St Matthew's Church sits on a man-made
raised islet on the south-eastern shore of Rutland Water, close
to Normanton Park Road in Normanton, near Edith Weston. The first
church on the site was built in the late fourteenth century by the
Normanville family, from whom the present day village of Normanton
takes its name. In 1764 the original nave and chancel were demolished
and rebuilt by the Heathcote family. By 1826 the church tower had
become unsafe.
A new tower, modelled on St John's in Westminster
was built in 1826-1829. In 1911, nave and chancel were rebuilt for a
second time as a memorial to the first earl of Ancaster. After 1918,
the Normanton Estate was broken up and sold. The hall was demolished
but the church remained. In 1970 the 'Empingham Reservoir Act' was
passed and the church was deconsecrated. The next year the churchyard
was cleared and the church bolstered to protect it from the flood waters.
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