St Botolph's Church, Quarrington
Country	England
Denomination	Church of England
History
Dedication	St Botolph
Administration
Province	Canterbury
Diocese	Lincoln
Deanery	Lafford
Parish	Quarrington with Old Sleaford
Clergy
Rector	The Rev. Ms S. R. Benham

St Botolph's Church is an Anglican place of worship in the village of Quarrington, part of the civil parish of Sleaford in Lincolnshire, England. The area has been settled since at least the Anglo-Saxon period and a church existed there by the time Domesday was compiled in 1086, when it formed part of Ramsey Abbey's fee. It was granted to Haverholme Priory in c. 1165, but the Bishop of Lincoln presented the rector during the early 16th century, before it passed to Robert Carre and his descendants. With capacity for 124 people, the church serves the ecclesiastic parish of Quarrington with Old Sleaford and, as of 2009, has an average congregation of 50.

Recognised for its age and tracery, the church has been designated a grade II* listed building. It consists of a tower and spire with a nave and north aisle spanning eastwards and ending at a chancel. The oldest parts of the building date to the 13th century, although substantial rebuilding took place over the following century. Renovations followed and the local architect Charles Kirk the younger carried out restoration work in 1862–63, when he added the chancel in his parents' memory. The high interior spans three bays of arcading which complement the windows along either side of the nave's south wall and north aisle; those on the south wall are particularly unusual for their incorporation of hexagons and trefoils into the reticulated designs.

Description

St Botolph's Church is the parish church of the benefice of Quarrington with Old Sleaford, which encompasses most of the village of Quarrington in the English non-metropolitan county of Lincolnshire. The benefice is a rectory and falls within the deanery of Lafford and the archdeaconry and diocese of Lincoln;^[1] the present priest-in-charge, Rev. Sandra Rhys Benham, was appointed in 2009.^[2][3] Dedicated to St Botolph, the church is on Town Road.^[1] The rectory was constructed in c. 2000 and has a study area used as the parish office.^[4] As of 2015, services are scheduled for Sundays and Wednesdays: Holy Communion from 11:00 am on every second, third and fourth Sunday and every Wednesday at 10:00 am; a family service on every first Sunday of the month at 11:00 am.^[1]

Along with 20 spaces in the choir stalls, the nave and aisle pews can comfortably seat 124 adults and "149 at a pinch"; as of 2009, the average congregation size for the main Sunday service was 50, about half of whom were retired and 1–3 were under 16. In 2004 a log cabin-style building was constructed by Pinelog Ltd using funds from the Parochial Church Council. It serves as a robing space for choristers and can be used as a meeting room for up to 30 people. Equipped with disabled toilet facilities, the building also serves as a Sunday School.^[5]

History

Background, origins and advowson

There is little evidence for prehistoric activity in the area and, despite the presence of Late Iron Age and Roman communities in Sleaford, only scattered Roman coins and pottery sherds have been uncovered around Quarrington.^[6] The first written record of the village occurs in the Domesday Book of 1086,^[7] but the remains of an early and middle Anglo-Saxon rural community have been discovered beneath fields around the village, along with evidence for pig and sheep-rearing and metalworking.^[8][9] Ramsey Abbey possessed a manor at Quarrington from c. 1051 and, by the time Domesday was compiled, this included two churches.^[10] The antiquarian James Creasey suggested that the missing church was All Saints' in Old Sleaford,^[11] where the Abbey held a manor as sokeland of Quarrington,^[12] while the antiquarian Edward Trollope thought it had been lost, buried "probably in a farm yard now occupied by Mrs. Cubley".^[13] In 1909, two amateur local historians, H. Greenval and F. Cenlices, reckoned that both churches were lost and had stood on land marked by stone crosses near Tellgate on the Sleaford–Folkingham road and on Stump Cross Hill.^[7] But in 1979, the local historians Christine Mahany and David Roffe reassessed the Domesday evidence and, after analysing the manorial structure, documentary evidence and the history of the advowson of All Saints', concluded that it was the second church in the Abbey's manor of Quarrington.^[7][12]

Henry Selvein, a knight, held Quarrington of the Abbey and in c. 1165 granted it to Haverholme Priory,^[14] who presented Alexander de Brauncewell as rector in 1218.^[15] The priory are known to have presented rectors in 1248 and 1269 as well.^[15] The Bishop of Lincoln, who had held a manor at Quarrington since Domesday, claimed the right to present its rector in the early 16th century. Bishop Holbeach alienated the manor to the Crown in 1547 and it was eventually purchased by the Sleaford merchant Robert Carre, but the Bishop still tried to present the rector; Carre protested and the dispute was settled when Lord Chief Justice Coke ruled that Carre would present in future.^[16]

Construction and later history

A "very narrow" chancel arch existed until the mid-19th century and might have been pre-Conquest, but the earliest visible part of the church is 13th century north arcade, which may have been added to an earlier, now-lost nave. The spire and tower date to the middle of the next century, roughly when the nave was rebuilt. Many of the windows are reticulated in a fashion popular during the early 14th century.^[17] Several medieval bequests are known: Olivia, wife of John Rossen of Quarrington left 12 pence to the rector and church each in 1412; a donation of wool was made by another parishioner, Joan, wife of William Ward, around the same time. Later, 8 pence was left to the churchwardens by an unknown resident.^[13]

In the latter half of the 16th century, the living of Old Sleaford became "extremely poor" and the church probably fell out of use. Some time afterwards, the rector of Quarrington obtained a presentation to Old Sleaford, but, discovering the lack of tithes, he left. Robert Carre convinced him to take in the parishioners of Old Sleaford at Quarrington in return for a yearly payment;^[18] as of 2015, the parishes are still combined.^[19] Amendments to the fabric of the church were made in the early modern period, beginning when the chancel was rebuilt on a smaller scale some time after the restoration and inset with 12th and 13th century stonework,^[17] the whole thing described as "very miserable" by Edward Trollope.^[20] This was replaced in 1812 by a Georgian-style building, constructed under the guidance of the rector, Charles Blomfield. The North Aisle was rebuilt in 1848 and a new pulpit, screen and pews were added the following year.^[17]

The Victorian period witnessed extensive restoration work at Quarrington, where most of the nave's windows were altered, and the chancel and part of the vestry were rebuilt by Charles Kirk in 1862–63; parts of the tower and spire were remodelled 24 years later.^[17] The Census of Religious Worship (1851) reveals that the Church had 120 sittings, attendances of 20 and 40 in the morning and afternoon respectively and 20 Sunday scholars.^[21] As Sleaford expanded, houses were built along London and Station Roads, pushing the town inside the Quarrington parish boundaries in what became New Quarrington.^[22] To deal with the growing population, a second church was designed in the early 1900s to be built on donated land in the parish but closer to Sleaford. Disruption during World War I, parish boundary changes in 1928, and rising costs delayed the plans. Instead a church hall was built in 1932 on Grantham Road and is now used as a community centre. An extension to the Church was added in 2001, providing a kitchen, disabled toilet and other facilities; built in matching stone, it incorporated a stained glass window from the north aisle.^[23]

Architecture and fittings

St Botolph's Church consists of a west tower adjoining a nave with a north aisle; at the end of the nave is a chancel with a chapel on the north side.^[17] Owing to its age, the "excellent" tracery and a "very good" 12th century door, the church has been listed at grade II* on the Statutory List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest in the United Kingdom since 1949,^[17] recognising it as "particularly important ... of more than special interest".^[24]

Incorporating a window and two-light openings for the bell, the tower and its spire have been dated to the mid-14th century, although its pinnacles were replaced in 1887.^[17] Trollope did not like the spire's design, saying that it "looks as if it had slipped down".^[20] Built in a Decorated Gothic style, the tower joins to the nave with a triple-chamferred arch.^[25] The nave has been heavily restored and contains elements from a range of periods. The architectural historian Sir Nikolaus Pevsner calls the south wall puzzling because of the tracery—it is unclear what is Victorian and what is medieval. The wall itself is 14th century and incorporates a priest's doorway with mouldings, capitals and a bust of a man; the windows to its east have been restored, but follow a 14th-century reticulated style, although unusually they feature hexagons with pointed trefoils.^[17][25] The north aisle is from the 13th century, although a 12th-century doorway sits between its late-14th-century windows.^[17] At the eastern end of the nave is the chancel, which has a polygonal (quingualgular) apse and was constructed between 1862 and 1863 by Charles Kirk the younger in memory of his parents, the elder Charles Kirk and his wife Elizabeth. Its windows were made by Ward and Hughes.^[20][25]

Both Pevsner and Historic England regard the interior as high relative to the Church's small size.^[17][25] The nave has arcading across three bays with chamfered arches and capitals; the arcades on the north side are Early English and, dating to the 13th century, are the earliest visible parts of the church.^[17][25] The westernmost arch is wider and shorter than the rest, giving what Trollope called "a very awkward appearance".^[26] The chancel arch follows a 13th-century style, although it was built with the 1862–63 work. Inside the chancel, shafts with floral capitals adorn the walls, while the tiled flooring and painted roof give it a "rich" appearance. Its windows are by H. Hughes and Burlison and Grylls, while another commemorates the Barrett family. Morris and Co. worked on a window in the north aisle.^[17]

The church's fixtures include a 19th-century pulpit and choir stalls, and chancel screen in a Decorated style; a font from the 14th century has foliage designs on the bowl, but lacks a base.^[17][27] The earliest record of an organ at St Botolph's is from 1867, when one was opened for the chancel by Bevington; it has since been moved to Pointon. In 1915, the church paid for organ bought from N. E. Snow to be fixed by Cousans at the cost of £130. The present organ, however, was built in 1929 by J. J. Binns and has two manuals and a pedalboard.^[28] The memorials in St Botolph's mostly date to the 18th and 19th century,^[17] although a plaque commemorating one Thomas Appleby dates to 1683 and several other 17th century tablets are noted by Trollope.^[29] A tablet to Romaine Hervey (d. 1837) by J. J. Saunders is inside the church;^[25] elsewhere in the grounds are tombstones belonging to the Sharpe and Kirk families and markers to the Shannons, including the artist Charles Haslewood Shannon (d. 1937).^[17]

References

Citations

Bibliography

52°59′14″N 0°25′52″W / 52.987219°N 0.431210°W / 52.987219; -0.431210

External links

• St Botolph's Church, Quarrington, Sleaford