Church Of St Botolph

The Church of St Botolph is a Grade I listed building located on Church Lane in Helpston. The west tower of the church dates back to Norman or possibly Saxon origins, while the rest of the structure is primarily from the 13th century. The nave features a flat-headed Perpendicular clerestorey window on the south side and north clerestorey windows with 4-centred arches, along with battlements. Both the north and south aisles have straight-headed windows, with the west windows in the Perpendicular style. The east window of the south aisle is Decorated, and there is an early 13th-century south doorway adorned with a painted arch and one order of colonnettes, one featuring a waterleaf capital and the other with upright leaves. A south porch from the 14th century is present, and the door bears the inscription "W.G. Fecit 1708." The chancel, dating from around 1300, has had its pointed heads cut off the windows, replaced with square lintels that feature the initials T:G: and K.G. along with the date 1609. The east window has been restored in the Perpendicular style. The west tower was rebuilt in 1865, with the lower parts said to exhibit some long-and-short work. The tower consists of four stages, with the lower two being square in plan. The bottom stage has a Perpendicular west window, while the upper stages are octagonal, culminating in a top stage with 2-light reticulated tracery bell openings. The tower is topped with small battlements, gargoyles, and a squat spire featuring large lucarnes.

Inside, the church has early 13th-century two-bay south arcades supported by circular piers with circular capitals and abaci, along with chamfered round arches. The mid-13th-century north arcade has an octagonal pier and pointed double-chamfered arches. The early 12th-century tower arch features scallop capitals, while a later pointed arch is also present. The arches leading to the aisles have roll-mouldings that extend westward to the north and south of the tower. The chancel arch includes filleted shafts, and there are 13th-century sedilia and piscina. A plain octagonal font is located within the church. The arms of James I can also be found here. The churchyard contains numerous 18th and 19th-century headstones, including the tomb of the poet John Clare, who lived from 1793 to 1864, marked with the inscription "A Poet is born not made."