Of course the Church is of great historical interest. Several booklets have been written about the Church and its surroundings and we are planning to commission a definitive book when the renovations are complete. The original building is 14th Century and there have been renovations over time often funded by significant local people. Local family names such as Buswell and Wilford crop up numerous times throughout the history of the Church and are well represented in the churchyard.
A more recent addition to the Church buildings has been the Orbell Room, constructed in the 1960s and funded by a past Rector, Thomas Orbell. This room is used for Church activities and we plan to base much of the community and mission work of the Church in this building.
There are many interesting memorials inside the Church and over the years there has always been links with the Clipston school.
The Churchyard contains the graves of some notable people and warrants a booklet of its own. Possibly the most illustrious grave is that of General Mayow, a hero from the charge of the Light Brigade in the Crimea. The story of his charges is inspiring and he was given a hero’s welcome when he returned after the war.
We plan to establish links with the other churches in the Benefice, Naseby, Kelmarsh and Hazelbech to establish a ‘Church trail’ so that visitors to the area may visit all the churches and see the links. We also want to develop the link with Naseby over the Battle relics etc.
The following books are recommended to anyone wishing to follow up on the history of the Church and the village:
- Clipston Heritage by Maurice Wilford – 1991. Most local people have a copy.
- Clipston a heritage by Allison Collier and Jeremy Thompson - 1998. Based on the above and expanded.
- The story of Clipston Grammar School by Sir Gyles Isham Bart - 1952.
- Observations of a Clipston Curate 1752 – 1824 by Dorothy Davies - 1995.