancel was almost entirely rebuilt in 1796 and externally is entirely from that period. There was a restoration of the fabric in 1887, and the chancel was re-roofed in 1894.

The two bells were recast by Taylor and Co. of Loughborough in 1920. There is a War Memorial Cross in the churchyard.

Organ

More information on the organ can be found by following this link to the The National Pipe Organ Register (NPOR) entry.

Some items extracted from Wikipedia, the free encyclopaedia [link]