Situated in this picturesque village along the River Chatar, the original, probably two-cell church of St. Mary had a N aisle added to it in the late 12^th c. and in the early 13^th c. a S aisle. The church was greatly enlarged in the 14^th c. with a rebuilding of the N and S aisles and the addition of the W tower, crocketed spire, S porch, S chapel and the clerestory of the nave. The chancel clerestory was added in the 15^th c. and restored in 1852 by G. E. Street. In 1861, Street undertook a major restoration of the rest of the church. The stunning N arcade in the nave dates from the late 12^th c.

In 1086, South Luffenham was part of the manor of Barrowden (Rutland) belonging to King William. In one Domesday Book entry it is noted that the king held Luffenham and Sculthorpe and along with the freeman and smallholders there was also a priest. As an appurtenance of Barrowden, the advowson of South Luffenham passed with that of Barrowden. In the early 12^th c., Queen Maud, wife of Henry I, was granted the manor of Barrowden and she in turn granted it, and South Luffenham, to Michael de Hanslope, and it then became part of the Barony of Hanslope. In 1141, Barrowden was granted to Maud Hanslope and her husband, William Manduit. Barrowden passed to William’s son, Robert, around 1196, and eventually to his son, William Manduit IV. This William married Alice de Beaumont, a daughter of the Earl of Warwick. When William died in 1256, still holding Barrowden, the manor passed on to his son, William Mauduit, who became the 8^th Earl of Warwick in 1263. With the exception of a couple of short periods of time, Barrowden and Luffenham remained a possession of the Earl’s of Warwick until 1487 when Anne, Countess of Warwick, surrendered Barrowden, and along with it Luffenham, to Henry VII.

The overt expressiveness of the faces on the capitals is quite remarkable for this early time period.