Parish Church Of St Thomas A Becket

The Parish Church of St Thomas a Becket is a church built in 1881 by C Kirk and Son of Sleaford, replacing an earlier church from 1809. An aisle was added in 1887, followed by a choir and vestry in 1893. The church is constructed from rock-cut stone and features a slate roof in the Lincolnshire Decorated style. It has a tall southwest tower with five stages, clasp buttresses topped with crocketed finials, and a cusped parapet. The ground floor has three-light windows, and there is a clock on the west face. The belfry has two-light windows. The nave includes a five-light west window with flowing tracery and a door set in a projecting gabled surround. The north nave aisle features five eaves gables above three-light windows, with the porch gable containing a curved triangular traceried window. The east window has five lights with flowing tracery, while the south aisle has smaller two-light windows and an eaves corbel table.

Inside, the church has an exceptionally complete interior with elaborate wall paintings and fittings. The nave is five bays wide, supported by piers with hood moulds over the arches, and features a scissor brace roof. The choir has a similar roof, painted in 1893. There is a two-arch opening to the former vestry on the north side and a chancel chapel on the south, both with arches that have cinguefoiled heads. The sedilia consists of three trefoiled arches, and there is a piscina with a foliage-carved bowl. The chancel arch and rood, designed in the Perpendicular style, were added in 1913. The polygonal stone pulpit has richly crocketed gabled sides and stone figures at the angles. The nave and chancel walls are adorned with wall paintings depicting New Testament scenes and foliage patterns. The church retains its complete original stained glass, including the east window signed by Ward Hughes from 1882, the west window by Ward & Hughes from 1887, and three north aisle windows from around 1895 by Heaton, Butler and Bayne.