[3] No trace remains of this first sanctuary, probably dedicated to Saint Apolline, apart from the name of the square adjoining the church to the south, and its well which is fed by a spring originating beneath the building's choir.

In 1057, Raoul V, viscount of Maine, and his wife Emmeline de Montreveau, lady of Le Lude, donated the building to the monks of Saint-Aubin for the symbolic sum of five sols, with the obligation of founding a priory there under the patronage of Saint Martin.

[3] The priory soon prospered through a series of acquisitions and donations, notably from Adélaïde, sister of Seigneur Geoffroy de Sablé, and Gérard d'Athée, advisor to John Lackland, King of England.

[5] On several occasions during the 12th century, possession of the priory of Luché was confirmed to the monks of Saint-Aubin by Popes Paschal II and Eugene III, as well as by various bishops of Le Mans.

[8] During the same 16th century, major restoration work was carried out on the nave and the upper part of the bell tower, thanks to the considerable resources of successive commendatory prior, including François Disque, King's Counselor at the Parlement of Paris, Chancellor to Queen Dowager Eleanor of Austria and Archdeacon of Laval.

[9] In 1538, the church received a new bell adorned with three fleurs-de-lis, the figures of the Virgin Mary and St. Michael, and inscribed with the names of its donors, the lords of Venevelles.

[3][12] In 1604, the church and priory of Luché were included in the endowment made by King Henri IV to the Jesuits charged with establishing the Collège Henri-IV de La Flèche.

[13] On August 1, 1796, the church was sold as national property to three villagers who wished to save it from destruction: Pierre-François Lépine, farmer of the métairie de la Brosse, his wife Marie-Gervaise Robineau, and René Martin, blacksmith.

[13] In 1809 and again in 1810, the owners made two promises to donate the church to the commune in order to return it to worship, subject to the concession of two pews.

Father Fouque, assisted by several local residents and the commune's mayor, Henri Bourdin, sheltered several statues, as well as the priestly vestments and most of the liturgical objects.

First aid was organized around the Luché firefighters, who had only a hand pump supplied by a human chain carrying buckets of water, while awaiting reinforcements from the companies of La Flèche and Le Lude, as well as a platoon from the Prytanée national militaire, during the night.

In the first few weeks after the disaster, masses were celebrated in a temporary chapel set up in the porch of the presbytery opposite the church.

In the spring of 1923, restoration work began on the bell tower, under the direction of Émile Demas, a mason from Le Mans who specialized in sculpture and stone-cutting.

Its furnishings were enrich[11] ed by the purchase of new statues, as in 1950: a Virgin of the Annunciation carved from a cedar trunk in the park of Château de Gallerande by Sarthe sculptor Raymond Dubois, thanks to funds collected from parishioners.

In 1996, Dom Le Méhauté, a monk from the Saint-Pierre de Solesmes abbey, built a new high altar, reusing stones from the previous one, in neo-Gothic style, donated by Abbé Détis in 1877.

[8] At the time, the nave consisted of three vessels bounded by two rows of square pillars, the asymmetry of which testifies to construction in several stages rather than according to a well-defined plan.

[14] The choir of Saint-Martin features six curved Plantagenet-style vaults, typical of the Angevin Gothic style, resting in the center on two slender columns[6] of hard Chauvigny stone.

[6] The portal represents the transition between Gothic and Renaissance styles and depicts the episode of La Charité de saint Martin.

[8]The church of Saint-Martin is home to an important collection of sculptures in wood, stone and terracotta, some of which are listed as historical monuments.

[18] A carved walnut wooden group statue depicting the Lamentation of Christ,[18] sometimes called the Pietà,[28][30] is located in a niche on the southern wall of the nave, at the entrance to the church.

The work also bears witness to an era of transition: the Gothic style is still clearly visible in the elongated faces, as are the curved mouths and drooping eyelids of the figures, but Mary Magdalene's costume is closer to that of the Renaissance.

Dating from the 15th or 16th century, it comes from the church of Notre-Dame de Pringé and was damaged by fire in 1921, with the loss of the cross and part of Christ's body.

[34] More recent works include the Virgin of the Annunciation, installed under the bell tower vault and carved from a cedar trunk from the park of Château de Gallerande, by Sarthe sculptor Raymond Dubois in 1950.

Dating from the late 14th century, making it the oldest statue in the church, it comes from Notre-Dame de Pringé,[35] as does the 16th-century polychrome limestone St. John the Baptist in the south choir window.

[18] In the late 1950s, work carried out in the village center unearthed three limestone statues dating from the early 16th century, which were later moved to the church of Saint-Martin.

[18] Other statues are probably isolated elements of larger groups, such as the kneeling St. Francis of Assisi in profile against the north wall, or the St. Joseph carrying his carpenter's tools.

[21] The Saint-Martin de Luché church contains other remarkable items of furniture, such as a Merovingian stone sarcophagus, discovered during restoration work after the building burned down.

The pulpit is partly decorated in the same way as the previous one, built in stone in the 16th century, notably with Christian symbols, including the IHS monogram, and quotations from the Gospels of Luke and John.

[41] Other secondary altars decorate the church, such as the one surmounted by a polychrome plaster statue of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, installed in the nave in 1877 following a donation from a parishioner.

Installed in 1925, during restoration work on the church, and blessed by Monsignor Norbert Rousseau, it was cast in Le Mans by the Bollée company.