Lutterworth

Jet Engines and Wycliffe

A bronze bust of Sir Frank Whittle faces Church Street in Lutterworth's Memorial Gardens. His company, Power Jets, began development and testing in town in 1938, and a W1X test engine was assembled and run here by April 1941. A flight engine powered the Gloster E.28/39 on its first flight the following month. Ladywood Works is listed, and the volunteer-run Lutterworth Museum displays a W2/700 engine, original Whittle correspondence, a copy of his 1930 patent and exhibits about John Wycliffe.

John Wycliffe served as rector of Lutterworth's parish church from 1374 until his death in 1384. He guided the first complete English Bible translation. His bones were exhumed and burned in 1428; local tradition says his ashes were cast into the River Swift, which still runs through town.

Church Art and Coaching History

St Mary's is Grade I listed and contains remarkable medieval paintings. A Doom painting stands above the chancel arch, while the Three Living and Three Dead appears over the north door. Sir George Gilbert Scott restored the church in the nineteenth century, and the Lutterworth Tapestry hangs at its west end.

On Market Street, the Grade II listed Greyhound Coaching Inn retains an early nineteenth-century façade and a restored courtyard. Its lounge bar serves drinks and coffee; the restaurant no longer serves regular lunch or evening meals, except for private functions.

Lutterworth's Pub Character

The Real Ale Classroom on Station Road is a micropub that won Best Pub Experience at the Leicestershire Tourism and Hospitality Awards in 2018. It serves cask ale, craft beer and cider, and has a large south-facing beer garden. Sister pubs are in Leicester and Stoneygate.

The Unicorn Inn on Church Street has darts, a pool table, live sport and a beer garden. Its bar serves beer, cider, wines and spirits, and pets are welcome.

Green Walks

For a short walk, the published Lutterworth Country Park route covers 1.2 kilometres through rough grassland, woodland and wetland. About 5.6 miles from Lutterworth in a straight line, near Sharnford, Fosse Meadows offers woodland paths, a wildlife lake and a bird hide, with a permanent orienteering course for a longer explore.

Arriving and the Long View

The M1's junction 20 gives road access to Lutterworth. Arriva's 84 connects the town with Leicester, while the X84 connects it with Rugby. Lutterworth's railway station closed in 1969.

The Domesday Book recorded twenty-eight households at Lutterworth in 1086. Today, nearby Magna Park is a major logistics and distribution centre, a striking change in scale from the market town's early record.