Lutterworth
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Market_Street,_Lutterworth.jpg
Lutterworth is a market town in the Harborough district of Leicestershire, England. The town is located in southern Leicestershire, roughly 7 miles (11 km) north of Rugby, in Warwickshire and roughly 15 miles (25 km) south of Leicester. The 2001 census recorded a population of 8,293 in the town.
Lutterworth lies on the A426 Leicester-Rugby road, adjacent to the M1 motorway, and close to the A5. The town was formerly served by the main line of the Great Central Railway; however, since the closure of this line in the 1960s the nearest railway station is now at Rugby. Just to the west of the town is a large industrial estate called "Magna Park", which is the main employer in the town. "Magna park" is built upon the site of the old "Bitteswell aerodrome".
History
Template:GBdot The name of Lutterworth is derived from the Old Norse name "Lutter's Vordig" meaning Luther's Farm.
In the days of the stagecoach, Lutterworth was an important stopping place on the road from Leicester to Oxford and London, and many former coaching inns remain in the town. The town also contains some historic Half-timbered buildings, some of which date back to the 16th century. Nearby to Luterworth is Stanford Hall.
Claims to fame
Lutterworth has two main claims to fame:
Firstly, the 14th century religious reformer Canon John Wyclif was Rector in Lutterworth's Parish Church of St. Mary between 1374 and 1384, and it was here that he produced the first ever translation of the Bible from Latin into English.
Lutterworth's other main claim to fame is that Frank Whittle, inventor of the jet engine, developed some of the world's first jet engines at the British Thomson-Houston works in Lutterworth, and in nearby Rugby, during the late 1930s and the 1940s. The engine for the UK's first jet aeroplane the Gloster E.28/39 was produced in Lutterworth. A statue of the plane stands in the middle of a roundabout just south of the town as a memorial.
External links
- Lutterworth Website (http://www.thisislutterworth.com/)
- Lutterworth Town Council (http://www.lutterworth.org.uk/)