St Botolph's Church, Quarrington facts for kids
Quick facts for kids St Botolph's Church, Quarrington |
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| Country | England |
| Denomination | Church of England |
| History | |
| Dedication | St Botolph |
| Administration | |
| Parish | Quarrington with Old Sleaford |
| Deanery | Lafford |
| Diocese | Lincoln |
| Province | Canterbury |
St Botolph's Church is an Anglican church located in Quarrington, a village in Lincolnshire, England.
People have lived in Quarrington since Anglo-Saxon times. A church was already here when the Domesday Book was created in 1086. This church was part of Ramsey Abbey's land. In 1165, it was given to Haverholme Priory. Later, in the 13th century, the Abbey claimed the right to choose the church's rector.
During the English Reformation in the early 16th century, the Bishop of Lincoln took ownership. Then, it passed to Robert Carre and his family after he bought a manor in Quarrington.
The church can hold 124 people. It serves the local area of Quarrington with Old Sleaford. St Botolph's is a special building because of its age and beautiful window designs. It is a grade II* listed building, meaning it's very important.
The church has a tower and a tall, pointed spire. Inside, there is a main area called the nave and a north aisle. At the east end, there is a chancel. The oldest parts of the building are from the 13th century. However, much of it was rebuilt in the 14th century.
Many changes and repairs happened over the years. In 1862–63, a local architect named Charles Kirk the Younger restored the church. He added the chancel in memory of his parents. The high interior has three arches that match the windows in the nave's south wall and the north aisle wall. The south wall windows have unusual hexagon and trefoil shapes in their designs.
Contents
About St Botolph's Church
Where the Church Is and What It Offers
St Botolph's Church is the main church for the area of Quarrington with Old Sleaford. This area covers most of Quarrington village in Lincolnshire. The church is part of the Diocese of Lincoln. The current priest is the Reverend Mark Stephen Thomson.
The church is dedicated to St Botolph. You can find it on Town Road. A new rectory, where the priest lives, was built around 2000. It has a study area that is used as the church office.
The church has seats for 124 adults in the main area and aisles. There are also 20 spaces in the choir stalls. In 2009, about 50 people usually came to the main Sunday service. A log cabin-style building was added in 2004. It is used by the choir and as a meeting room for up to 30 people. This building also has accessible toilets and is used for Sunday school.
Church Design and Features
St Botolph's Church has a tower at the west end, connected to the nave. There is a north aisle next to the nave. At the end of the nave is the chancel, with a small chapel on its north side. The church is very old and has "excellent" tracery (stone patterns in windows). It also has a "very good" 14th-century door.
Because of these features, the church has been a grade II* listed building since 1949. This means it is "particularly important" and has "more than special interest."
The tower and its spire were built in the mid-14th century. The tower has a window and two openings for the bells. The decorative tops of the tower were replaced in 1887. The tower connects to the nave with a large arch.
The nave has been repaired many times. It has parts from different time periods. The south wall is from the 14th century. It has a doorway for the priest with carvings. The windows on this wall have been restored. They follow a 14th-century style but have unusual hexagon and trefoil shapes. The north aisle is from the 13th century. It has a 12th-century doorway between its late-14th-century windows.
At the east end of the nave is the chancel. It has a five-sided end. This part was built between 1862 and 1863 by Charles Kirk the Younger. He built it to remember his parents. The windows in the chancel were made by Ward and Hughes.
The inside of the church feels tall, especially for its size. The nave has three large arches with carved tops. The arches on the north side are from the 13th century. They are the oldest parts of the church that you can still see. This suggests that the nave was added to an even older church that is now gone.
The arch leading to the chancel looks like it's from the 13th century, but it was built during the 1862–63 restoration. Inside the chancel, the walls have columns with flower carvings. The tiled floor and painted roof make it look "rich." The nave has windows from the 19th and 20th centuries. Some were made by H. Hughes and Burlison and Grylls. One window from 1917 remembers the Barrett family. Morris and Co. worked on a window in the north aisle in 1935.
The church has a pulpit and choir stalls from the 19th century. There is also a chancel screen with a decorative style. The font is from the 14th century and has leaf designs on its bowl.
The first record of an organ at St Botolph's is from 1867. This organ was later moved to Pointon. In 1915, the church paid for an organ to be repaired. The organ used today was built in 1929 by J. J. Binns. It has two keyboards and a pedalboard.
Some memorials in St Botolph's are from the 18th and 19th centuries. There is a plaque from 1683 for Thomas Appleby. Other 17th-century tablets were also noted. A tablet for Romaine Hervey (who died in 1837) is inside the church. In the churchyard, there are tombstones for the Sharpe and Kirk families. There are also markers for the Shannons, including the artist Charles Haslewood Shannon (who died in 1937). His father, Rev. Frederick William Shannon, was the rector of Quarrington and Old Sleaford from 1861 to 1910. The churchyard also contains war graves for four British Army soldiers from World War I and four Royal Air Force airmen from World War II.
History of St Botolph's
Early Beginnings and Ownership
Ramsey Abbey owned land in Quarrington around 1051. By the time the Domesday Book was written, this land included two churches. One of these churches was likely St Botolph's, or an earlier version of it. The other was probably All Saints' in Old Sleaford.
Around 1165, a knight named Henry Selvein gave Quarrington to Haverholme Priory. The priory then chose the rectors for the church in 1218, 1248, and 1269. In the early 16th century, the Bishop of Lincoln tried to claim the right to choose the rector. However, Robert Carre, a merchant from Sleaford, bought the manor. He argued with the Bishop, and it was decided that Carre would choose the rectors in the future.
Building and Later Changes
An old arch in the chancel existed until the mid-19th century. It might have been built even before the Norman Conquest. However, the oldest part of the church you can see today is the north arcade from the 13th century. This arcade might have been added to an older nave that is now gone.
The spire and tower were built in the middle of the 14th century. This was also around the time the nave was rebuilt. Many of the windows have a "reticulated" style, which was popular in the early 14th century. We know about some gifts made to the church in medieval times. For example, in 1412, Olivia Rossen left money to the rector and church.
In the late 16th century, the church in Old Sleaford became very poor and probably stopped being used. Later, the rector of Quarrington was also given charge of Old Sleaford. But he found there wasn't much money from taxes there, so he left. Robert Carre convinced him to let the people of Old Sleaford worship at Quarrington Church. In return, Carre would pay him yearly. The parishes are still combined today.
Changes were made to the church in later centuries. The chancel was rebuilt after the English Reformation. It was made smaller and used some older stones from the 12th and 13th centuries. This chancel was replaced in 1812 with a Georgian-style one. The North Aisle was rebuilt in 1848. A new pulpit, screen, and pews were added the next year.
During the Victorian period, a lot of restoration work happened at Quarrington. Most of the nave's windows were changed. Charles Kirk rebuilt the chancel and part of the vestry in 1862–63. He also made the chancel arch wider. Parts of the tower and spire were changed 24 years later.
In 1851, a survey showed that the church could hold 120 people. About 20 to 40 people attended services, and 20 children came to Sunday school. As Sleaford grew, new houses were built near Quarrington. This created a new area called New Quarrington. To serve the growing population, a second church was planned in the early 1900s. It was meant to be built closer to Sleaford. However, World War I, changes to parish boundaries, and rising costs delayed these plans.
Instead, a church hall was built in 1932 on Grantham Road. As of 2009, it was being used as a community center. In 2001, an extension was added to the church. It provided a kitchen, accessible toilet, and other facilities. This extension was built with matching stone. It included a stained glass window that used to be in the north aisle.
Images for kids
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St Botolph's Church, Quarrington
See also
In Spanish: Iglesia de San Botulfo (Quarrington) para niños
