Church Of St Edith

Church of St Edith

A church of mid-12th century origin with significant additions from the early 13th and 15th centuries, restored in 1883–84 by J. L. Pearson. The building is constructed of coursed limestone rubble with limestone ashlar, beneath a plain tiled roof.

The west end features a blocked 13th-century tower arch with chamfered jambs, abaci, and pointed head, flanked by three-stage pilaster buttresses. A 19th-century rectangular two-light window has been inserted above. A west bell turret with two barely pointed openings and a flat head rises from this end, while a timber-framed east gable completes the exterior.

The north side of the nave contains a blocked 15th-century doorway with rectangular head and chamfered surround. To the east are several windows: a blocked narrow rectangular opening followed by a 15th-century window with three round-headed lights and rectangular hood mould; a 15th-century window with four-centred head containing two ornately cusped lights with hood mould; and a 15th-century window with shallow triangular head and three cusped pointed lights. Beyond these is a 12th-century round-headed narrow light, re-opened in the 19th century. The east end displays two 19th-century small round-headed lights set within a timber frame with tie-beams and studding embedded in the gable above.

The south side contains two rectangular 15th-century windows to the east, each with two pointed cusped lights and a continuous central mullion flanked by four cusped mouchettes. A blocked doorway between them has a rectangular head and chamfered surround. Two tiny key-hole-shaped openings light an internal staircase to the rood loft. At the west of the south side stands a 12th-century round-headed doorway of two chamfered orders, featuring a large bold chip star decoration on the outer order and a hood mould; this doorway retains its plank doors. To the east of the south doorway is a round-headed moulded aumbry.

The interior contains a 15th-century tie-beam roof over the nave and a 20th-century panelled ceiling over the chancel. A 12th-century round stone font stands on a rectangular base. A 17th-century box pew with ornate finials features panels decorated with lunettes and flower heads; a poor box is attached to it, along with a Charles I coat of arms. Seven 15th-century bench ends have poppyhead finials and elbow rests. A pulpit with panelled sides displays rosettes, cusps, and pointed tracery. A 15th-century rood screen and loft survives with a central archway containing a hinged door. The screen features rich blind traceried panels with upper open traceried panels decorated with flower heads and a rich band of fruit and foliage. The rood stair in the south wall has a segmental head and leads to the loft, which contains traceried coving, a parapet, and a canted central projection for the rood.

A cusped tomb opening is visible in the north wall of the nave. The north wall of the chancel contains a blocked, fragmentary 13th-century Easter Sepulchre with a segmental arch and two small panels bearing reliefs—one of the Resurrection, the other of the winged lion of St. Matthew. An ashlar plaque inserted to the left carries a brass monument to Anthony Butler, died 1673.

The south wall holds a marble plaque with a round-headed brass to the east, depicting Charles Butler (died 1602) and his wife in prayer flanking the altar, with three coats of arms above and five sons and three daughters below, some holding skulls. To the west is a limestone slab with a brass of William Butler, his wife, and an infant daughter still in "chrison robe", died 1509, with coats of arms above. An alabaster monument to the west commemorates Brian Cooke of Doncaster, died 1653, with a central bust showing a high ruff, pleated sleeves, and pointed beard, beneath an ornate pilastered crown bearing a coat of arms and richly carved fruit and flowers. Two small 15th-century stools and a 15th-century chest with stylized foliage and panelled lid are also present. A pre-reformation altar slab bearing consecration crosses sits upon a 20th-century oak frame. A fragment of glass in the north-east window of the nave displays a coat of arms and the date 1597, while other 16th-century fragments remain in the south-east window. An alabaster tomb slab in the nave carries an illegible inscription.

This church retains the only intact rood screen and loft surviving in Lincolnshire.