"The rectory of Knossington was never appropriated by Owston Abbey, the patron in the late 15th and early 16th centuries. In 1930 it was combined with the rectory of Cold Overton. In 1957 the incumbent of the united benefice, who was also priest-in-charge at Owston and Withcote, lived at Knossington.
The church of Knossington was first mentioned in 1199 in an assize of darrein presentment between John de Crioill and his wife Joan, and the Abbot of Westminster, the patron of the church of Oakham. The outcome of the case is not known. The abbot was presumably claiming that Knossington was attached to Oakham church; Joan de Crioill's first husband was William Pantulf, who held the manor and advowson at the end of the 12th century, and she presumably made her claim through him. The advowson was still in dispute in 1220 although the parties are not stated. In 1229 a second plea of darrein presentment was heard in the curia regis. On this occasion Ralph de Nowers, the under-tenant of Robert de Tatershall in the manor, claimed against Gilbert Marshall, Rector of Oakham. Nowers made his claim through his overlord's descent from William Pantulf. Gilbert's claim was that Knossington was a chapel to Oakham, a claim which he had apparently made when he was instituted to Oakham church in 1227. Ralph de Nowers won his case on the grounds that he was the lord of the manor, to which the advowson was said to be attached; the jury found that William Pantulf had undoubtedly made the last presentation. Ralph de Nowers made a successful presentation in 1229-30 but in 1240-1 Robert de Tatershall presented. This action resulted in another assize of darrein presentment in 1270, when Robert de Nowers, Ralph's son, who had been a minor in 1240-1, won the right to present to the church against Robert de Tatershall. In 1272 he presented.Thereafter the advowson descended with the manor.
Owston Abbey made two presentations immediately before the Dissolution. In the late 17th century the descent of the advowson may help to elucidate the history of the manorial descent. In 1626 Roger Dale was returned as the patron. Richard Halsall acquired the manor in 1664 and Alexander Halsall presented to the living in 1668. Jacob Halsall presented Alexander Halsall (d. 1735) to the living in 1718. John Wakelin and Joseph Greaves were the patrons in 1736 and Richard Palmer, Wakelin's nephew and heir, presented in 1780 and 1801. James Morpott of Kibworth Beauchamp was patron in 1817, but thereafter the lords of the manor, the Frewen Turners, are known to have been the patrons. When Edward Frewen disposed of his Leicestershire estate at the beginning of the 20th century, the advowson was acquired by the Martyrs' Memorial and Church of England Trustees. The trustees also owned the advowson of Cold Overton when that living was combined with Knossington in 1930, and therefore continued as patrons of the combined living.
In 1217 the rectory of Knossington was valued at only £1 6s. 8d., in 1254 at £3, and in 1291 at £6 6s. 8d. This remained the value until at least 1428. In 1535 it was valued at £7. In 1831 the living was worth £280.
In 1777 the archdeacon ordered that the parsonage house should be repaired. One gable-end was badly decayed and the roof, which was thatched, needed repair. This had not been done in 1794 and apparently not by 1832, when the archdeacon reported that the state of the house was deplorable: 'part fell down last Saturday'. At that time both rector and curate were non-resident. A new Rectory was built in 1834: it is a plain stucco-faced house with subsequent additions. The former Rectory is said to have stood slightly to the north of the present building.
The tithes were commuted for £255 3s. 6d. in 1847. The only land then exempt from tithe was the 42 a. of glebe which had been allotted at the inclosure, 35 a. then in the occupation of Mary Burnaby which were described as ancient abbey lands, perhaps belonging to Owston or Brooke, and 2 a. of parish land.
The church of ST. PETER stands on high ground at the west end of the village. It is built of ironstone and limestone and consists of an aisled and clerestoried nave, a chancel flanked by an organ chamber and a vestry, a south porch, and a west tower. Throsby, visiting the church in 1790, thought that the chancel was older than the rest and that there were some remains of 'the oldest Gothic'. The chancel was rebuilt in 1882-3, but there is evidence that it formerly belonged to the early 13th century and that some of its features, including the three graduated lancets at the east end, were reproduced in the new work. A two-light window with plate tracery in the south wall, of rather later date, also appears to have been copied. When a vestry was added to the south side of the chancel in 1882 traces of a former chapel in this position were found and parts of the arcade which had divided it from the chancel were reinstated. Nichols's exterior view of the church, dated 1791, shows a blocked arch in the south wall which may originally have led to the chapel. A pointed window within the arch suggests that the chapel had already been demolished before the end of the Middle Ages. The nave and aisles are also of 13th-century origin. The arcades of three bays have octagonal piers with 'water-holding' bases and there is a beaded member to the mouldings of the capitals. The tower arch and probably the base of the tower appear to be contemporary and there is a blocked 13th-century doorway in the north aisle. It is recorded that before 1882 the north aisle had a single lancet at its east end. The font probably dates from the early 13th century. It consists of a curious bulbous bowl having four attached shafts curved to its shape. The bowl is supported on a circular stem and four circular shafts, the latter replaced by red marble in the 19th century. Both stem and shafts have moulded bases. The aisles contain windows of the 14th century and appear to have been altered at this period. The clerestory windows have flowing tracery, but this may not be original. The belfry stage of the tower also belongs to the 14th century, possibly to the second half. The tower is surmounted by a plain parapet resting on a corbel table. There was formerly an octagonal stone spire which rose from behind the parapet, but by the 18th century it had been shortened and the upper part was of lead.
In 1816 the chancel roof was repaired and a ceiling was inserted. The whole church was repaired in 1829-30, when the tower parapet was rebuilt and the spire was entirely removed. At the same time the church was re-pewed, 80 new sittings being provided, 70 of which were free. In 1882-3 Alexander Duncan of Knossington Grange bore the cost of an extensive restoration, the principal feature of which was the rebuilding of the chancel. The aisles were extended on either side of the chancel, forming an organ chamber on the north side and a vestry on the south. An unglazed traceried window was inserted between the north aisle and the organ chamber. On the south side a low arcade of two bays between chancel and vestry included parts of original 13thcentury arches found in the south wall. The chancel arch and walls were raised in height and the whole church was re-roofed. The south porch, originally of the 14th century, was largely rebuilt. At the same time the box pews of 1830 were cleared away and new furniture and fittings were provided. Parts of an original chancel screen were incorporated in a modern one.
A floor slab in the chancel in which fragments of brass survive has the indent of a figure and the inscription '. . . Thome Bayle, quondam vicarii de Tylton . . . ' . The slab was already incomplete in Nichols's day and has since deteriorated. Nichols records inscriptions commemorating two rectors, John Freer and Alexander Halsall (d. 1718 and 1735) and also inscriptions to members of the Peck family (1695-1786), of the Raworth family (1774- 1783), and others. Most of these have now disappeared. Existing mural tablets commemorate Thomas Wartnaby (d. 1845), rector, and G. A. Tanner, rector from 1897 and also Rector of Cold Overton. There are only two bells in the tower: (i) inscribed 1731, but probably recast; (ii) a small 'priest's bell' of 1735. There is a third bell on the floor in the south aisle. The church plate includes a silver cup and cover paten of 1660, and two sets of plate, 1867 and 1882, given by Mrs. Alexander Duncan of Knossington Grange and by Mrs. Winthrop, her daughter's godmother, respectively. The registers begin in 1558 and are complete."
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