St George's Church is a
redundant Anglican
Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...
church in the deserted village of
Goltho,
Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-west, Leicestershire ...
, England. It is recorded in the
National Heritage List for England
The National Heritage List for England (NHLE) is England's official database of protected heritage assets. It includes details of all English listed buildings, scheduled monuments, register of historic parks and gardens, protected shipwrecks, an ...
as a designated Grade II*
listed building
In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
,
and under the care of the
Churches Conservation Trust
The Churches Conservation Trust is a registered charity whose purpose is to protect historic churches at risk in England. The charity cares for over 350 churches of architectural, cultural and historic significance, which have been transferred in ...
.
The church is in a field, and can be approached only by footpaths to the south of the
A158 road
The A158 road is a major route that heads from Lincoln in the west to Skegness on the east coast. The road is located entirely in the county of Lincolnshire and is single carriageway for almost its entirety. The road is approximately long. The ...
, southwest of
Wragby
Wragby ( ) is a town and civil parish in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. It is situated at the junction of the A157 and A158 roads, and approximately north-west from Horncastle and about north-east of Lincoln.
History ...
, and northeast of
Lincoln
Lincoln most commonly refers to:
* Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the sixteenth president of the United States
* Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England
* Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S.
* Lincoln ...
.
[ The church was the last evidence surviving above ground of the ]deserted medieval village
In the United Kingdom, a deserted medieval village (DMV) is a former settlement which was abandoned during the Middle Ages, typically leaving no trace apart from earthworks or cropmarks. If there are fewer than three inhabited houses the convent ...
and manorial holding dating from the ninth century on the site of a Romano-British
The Romano-British culture arose in Britain under the Roman Empire following the Roman conquest in AD 43 and the creation of the province of Britannia. It arose as a fusion of the imported Roman culture with that of the indigenous Britons, a ...
settlement,.
History
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 ...
of the present church was rebuilt in about 1530 by the Grantham family of Goltho Hall (now demolished), and the chancel
In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse.
Ove ...
was added in about 1600.[ Alterations and additions were made in the early 18th century and in the late 19th century.][
The church was gutted by fire on 21 October 2013, leaving only the walls and ]bellcote
A bellcote, bell-cote or bell-cot is a small framework and shelter for one or more bells. Bellcotes are most common in church architecture but are also seen on institutions such as schools. The bellcote may be carried on brackets projecting from ...
standing, the most likely cause being a lightning strike.[ The Churches Conservation Trust does not insure its buildings and the church remains unrestored with access prohibited.
]
Architecture
St George's was constructed in red brick, and had a tiled roof with wooden eaves
The eaves are the edges of the roof which overhang the face of a wall and, normally, project beyond the side of a building. The eaves form an overhang to throw water clear of the walls and may be highly decorated as part of an architectural styl ...
. Its plan was simple, consisting of a nave with a bellcote
A bellcote, bell-cote or bell-cot is a small framework and shelter for one or more bells. Bellcotes are most common in church architecture but are also seen on institutions such as schools. The bellcote may be carried on brackets projecting from ...
at the west end, and a narrower, lower chancel. Entry to the church was by the west door, above which was a blocked window. The bellcote had a single round-headed opening. On the north side of the church was a small opening high on the wall and, to the east, a large rectangular window. In the north wall of the chancel was a large window with a pointed head. At the east end was a blind oval window. The south wall of the chancel contained a single large pointed window, and there was a large rectangular window in the south wall of the nave. Immediately to the west of this window was part of the arch of a blocked doorway.[
Inside the church, the walls were lime-washed white, and the fittings, mostly of poignant modesty, painted pale blue.][ There were niches in the north and south walls of the nave. Two 17th-century gravestones were incorporated into the floor of the nave.][ The fittings destroyed in the fires included a double-decker ]Georgian
Georgian may refer to:
Common meanings
* Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country)
** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group
** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians
**Georgian scripts, three scrip ...
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 ...
, a classical reredos
A reredos ( , , ) is a large altarpiece, a screen, or decoration placed behind the altar in a church. It often includes religious images.
The term ''reredos'' may also be used for similar structures, if elaborate, in secular architecture, for ex ...
from the Queen Anne period with curved entablature, box pew
A box pew is a type of church pew that is encased in panelling and was prevalent in England and other Protestant countries from the 16th to early 19th centuries.
History in England
Before the rise of Protestantism, seating was not customary in chu ...
s, balustrade altar rails in the Laudian
Laudianism was an early seventeenth-century reform movement within the Church of England, promulgated by Archbishop William Laud and his supporters. It rejected the predestination upheld by the previously dominant Calvinism in favour of free will, ...
style, and carved bench ends.[ There was a small gallery at the west end of the nave, probably for singers or musicians.
The small scale and endearing simplicity of the church as the last visible remnant of Goltho was illustrated by English artist John Piper in the collection ''Church Poems'' by British ]Poet Laureate
A poet laureate (plural: poets laureate) is a poet officially appointed by a government or conferring institution, typically expected to compose poems for special events and occasions. Albertino Mussato of Padua and Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch) ...
John Betjeman
Sir John Betjeman (; 28 August 190619 May 1984) was an English poet, writer, and broadcaster. He was Poet Laureate from 1972 until his death. He was a founding member of The Victorian Society and a passionate defender of Victorian architecture, ...
.
External features
The churchyard contains the war grave
A war grave is a burial place for members of the armed forces or civilians who died during military campaigns or operations.
Definition
The term "war grave" does not only apply to graves: ships sunk during wartime are often considered to b ...
of a Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...
officer of the First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
.
See also
*
References
External links
Photographs of the exterior and interior of the churchInformation about Goltho parish
{{DEFAULTSORT:Goltho, St George's Church
Grade II* listed churches in Lincolnshire
Church of England church buildings in Lincolnshire
English Gothic architecture in Lincolnshire
Churches preserved by the Churches Conservation Trust
Burned buildings and structures in the United Kingdom