Saint Guthlac's Church, Market Deeping is a

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in com ...

of the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

Market Deeping Market Deeping is a market town and civil parish in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England, on the north bank of the River Welland and the A15 road. The population of the town at the 2011 census was 6,008. History The town's ma ...

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (), abbreviated ''Lincs'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber regions of England. It is bordered by the East Riding of Yorkshire across the Humber estuary to th ...

, England.

Background

The largely 15th-century church of

St Guthlac Saint Guthlac of Crowland (; ; 674714AD) was a Christian hermit and saint from Lincolnshire in England. He is particularly venerated in the Fens of eastern England. Hagiography Early life Guthlac was the son of Penwalh or Penwald, a noble ...

is the only church in Market Deeping, and is part of the Church of England. The church is in the

Diocese of Lincoln The Diocese of Lincoln forms part of the Province of Canterbury in England. The present diocese covers the ceremonial county of Lincolnshire. History The diocese traces its roots in an unbroken line to the Pre-Reformation Diocese of Leice ...

in the Deanery of Elloe West. St Guthlac's is a member of the Deepings Churches Together, a local organisation of churches within The Deepings, and a member of the St Guthlac fellowship. As of 2020 the rector is the Reverend Georgina Holding.

Architecture

On the south face of the tower is a limestone sundial inscribed with "The day is thine", with a similar sundial on the north face which bears the words "The Night cometh". The

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

is supported on the south

aisle An aisle is a linear space for walking with rows of non-walking spaces on both sides. Aisles with seating on both sides can be seen in airplanes, in buildings such as churches, cathedrals, synagogues, meeting halls, parliaments, courtrooms, ...

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 9th and 10th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norma ...

arches, whereas those on the north aisle are later

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, a Germanic people **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Gothic alphabet, an alphabet used to write the Gothic language ** Gothic ( ...

period. The church organ is Victorian. The

stained glass Stained glass refers to coloured glass as a material or art and architectural works created from it. Although it is traditionally made in flat panels and used as windows, the creations of modern stained glass artists also include three-dimensio ...

windows in the

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the Choir (architecture), choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may termi ...

depict scenes of the life of the St Guthlac, including one in which he is seen sailing through what is now the

fen A fen is a type of peat-accumulating wetland fed by mineral-rich ground or surface water. It is one of the main types of wetland along with marshes, swamps, and bogs. Bogs and fens, both peat-forming ecosystems, are also known as mires ...

s to establish a monastery, now

Crowland Abbey Crowland Abbey (historically often spelled Croyland Abbey; Latin: ) is a Church of England parish church, formerly part of a Benedictine abbey church, in Crowland in the English county of Lincolnshire. It is a Grade I listed building. Histor ...

Organ

The church has a two manual pipe orga
National Pipe Organ Register

External links

St Guthlac's Church
{{Church of England Churches in Lincolnshire The Deepings Market Deeping, Saint Guthlac's Church

Market Deeping, St. Guthlac's Church