St. John the Baptist is a rather large and complex village church primarily of the 13^th c. consisting of a W tower clasped by chambers to the N and S, a nave with side aisles and, of around 1300, the long chancel, N and S doors and the S porch. G. E. Street restored the chancel in 1870-71 and the rest of the church in 1874-75. A segment of the original, aisless 12^th c. church is to be found in the stringcourse fragment on the buttress behind the N tower arch; the four bay N arcade of the nave is late 12^th c.

Queen Edith, wife of Edward the Confessor, held North Luffenham before the conquest. In 1086, Domesday Book records North Luffenham as land belonging to the king, William I, and records a priest here. The advowson of the church was held by Oakham Castle until it passed to Henry VIII in 1521.

The N arcade columns have a superb uniformity and precision throughout which likely relates to a workshop with extensive experience.

Based on its location, the stringcourse fragment on the buttress behind the N tower arch would be the exterior corner of the original 12^th c. aisleless church.