BRACEBOROUGH : CHURCH OF ST MARGARET
Church Post Code PE9 4NT
The church is normally open to visitors
It was a beautifully sunny, frosty Saturday morning in late January 2022, and it was time to revisit a few churches in the Uffington Group of churches benefice. I had started off at Carlby, before crossing the county line in to Rutland, taking in Essendine, before re-entering Lincolnshire, and starting on the Uffington benefice churches, with Braceborough the destination.
The plan here was to get dropped off at Carlby; my cycle being in the back of Gary’s van, and head off through this little cluster of churches which can be found at the southern end of the rough triangle formed by Stamford, Market Deeping and Bourne. As it turned out, the cycle was still in Gary’s van as we reached Braceborough, and was to still there until we reached Tallington an hour or so later.
Braceborough is a small, very pleasant village which can be found just to the east of the main road which links Stamford to Bourne. The population is included with that of neighbouring Wilsthorpe; the church spire of which is visible a short distance away across the fields, with 305 people being recorded at the time of the 2011 census.
There is plenty of history here. A stone Roman coffin was found here, which now sits close to the porch at Greatford church. Braceborough was mentioned in the Domesday Survey of 1086. The village here was popular in Victorian times for a healing spa, which closed down in 1939. There was also a railway station here, known as Braceborough Spa Halt, which closed in 1951, along with the rest of the Bourne to Essendine line.
The church of St Margaret consists of western tower, nave, chancel and south porch. There are no aisles or clerestories here, although a little background research before putting this page live does suggest that there may have been aisles and chapels here in the past.
Before I start on the church, note should be made that there were pigeons perched on just about every suitable surface on the broach spire. This is obviously the place to be on a Saturday morning. This was like a pacifist remake of Alfred Hitchcock’s’ ‘The Birds!’
The church here dates back to the 14th century, with additions during the 15th century. The chancel was rebuilt in 1859. The west tower is of two stages, with buttressing up to the top of the lower stage. There is a clock to the west face, which appears to be missing a hand, unless it was one handed to start with, which read the same time as when I was here in 2013! An octagonal broach spire rises up from the tower, with a single tier of lucarne windows.
This is not the easiest church to photograph from the south due to trees. The south porch has a small date stamp of 1662 on it, although the arch at the top of the door pre dates that. There are four large three light windows running the length of the nave; the labels stops on these are in the form of creatures with tongues hanging out. The chancel has a date of 1859 on it and is in the shape of an apse, being built, very tastefully by Kirk of Sleaford.
There are five bells in the ring here, with all five cast by Taylor of Loughborough. North, in his Victorian study of the church bells in Lincolnshire noted that there were three here, all cast by Taylor and dated 1845. He also noted that there were only two bells here prior to that date.
It looks as if the two existing bells were melted down and recast in to a ring of three; two more being added to the ring in 1896 from the same founder. I have checked the internet and not found any details as to who cast the original bells, with North not mentioning it in his notes.
The church here was open to visitors. Moving inside, the nave is very long and I noticed that the kneelers are only set out on the first three rows of pews to north and south. Perhaps this indicates that the congregation only used these three rows for Sunday worship.
It appears as if just about all of the fitting and fixtures here are Victorian or more recent, with the possible exception of the font, which is very crisply carved and almost certainly not as ancient as it would appear at first glance.
The Victorian chancel is exquisite! There are three, two light windows, which arc around with the curve of the apse. The reredos is of three boards, which also allows it to cure around. Commandment boards are at either ends of the windows. A plaque to the south of the chancel arch reminds those entering that ‘where two or three are gathered together in my name there am I in the midst of them’.
There is stained glass in all three windows. In the north window are depictions of the Annunciation and the nativity. Central left is Jesus with the communion bread and wafer, ‘I am the bread of life’ written below. The right hand panel shows Jesus cradling a sheep around His shoulders ‘Feed my sheep’ is the wording below.
To the south are the crucifixion and the ascension. For whatever reason, my camera played up whilst shooting this panel and the result was not useable; so in the finest tradition of sole traders blaming their tools, I blame my camera (even though I am sure I was to blame).
A three light window on the south wall of the nave was created by Kempe, and features St Luke, St Paul and St Mark. St Luke writes in a book using a quill. St Mark holds open a book and shows us the Latin which I think reads ‘a voice calling in the wilderness’. St Paul holds a sword by the hilt, point down, and not missing his toes by much to be honest. He also holds open a book; showing us the script that I just cannot decipher!
I know that I am probably looking at things with a modern eye, so to speak, but I get very frustrated when struggling to read the Latin. It is fine it being in Latin; it can be translated, but when it is hard to even sometimes to tell what the letters are then we risk missing out on the message. Paul is obviously showing and telling us something, but sadly I couldn’t tell you what it is!
Below this are three scenes detailing events in the few days after the crucifixion, with all three detailing moments of realisation for Jesus’ followers that He had indeed risen from the dead, and that He was what He claimed to be! We start off with the angel appearing to the women outside Jesus’ tomb on Easter morning; ‘He is not here He is risen’.
Central is Jesus appearing to Mary Magdalene ‘Rabboni’ says the script above her as she recognises for the first time that Christ has risen. The third panel details Jesus sat with the two followers at the road to Emmaus. The bread and wine are on the table and the followers eyes are about to be opened!
The church grounds are interesting, and there are a few gravestones here which date back to the late 17th century, with stones to two members of the Spiser family coming from the latter years of that century, with each of these having its own Grade II listing. Also worth noting is a cloud with rays coming out of it and an eye in the midst of the cloud. I think that this is the all seeing eye and could well be Masonic. I have only ever seen two or three of these, and none other within the catchment area of this site.
A font can be seen in the church grounds, which was filled with daffodils on a previous visit. If this was the original font from this church then it gives credence to the thought that the font currently inside the church is a more modern one!
The church of St Margaret was open to visitors and is well worth a look at. There are several other churches close by and this is, by and large, an area of open and welcoming churches.
GREATFORD : CHURCH OF ST THOMAS A BECKETT
Church Post Code PE9 4QA
Church usually open to visitors
We moved on, the short distance to neighbouring Greatford; across the fields to the south east. Greatford is one of a cluster of villages that can be found to the southern end of a rough triangle formed by Stamford, Market Deeping and Bourne. It is four and a half miles north east of Stamford and five miles south of Bourne. It is a quiet, sleepy village with a population of 268 at the time of the 2011 census.
It is noted for Greatford Hall, the home of Francis Willis, a physician and clergyman, who treated King George III; ‘curing’ him of his madness in 1788, this being immortalised in a film from 1994.
The church of St Thomas A Beckett can be found in a quiet part of this quiet village, set back from the main road, in what would be a leafy lane in times other than winter. The church consists of tower, nave, south porch, chancel and north chapel and is thought to date back to the 11th century, this being indicated by some herringbone stonework on the north wall.
The tower is offset from the usual west end, here to be found just to the east of the south porch. The tower is of three stages with the lower stage dating back to the early 13th century, the rest of the tower dates from the mid 13th century, with the spire dating to the first quarter of the 14th century. The church clock is set to the south wall.
Some grotesque carvings, roughly human, look out at those approaching from the south. One looks surprised whilst another has its face screwed up in distaste, with tongue sticking out to one side. Some ancient gravestones are clustered around the south porch, but not as ancient as the stone Roman coffin that rests against the south wall, this being relocated here after being found at nearby Braceborough.
The church here is a member of the Uffington Group of Churches, a very friendly benefice; open and welcoming with each of the seven churches in that group being covered by this site. Entrance is through the south porch, which dates back to the 14th century. The south door itself is 13th century.
Six bells hang in the ring here. The first two are of no great historical importance, being cast by Taylor of Loughborough in 1998 and 1886. The third and sixth of the ring are courtesy of Thomas Eayre of Kettering. Each are dated 1732 and each are inscribed ‘Omnia Fiant Ad Gloriam Dei’ which translates as ‘Let all things be done for the glory of God’.
The fourth of the ring is the oldest, dated to 1593, and cast by Newcombe of Leicester. This one is inscribed ‘Praise The Lord’. The fifth is by Edward Arnold, again of Leicester, this one being cast in 1787.
Moving inside, my attention was immediately taken by a remarkable old font; but more of that in a few moments. There are no aisles or clerestories here, and we just have a basic structure of nave and chancel, with north chapel. What appear to be Victorian pews lead up to a chancel screen, which dates to 1913. Much of the nave and chancel dates from the 13th to 14th centuries.
The stone reredos is also Victorian and features an intricate cross on the central panel. To the left as we look at it is a dove, symbolising peace and the Holy Spirit. To the right is the Agnus Dei, the Lamb of God.
There is some fine stained glass here. The east window is a representation of the Last Supper. A good clear depiction, but I am not sure about the depiction of John, immediately to the left of Jesus as we look at it. None of the disciples here are depicted with nimbus; Judas Iscariot is over to the left, clutching the bag of money. He is normally depicted as looking furtive or looking away from Jesus but no so here.
Another three light window has depictions of John, Peter and James, three of Jesus’ inner circle of disciples. John has golden hair, and looks most unlike an Israeli fisherman. Peter carries the key to the Kingdom of Heaven and James, the brother of John, who Jesus called the ‘Sons of Thunder’ is wearing a scallop shell on his hat, which symbolises pilgrimage. Each of the three characters has a snippet of scripture above them. This window is set in to a bricked up arch on the south wall of the nave; and it looks as if there was a south chapel here at some point in time.
In the north chapel, there is a bust to the Revd Dr Francis Willis, who treated King George III as mentioned earlier, dated 1807 and close by is a wall memorial to John Willis, dated 1835, which shows the deceased at rest on a bed, being tended to by angels; which is probably along the same lines as what was carved on a panel of the font 500 odd years earlier, which I will just come to.
This is a delightful church interior; but the highlight for me was the 14th century font. To my mind, unless I am forgetting anything, it is unique to this area. Possibly that is accounted for by the fact that it was carved out of this area and was housed at Moorby church near to Horncastle until that church was demolished in 1983.
It was acquired by Greatford in 2004 and this explains why there is no mention of it in the church guide, which dates back to the early 1990’s and also explains why British Listed Buildings describe the font as being plain and octagonal; that listing being complied in 1968.
There are four carved sides. Easy to recognise is Mary and Jesus. There is a helpful set of notes in the church, which describe this as Mary and child. It is quite badly weathered but I think that this is a pieta; yes Mary and Jesus but Jesus being cradled by His mother as an adult, post crucifixion.
A further panel shows a cadaver, which is being tended to by two figures, al least one of which is an angel. Cadavers were used to demonstrate the transitory nature of human life; tempus fugit, time flies and the onlooker will go the same way as the deceased, therefore live a good Christian life as you do not know when your own time will come.
It is suggested that the deceased could be a donor, who paid for work on the church at Moorby, all those centuries ago and the angels could be in the process of safely escorting his soul to Heaven. One further panel shows six figures at prayer and it is suggested that these could well be the donor’s children.
The fourth panel depicts a seated figure, which is quite badly defaced. The font as a whole shows the marks of the restorers who objected to much of the symbolism of the catholic church. This is a fascinating piece of history; and the knocks that it has suffered throughout its life are part of that history.
I enjoyed my time here very much. This is a lovely church, full of interest, which was open to visitors. I did pop here briefly the previous Easter and the church here was closed, as were most of the others that I found open on this revisit. It was good to see things start to open up again after such a bleak time for us all.