St George's Church is a

redundant Redundancy or redundant may refer to: Language * Redundancy (linguistics), information that is expressed more than once Engineering and computer science * Data redundancy, database systems which have a field that is repeated in two or more table ...

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

church in the deserted village of

Goltho Goltho is a hamlet in the West Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. The population (including Bullington) was 157 at the 2011 census. It is situated south-west from Wragby, and south from the A158 road. Wragby and Goltho Limewood Walk, ...

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. 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, ...

as a designated Grade II*

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

, 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, Lincolnshire, 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 a ...

, southwest of

Wragby Wragby ( ) is a historic market 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 L ...

, and northeast of

Lincoln Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the 16th president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincoln (na ...

. 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 conve ...

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, ...

settlement,. The church was severely fire damaged in 2013.

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 (architecture), choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may termi ...

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 sty ...

. Its plan was simple, consisting of a nave with a

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

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, accesse ...

, a classical

reredos A reredos ( , , ) is a large altarpiece, a screen, or decoration placed behind the altar in a Church (building), church. It often includes religious images. The term ''reredos'' may also be used for similar structures, if elaborate, in secular a ...

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 c ...

s, balustrade altar rails in the

Laudian Laudianism, also called Old High Churchmanship, or Orthodox Anglicanism as they styled themselves when debating the Tractarians, was an early seventeenth-century reform movement within the Church of England that tried to avoid the extremes of Rom ...

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

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 architect ...

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 Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

officer of the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

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

History

Architecture

External features

See also

References

External links