The church of St Medardus and St Gildardus in
Little Bytham, Lincolnshire, England, is a
Grade I listed building.
It is dedicated to two 6th-century French saints,
St Medard and
St Gildard (or ''Medardus'' and ''Gildardus''); the dedication is unique in the UK.
Virtually unknown in Britain, St Medard is still well known in France, with at least 25 towns or villages named after him (as St Médard or St Méard). Gildard, thought to be his brother, is less well known. The village
fête
In Britain and some of its former colonies, fêtes are traditional public festivals, held outdoors and organised to raise funds for a charity. They typically include entertainment and the sale of goods and refreshments.
Village fêtes
Village fà ...
is held annually on or near St Medard's
feast day
The calendar of saints is the traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the day as the feast day or feast of said saint. The word "feast" in this context d ...
, 8 June.
The earliest parts of the building are some
Anglo-Saxon
The Anglo-Saxons were a Cultural identity, cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo- ...
"long-and-short" stonework, visible externally at the southeast and southwest corners (
quoins) of the nave. The church also has several
Romanesque details dating from the
Norman era, including a Priest's Door ("uncommonly ornate", according to
Nikolaus Pevsner) with a finely carved
tympanum; the empty circular niche in the tympanum is said to have held a
relic
In religion, a relic is an object or article of religious significance from the past. It usually consists of the physical remains of a saint or the personal effects of the saint or venerated person preserved for purposes of veneration as a tangi ...
; the birds in roundels to either side are probably eagles, as one is legendarily supposed to have sheltered Medard from the rain. Also Norman are the plain, undecorated arch into the tower, and the north door (late 12th century).
[
The south aisle and the upper parts of the tower and spire are 13th century work; the intersecting tracery of the east window of the south aisle shows that it is slightly later, dating from around 1300, as does the nearby piscina. The chancel arch is probably also from the late 13th century, and the double piscina in the chancel may be of a similar age. The Easter Sepulchre in the chancel is in the slightly later ( Decorated) style, but is a fairly crude example.]capital
Capital may refer to:
Common uses
* Capital city, a municipality of primary status
** List of national capital cities
* Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences
* Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used f ...
depicting a Green Man surrounded by oak leaves, similar to examples at nearby Kirkby Underwood[Church guide]
The stone base of the pulpit
A pulpit is a raised stand for preachers in a Christian church. The origin of the word is the Latin ''pulpitum'' (platform or staging). The traditional pulpit is raised well above the surrounding floor for audibility and visibility, access ...
is dated 1590, and has a Latin inscription ''Orate et parate'' ("Pray and prepare").[ Pevsner mistakenly gives this as ''Orate et Arate''.][
The churchyard contains the war grave of a ]Royal Engineers
The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is a corps of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is heade ...
soldier of the First World War.[CWGC Casualty Record]
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Little Bytham, Saint Medardus
12th-century church buildings in England
South Kesteven District
Church of England church buildings in Lincolnshire
Grade I listed churches in Lincolnshire