Pictures of Lyddington

in the county of Rutland

St Andrew's, Lyddington by Ken Ince ©

Bede House, Lyddington by Jez Taylor ©

Photograph of The Bede House, Lyddington, Rutland

The Bede House, Lyddington, Rutland by Nick Hodgett ©

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About Lyddington

The charming village of Lyddington is set along what was doubtless once an ancient track that carried horse-drawn traffic. In the middle of the 18th-century, a new turnpike road was opened, blessedly leaving the track in peace so that today we see a long main street of lovely mellow ironstone properties from the 17th and 18th-centuries.

Set in the lush greenery of the Welland Valley, this quiet backwater has one of the few remaining Wildlife Sites on the River Welland. The site, owned by the Leicestershire and Rutland Wildlife Trust, is small but extremely valuable. It shows a rich variety of wild meadow plants, these include; great burnet, meadow buttercup, meadow foxtail, quaking grass, and many others.

In the Middle Ages this must have been an important place, it remains the only place in what was once the tiny county of Rutland were a great palace was built. The palace was used as a home for the Bishops of Lincoln, the site chosen was next to the church of St.Andrew, both still play an important role in village life. Lyddington Bede House has a chequered history, it was confiscated during the Reformation, been pillaged for its stone, turned into almshouses by Lord Burghley, and now it has been fully restored by English Heritage. The house is exceptional, in that for the period it has windows along the one side of the great hall (20ft wide x 47ft long) it also has intricate cornices, below which the stone walls would have been hung with lavish drapes. Interestingly, it was Queen Elizabeth I who gifted the palace to the Cecil family who where responsible for turning it into Bede House.

The church of St. Andrew is one of great beauty, it has a broach spire on top of its 14th-century tower and a graceful interior where you can view many treasures from its historic past. In the churchyard there are graves covering several centuries.

In the village, The Marquis of Exeter, once an ancient coaching inn ruined by the ravages of fire, has now been completely restored to become a comfortable hotel.

This is a lovely village with a sedate atmosphere. It would make an idyllic place for a romantic weekend or an excellent base for touring the beautiful counties of Rutland and Leicestershire.

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