UPPER BROUGHTON : CHURCH OF ST LUKE.

Church Post Code LE14 3BF

Open to visitors

It was Sunday lunchtime; early August during the long hot UK summer of 2026. We were between heatwaves number four and five; the heat having temporarily dropped for a time before heatwave number five arrived later that week. Hosepipe bans were in force throughout the country and the grass in the grounds at the church of St Luke Upper Broughton was roughly the same colour as the brown ironstone from which this church is mainly constructed!

This was our fourth church of the day in what was to be a five church mini crawl. We had started off by attending two communion services at Thorpe Arnold and Burton Lazars; to the north east and south east of Melton Mowbray respectively before heading towards Nottingham, visiting Nether Broughton then crossing the border in to Nottinghamshire to visit St Luke at Upper Broughton.

The village here is also known as Broughton Sulney and can be found either side of the A606 which connects Melton Mowbray to Nottingham; with the former seven miles or so away to the south east. The village recorded a population of 346 at the time of the census of 2021.

The church here is dedicated to St Luke but was dedicated to St Oswald in the past. The church is central in the village, on slightly raised ground, and has as a neighbour the Tap and Run public house, which is partly owned by former England cricketer Stuart Broad. This was badly damaged by fire in June 2022 being reopened the following year.

The village was mentioned in the Domesday Survey of 1086 but there was no mention of a church or priest at that time, in lands owned by King William. Interestingly though, set in to the interior wall of the south porch we see some carvings which are thought to date from shortly after the survey. One is a carving of a crowned human figure, which is thought to be St Oswald and alongside it is a series of shapes which might be stars! Does this suggest that there was a church here shortly after the Domesday Survey or might this have been brought in from another church?

The church that we see today consists of west tower, nave with north aisle, south porch, north vestry and chancel. The oldest part of the structure that we see today dates back to the late 12th century. At one point there was a south aisle, which was taken down at an unknown date, and one arch remains, towards the western end of the nave with the south door punched through.

This former south aisle dates from around 1190 with the north aisle being added during the 13th century, at which point the western tower was added. There was a period of building here in 1733 at which point the new south porch was added, using existing materials, with a date stamp inside the porch added commemorating the rebuilding.

There was another period of rebuilding in the 1850s. Originally the rector of the day had plans to restore the chancel, nave and tower, with plans drawn up to include a small steeple on top of the tower, but in the end only the chancel was replaced. In 1879 the nave and north aisle were restored, with at the same time other work being carried out, including the removal of an old west gallery and new seating in the nave. In more recent times, in the 1960’s, a north vestry and a north choir vestry were each added.

The visitor makes their way to the south porch via a gate to the south west, with the church grounds filled with slate gravestones; a study of which to be fair could have taken the whole of the day to do thoroughly. Looking at the church from the south, the two stage tower is buttressed to the top of the lower stage; battlemented with a frieze running across the top of the tower of a repeated ‘X’ design.

The structure itself without being disrespectful is a little curious! There is no clerestory to the south, but there are clerestory windows to the north. The nave roof is flat; the rebuilt chancel has a steeply pitched tile roof and stands proud of the nave. The exterior to the north is 'busy' with substantial north vestry.

The 18th century south porch is pinnacled to east and west, with a similar frieze to that seen on the tower reused again to the east and west sides.

The rebuilt 19th century chancel has in places alternating stones of ironstone and limestone; this to be found in the arches over the windows and in a section lower down on the south wall. The church is fairly plain; the only carvings to be found are heads looking out from the labels stops of the windows to the south.

There are five bells in the ring here; with the first of the ring being of real age. This is attributed to the Seliok family of Nottingham and to John in particular who was founder between 1470 and 1507. The second and third bells are each from Taylor of Loughborough; the second of the ring being cast in 1948 with the third dating from 1910, this being a recasting of a 1682 bell which was inscribed ‘God Save His Chvrch’.

The fourth and fifth were each cast by the Oldfield foundry of Nottingham. The fourth was cast by Henry II Oldfield in 1596 with the fifth courtesy of George I Oldfield in 1620. This is inscribed ‘All men that hear my mournful sound repent before you lie in ground’.

Moving inside it was bright and welcoming; and it was good to be out of the warmth of the sun for a brief while. The 13th century north arcade is of four bays, with octagonal piers and capitals; with the capitals having nailhead decoration. As mentioned earlier what remains of the south arcade is built in to the south wall of the nave.

It was interesting to see a Solomon’s knot carved in to one of the piers in the north arcade. This consists of two interlaced loops, which have no beginning and no end; symbolising eternity.

At the western end of the nave a large patchwork hangs down; an impressive thing which has several different local scenes, including the church, children dancing around a maypole, a hunting scene and depictions of the local wildlife. Some scenes appear to be more personal; we see a beautiful black cat, I daresay a beloved pet long since passed away, two people playing tennis with a trophy between them and a Rubik’s cube! This was completed and hung in 1981; perhaps the inclusion of the Rubik’s cube is good dating evidence as it was that year that the cube was voted Toy of the Year as the craze took hold throughout the country.

Fascinating to think that we are looking at the handiwork of local people here from 45 odd years ago; their interests and memories memorialised for us to see today with I am sure the majority of those involved having passed away in the meantime.

The chancel was rebuilt in 1855 and some of the history was lost in the rebuilding, with no sedilia or piscina which would have been positioned against the south wall or aumbry which would have been set in to the north wall.

All of the stained glass in this church can be found in the chancel. The east window is of three lights and has a depiction of the risen Christ with hand raised in blessing central. He wears a red cloak, symbolic of the blood that was shed, with wounds visible on hands and feet. He carries a communion wafer in his other hand; the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove can be seen in the tracery.

We also see a depiction from Matthew Chapter 19 with Jesus surrounded by children, under the disapproving glare of two of the disciples; with verses 13 and 14 reading ‘Then were there brought unto him little children, that he should put his hands on them, and pray: and the disciples rebuked them. But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven’.

This is a verse that was often used on the gravestones for children, and up in the tracery in this window we see an angel carrying a deceased child lovingly towards Heaven.

One further two light window shows Jesus as the Bread of Life and turning water in to wine, his first miracle at the wedding in Cana. Up in the tracery here we see three angels at prayer.

The altar itself is plain and simple with just a solitary cross. The altar cloth is green; the colour used in the church calendar for ‘Ordinary Time’, the period between the major Christian festivals, in this case from the time of Pentecost to the start of Advent. Angels with long flowing hair look out from north and south walls; with similar but smaller at the label stops of the east window.

A fine memorial to John Brett who died in January 1788 aged 43 years has an interesting epitaph, which is in accordance with what we will see outside on many of the finely carved slate gravestone; that life is fragile, and that Man is mortal and will die. This epitaph end ‘God only is immortal Man not so/Life to be paid upon demand we owe’. Next to this is the memorial to his wife Elizabeth who outlived him by 35 years, passing away aged 74 in 1823. A glowing epitaph reads in part ‘A loving parent and a constant friend/Kind to her children always to the end…’

The font dates from the 14th century; with octagonal bowl stem and base, with carved relief tracery decorating the panels of the bowl.

Moving back outside, the church grounds are of great interest. I was here mainly for the Belvoir Angels, for which there are two pages on this site devoted. In looking at the epitaphs on those we often see warnings to those looking on; life was hard and often short so be sure that you are right with God for when your own time comes, for come it must.

Just to pick a few at random that further illustrates this. A stone to William Cross Gent who died in August 1807 aged 56 years whose epitaph reads ‘Upon the road I met pale death/Who soon deprived me of my breath/All in a moment awful thought/My soul eternal mansions sought/From accident no Man is free/The next Oh reader might be thee/Then when you view my grave my dust/Prepare be ready die you must’.

The inevitability of death and being right with God when your own time comes can be seen in an epitaph to one Mary the wife of William Gill who died in December 1781 aged 29 years. It reads ‘Make sure of Christ do not delay/For no one knows her dying day/The sweetest flower doth soon decay/And so our time it fades away/Therefore repent now you have time/Death cut me off just in my prime’.

A wonderful epitaph to Thomas Hankin who died in May 1785 aged 53 years sums up what awaits those after death for those judged to be righteous ‘Since there’s a world where saints immortal reign/Beyond the grasp of death or reach of pain/where grief and sorrow cares and trouble cease/Where all is joy and everlasting peace/No more we’ll mourn no longer drop a tear/For our departed friend and brother dear/But strives ourselves to reach the blissful shore/Where we may meet again to part no more’.

To complete this look at the church of St Luke, Upper Broughton I am enclosing a few photographs taken on a previous visit; a beautifully warm afternoon in June 2017. This is what the church grounds look like with green grass and no drought!

There are no frills here; no bells and whistles; this is just a fairly small very lovely and a little quirky parish church, and it is one that I am very fond of. It is open and welcoming and is well worth a look at if you are in the area. It was time to hit the road again. Travelling a few miles to the south east, to Ab Kettleby, where the church warden had kindly agreed to open up for me. Just five churches visited on the day but this was a good crawl in a beautiful area; meeting some friendly people in the process. This is why I do what I do!