Churches in Lincolnshire

This little roadside church is the 13th-century chancel of a larger church which was a ruin until 1889, when the chancel was gently restored and a west porch added. Inside you can see a 14th-century stone slab with an incised cross and chalice commemorating a priest, and Latin inscriptions in praise of the Virgin Mary adorn on the wooden ceiling. A fine font and pews have been rescued from other redundant churches.

The tall, square tower of this marshland church leans dramatically to the west, as if trying to stretch away from the long, low nave below. Inside, the church is striking for its light and stillness – it has an air of peace in contrast to its wild, marshy setting. All Saints is sparsely but beautifully furnished with a gorgeous 15th-century carved screen and two pulpits, one Elizabethan and rustic, the other 17th century from Oriel College, Oxford. The heavy timbered roof demonstrates the good, honest craftsmanship of Medieval builders.

The spire of All Saints soars above a round of trees in the open country of the Wolds, visible for miles around. As you reach All Saints on foot down a green lane, you might expect a rustic church – in fact, the building is an example of ecclesiastical elegance. It was built in 1840, modelled on the church of St James in nearby Louth. Inside, the church is solid and welcoming. There are handsome pews and a timber roof, and several memorials to Lincolnshire people. Outside, wildlife skitters around the quiet churchyard.

A 14th-and 15th-century church with Norman origins, All Saints is known as the Cathedral of the Marsh – a testament to its impressive length and spacious light-filled interior, as well as the quality of the interior carvings. Despite it's lonely grandeur, the outside of the church has a colourful appearance as the local north Lincolnshire greensand is patched with brick and limestone.

Built in 1748, this riverside church stands proudly on lush marshland. It is surrounded by a complex and undisturbed Medieval field system, revealed by aerial photography. Its distinctively Georgian design is elegant yet simple – essentially just a nave topped with an attractive wooden bell turret.

Built by S S Teulon in 1856-57, this striking, red-brick Victorian church is an extraordinary composition inside and out, which shows the architect at his most dramatic and original. With its short but massive square tower and distinctive pyramid roof, the church sits squat below the high east bank of the River Trent. The interior contains beautiful stained glass and an appealing painted ceiling above the altar of heavenly constellations.

St John’s was rebuilt after a fire in 1405 and has a prominent sandstone tower which serves as a local landmark. The roofs and many of the fittings were renewed in 1854 during a restoration by James Fowler of Louth. The tower is famed for its west doorway which features superbly detailed carvings of Adam and Eve and the serpent, the Lamb of God and other Biblical themes.

This substantial church, built largely in 14th-and 15th-centuries, has a wonderfully tall, slender tower. The interior is an attractive mix of Decorated and Perpendicular with Georgian and Victorian. It includes a very beautiful, detailed, dramatic and vividly coloured stained glass window of the Day of Judgement from 1830. There are also some excellent 18th-and 19th-century monuments, some ducal hatchments of the St Albans family who lived at the Hall and a notable incised slab to Sir Gerald Sothill (1410).

This remote church is sited on lonely uplands that drop away to the Fens. Nothing remains of Haceby Village save the old church of St Margaret and some grass-covered mounds. Built after the Norman Conquest, the church has been altered and added to many times over the centuries though a rare Norman arch inside the church survives. Above the arch, a comparatively modern wallpainting of the Royal Arms of Queen Anne overlay a Medieval wallpainting that vividly depicts sinners being pitchforked into the flames of hell in a Doom. The rest of the church, in contrast, has an air of sweetness and light, especially on sunny days. An audio tour for Haceby is available to listen to by clicking on the Image Gallery tab above. Alternatively, you can download the audio tour from the link, to your personal audio device.

A lovely Norman church, with a stunning Decorated east window and a beautifully simple interior. Look out for the 17th-century pulpit and the unusual Norman carving above the south doorway. There are also old pews with carved ends in various directions facing the 17th-century pulpit, a screen adapted as a family pew, Royal Arms of Charles I and lovely old tiled floors. The wooden-fenced churchyard is filled with wildflowers in spring.

Set in magnificent isolation in the Lincolnshire marshland, this early Medieval church has the feel of a Great Hall. The bare and unadorned interior has several wonderful arcades, giving the church its wonderful charm and character

The charming red-brick chapel of St George stands alone amid acres of corn and oilseed rape with only a few trees for company. It is situated beside one of Lincolnshire’s lost villages – an old Saxon settlement long since buried. The name 'Goltho’ is said to be Saxon for 'where the marigolds grow’. Inside, the church has an atmosphere of calm and simplicity, with rustic wooden pews, an altar screen and a simple two-decker pulpit.

Built in red brick, with contrasting bands of black brick, St Helen’s stands on a mound near the centre of an attractive village. This charming Victorian church with its contrasting bricks, vibrant stained glass and elegant spire is in the style of the early 14th-century. It was considered to be a model for parishes of modest means

The imposing Medieval church of St John the Baptist is wedged in an unlikely setting between two commercial buildings in the nationally important historic town centre of Stamford, and the well-proportioned pinnacled tower is a notable landmark. Yet take the time to step inside and you’ll be rewarded with the sight of angels on high in the 15th century roof timbers painted in glorious black, red and yellow. What’s more, above their outstretched wings are some little green men with grimacing, leafy faces. Stained glass scatters light across the flamboyant beautifully carved Victorian oak pews and tiled floor, further adding to the beauty of this breathtaking church. The aisles and churchyard contain an excellent collection of interesting 17th to 19th century monuments.

Nothing about the rather unremarkable exterior of this small Medieval church prepares you for the breathtaking surprise of the interior of this wonderful church. St Lawrence has some of the most spectacular memorial sculptures in Lincolnshire. The largest, from the 1580s, features life-size figures of Sir Thomas St Paul and his wife, members of a dynasty of rich lawyer-politicians. Sir Thomas reclines dressed in armour with a gold chain round his neck; his wife lies beside him elegantly dressed with a ruff and headdress. Round the canopy above kneel their eight children. Gazing on from the wall, propped on one elbow, is his rakish relation Sir George with his wife Frances, both fashionably dressed. Poignantly, in a little alcove below, is the tiny effigy of their only child, Mattathia, who died as a baby. All the figures are eerily life-like – look closely at the veins on Sir George’s hands and Warwick’s piercing blue eyes and ample, aristocratic cheeks. The alabaster monument to Sir George St Paul who died some 30 years later dominates the north chapel.

St Martin’s, with its beautiful square tower, dates back to the 11th-century. The building is a fascinating combination of Romanesque work and Victorian Gothic. It was restored exquisitely in 1861 by noted local architect James Fowler for the Haigh family (local landowners). The wonderfully colourful interior has elaborately patterned Minton tiles on the floor, walls and reredos, stunning stained glass and a number of monuments to members of the Haigh family.

This is a lovely church on an ancient site, lying away from the village on the edge of the Lincolnshire Wolds as they slope down to the Humber. From early origins shown by a Saxon window, with a unique carving of a cat above it, down to delightful early 19th-century furnishings. There is evidence of a north aisle from arcading in the church, indicating that the building was once much larger.

Unusually, the square-towered St Mary’s shares a churchyard with another church, St Adelwold's. The bulk of St Mary’s dates from the 13th-and 14th-centuries, although a blocked-up window in the chancel could date from before the Norman Conquest in 1066. It also has box pews and improving texts from the early 19th century, when the tower was rebuilt. There is a working watermill nearby, accessible through a farmyard.

The brick-and-greensand church tower of St Michael’s can be seen on a hillside above the main road and the church has great views over gently rolling countryside. The walls show clear signs of alterations over the centuries: there was once a south aisle and the near windowless north wall may have been adjacent to monastic buildings. Prominent inside is the exquisite Norman chancel arch with carved capitals; above it, a Medieval wallpainting depicts a crowned head. There is also a 17th-century pulpit and some interesting monuments.

Set in gently rolling countryside, St Michael's Church stands framed by the large trees surrounding the part-moated farm to the east. This church is one of the few remaining buildings remaining on the site of a deserted Medieval village. Apart from its square tower, the church was rebuilt in 1835 in brick. Unassuming outside it hides treasures within: two extraordinary 14th-century monuments to the local De Buslingthorpe family - one a brass effigy of a knight in armour on a tomb chest, showing clearly the clothes worn in battle at that time.

This delightful stone church has lovely views across rolling countryside. At first glance, it may appear to be Victorian but closer inspection reveals much earlier origins. The south arcade has arches that date back to the 12th-century, while the 14th-century tower has a row of intriguing animal head carvings beneath the parapet. A clerestory was added in the 15th-century. Much of the Medieval carving remains, together with a 17th-century pulpit and Royal Arms of 1820.

This 13th-century church has a tall, slender spire, which for centuries has guided sailors along the Lincolnshire coast, giving the church the nickname of 'The Queen of the Marsh’. The building is mainly 13th-century, but the tower and spire were added somewhat later, and many windows were inserted in the 15th-century. It's spacious interior contains a superbly 15th-century font carved with the instruments of the Passion.

Close to Ermine Street, a vital artery in Roman Britain, this small Medieval village church has attractive 12th-century arcade with wonderful carvings and a sturdy and handsome tower. Foundations of a former apse are visible and further research may show that the church is of earlier date than the 12th-century. 18th-century additions include interesting Benefaction Boards. The church stands in a pretty churchyard surrounded by the village houses

Located in the fields at the end of a twisting lane St Peter’s is surrounded by trees in the churchyard. It is a peaceful and unspoilt church with an appealing simplicity. The solid rustic tower is 12th-century or even earlier, and the rest of the church dates mainly from the 13th-and 14th-centuries. The interior is light and airy with honey-coloured stone and a carved 17th-century roof. The windows in the south aisle contain rare and pretty 14th-century stained glass showing Saint Catherine with her wheel (looking strongly like a dart board) and Saint Cecilia playing a hand-held organ. The monuments are very special. The two splendid 14th-century knights commemorate members of the Disney family. There is exquisite detail in the carving of the armour, belt and sword. An even more extraordinary monument is a slab with a figure of a knight in relief. His head and praying hands at the top, and his feet at the bottom, are separated by an elaborate cross where his lower body and legs would be, and he has long flowing hair.