A good proportion of the church, which is so closely associated with Wycliff, dates from the fourteenth century.  It is a large building, with a tower and belfry stage, and four crocketed pinnacles.  The tower was formerly surmounted by a wooden belfry, but this was destroyed by the great gale of 1703.  The nave is lighted by a clerestory, and the aisles are divided by high arches.  The church is built in Early Perpendicular style, but there is a good decorated window at the eastern end of the south aisle, where there used to be a Lady Chapel.  The lower portions of the walls date from before the time of Wycliff.  At the eastern end of the chancel are an aumbry and piscina.  About thirty years ago the church was restored by Sir Gilbert Scott, when much new stone was inserted.

There are three interesting frescoes in the interior:  one is believed to represent Queen Philippa asking Edward III. to give the living of Lutterworth to Wycliff.  The roof of the nave is formed of fine woodwork of the Perpendicular period, but the pulpit, a splendid piece of fourteenth-century oak carving, claims the chief interest, being the same from which the great reformer preached.  The base has been renewed, and the rest has been much repaired, but the same pulpit has been in use for more than 500 years.  A fragment of Wycliff’s cope or chasuble is preserved in a glass case in the vestry, but some doubt attaches to the origin of “Wycliff’s chair,” which seems of considerably later date.

[Illustration:  WYCLIFF’S PULPIT IN LUTTERWORTH CHURCH.

It is a fine piece of fourteenth-century oak carving.]

COMPTON WYNYATES

=How to get there.=—­Train from Euston.  London and North-Western
  Railway.
=Nearest Station.=—­Kineton (5 miles from Compton Wynyates). =Distance from London.=—­91-3/4 miles. =Average Time.=—­Varies between 2 to 3-3/4 hours.

                     1st 2nd 3rd
=Fares.=—­Single 14s. 4d. 9s. 0d. 7s. 8d. 
          Return 26s. 6d. 16s. 11d. ...

=Accommodation Obtainable.=—­At Kineton—­“Red Lion Hotel,”
  “Swan Hotel.”
=Alternative Route.=—­None.

Compton Wynyates, the seat of the Marquess of Northampton, is one of the most beautiful Tudor houses in England, and although Warwickshire is exceedingly rich in castles and fine old houses, it can show nothing to surpass this time-worn pile of red brick and stone.  Though the moat, which was the outer guard of the place, has been partly filled in and converted into smooth lawns, one of the most romantic aspects of the house is to be seen across an angle of the watery enclosure.  The buildings surround a quadrangle, the entrance being made through a beautiful Tudor gateway.  In the spandrils of its archway are carved the arms of Henry VIII., with the griffin and greyhound for supporters and the royal crown above.

The house was built by Sir William Compton during the reign of Henry VIII., with the exception of some additions, including the great parlour panelled with oak, which dates from the days of Queen Elizabeth.