NORTH BELTISLOE BENEFICE. HUMBY, SAPPERTON, BRACEBY & ROPSLEY
HUMBY CHAPEL
Church Post Code NG33 4HS
Open to visitors
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It was late June 2020, and it was back in to Lincolnshire, aiming to re-shoot some churches that I had visited several years before, returning this time with a better camera than I had on that previous visit. The first covid lockdown had ended and we were free to travel again.
To be honest, I wasn’t in the best frame of mind. I started the day on a run of 35 successive closed churches, including two that were advertised as due to be open. With my churchcrawling head on, that is okay, it is good to get out and the churches will still be there at some point when the current problems have eased. Looking at things with my spiritual head on though, I was concerned about what I was seeing. An open church can be an important Christian witness, particularly in challenging times, and the closed doors in my mind, did not reflect well of us!
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Visited June 2020
And so,we arrived at Humby chapel, a chapel of ease to Old Somerby. This was once the private chapel to the now demolished Humby Hall. Great Humby and Little Humby are two neighbouring hamlets, with the combined population of around 85. Delightfully rural!
The chapel here was built around 1680 and was rebuilt in 1754. The font is considerably older though, dating back to the 14th century. Apparently, there was a church on the site here prior this chapel first being built and possibly we have the font dating back to a previous building. The interior of the church was completely refitted in the 1860’s so it is more than possible that the font was brought in at that time from another church.
The chapel was open to visitors, with a sign up reading that “this chapel will remain open during daylight hours during the coronavirus pandemic. Please come in and spend a while in quiet thought and prayer” Wonderful, thank you for whoever opens and closes this chapel up each day. If I lived close, this is somewhere where I would spend a great deal of time!
Inside and nave flows directly in to chancel. There is no stained glass here; all is plain… and beautiful! I estimate that the church might hold 40 or so people, possibly that might be a push as well. This is one of the smallest places of worship that I have visited. Fond memories of a trip to Lincolnshire a few years ago, cycling on a bitterly cold and windy winter Sunday morning to Scott Willoughby to take communion, which was a little smaller still! The church was packed out that day and from what I can gather, the five or six services a year here are very well supported. Small in size but big in Christian love! This one made an impression on me and it was great to be here.
SAPPERTON : CHURCH OF ST NICHOLAS
Church Post Code NG34 0TB
Open to visitors
From Humby, we travelled a short distance north west to neighbouring Sapperton, a tiny village with a scattering of houses and the church of St Nicholas.
This again was open to visitors, with a note on the church gate stating that the church had opened up again for private prayer from June 13th, which I think from memory is as soon as was possible following the lifting of restrictions after the 1st national covid lockdown. A sign hanging from the handle on the south door read "Church open. Keep calm and carry on praying”.
There is great age to St Nicholas, with much of the structure that we see today dating from the 12th and 13th centuries. This is an attractive church, even on a dull day, in a pleasant setting with attractive cottages bordering the church grounds to the west. This was a revisit, having visited this church back in 2007, armed with a very basic digital camera. The church was closed that day so this was the first time that I had seen inside this church.
This is a fairly basic structure of west tower, nave and chancel. The present structure is without aisles but on entering it is evident that there was once a north aisle here. This is obvious from the interior as the arcade is very much intact and filled in, but it is not evident from the exterior! There is no porch, with the visitor entering through a south doorway.
The 13th century tower is square, heavily buttressed, with a tiny recessed spire and a large plain parapet at the top of the tower. The chancel is probably the shallowest that I have seen on my travels and has been reduced in length at some point in time.. There is a single bell hanging here which was cast by Thomas Mears II of Whitechapel, London in 1825. Thomas North compiled a study of the church bells in Lincolnshire, which was published in 1882, and he was very thorough in his work but he left no information as to whether this bell was recast, as I suspect it was, and if yes who the founder of the previous bell was.
The visitor enters through the south doorway, which has a pointed arch with dogtooth carving. This dates from the early 13th century. The chancel arch also dates from the 13th century. The pews and pulpit date from the restoration of 1897.
As mentioned earlier, there was a north aisle here. This was taken down at some point, with the arches still there but bricked up. This arcade dates from the late 12th century and has octofoil piers with stiff leaf design on the capitals. The central and most eastern arches are of semi circular design, but the most wester arch appears to have been rebuilt and has a pointed arch.
A 19th century coloured carving of the crucifixion can be seen at the chancel arch, with Christ crucified and Mary and John in their traditional positions alongside the cross. This made its way here from the nearby redundant church at Haceby.
A single stained glass panel depicts the risen Christ looking the onlooker in the face and holding out a crown. The crown is a symbol of victory; with Christ here holding out the prize, victory over death, for those who care to accept it. A recumbent effigy of a lady at prayer with her head under an ogee arch can be seen in the north west corner of the nave.
The font is 12th century. What tales this could tell if were able. It will have stood here through the Black Death, of the 14th century, when upwards of half of Europe was killed. It has stood through the English Civil War, through the great plague later that century, through the horrors of the Reformation through world wars and the Spanish flu. The font has stood through 900 years of history and its fair share of tragic times. Covid would not phase it; it has seen it all before. As the sign said, “Keep calm and carry on praying”
BRACEBY : CHURCH OF ST MARGARET
Church Post Code NG34 0SZ
Open to visitors
We moved on the short distance to Braceby, which is another very small village/hamlet with a church, and a scattering of houses. During the mid 19th century, the population was around 150 but today it is around 30. The village church is dedicated to St Margaret, and dates back to the 13th century. It was great to see the church open sign on the gate to the north of the church, and lovely to see someone coming out of the church. Pleasantries exchanged in a very English fashion, I worked my way around to the south side and took a look at the exterior.
The church that we see here today dates back to the 13th century, with additions over the next two centuries and Victorian rebuilding in parts. The structure consists of west bellcote, nave with clerestories, south porch, north aisle and chancel. It appears as if there has never been a tower here.
As with Sapperton previously, this church has lost an aisle. The south aisle was taken down and bricked up at some point in history, the ghosted outlines of the arches still visible. The official listing for this church also suggests that there was a south chapel here.
There is a bellcote to the west, which hold bells of considerable age and importance. The oldest of the two bells dates back to around 1200, and is thought to be the second oldest bell in Lincolnshire. The other bell dates from around 1500. According to the National Church Bell Database both are listed without makers’ names.
Approaching the south porch there is a very weathered mass dial by the side of the porch. This would have acted as a basic sundial, alerting the people as to service times. By its positioning, it looks as if this has been repositioned at some point in the past, possibly when the south aisle was taken down, and it is suggested that the south porch was repositioned itself at this time.
Going in through the south door I noticed some pentagons carved around the frame of the door. Today, the pentagon is associated with black magic but in days long gone it was a Christian symbol used as a protection against evil. Some people connected with churches strongly object to these being in their churches. Some time ago I had a guided tour around a church and the guide missed out a pentagon whilst mentioning the other graffiti. At the end I asked her about it and the reply was ‘Yes it should not be here’. If it was carved at a time when it was a Christian symbol then it should be there!
It is also said that the pentagon was used as a symbol of Christ’s passion, with the five points of the pentagon symbolising the five wounds of Christ’s crucifixion; namely both hands, both foot and spear in to Jesus’ side.
As is common in churches in this area, there is plenty of graffiti here. These are mainly just initials but John Farr did carve his full name in, with WB having a small cartoonlike deer below the initials. This is similar to what we were to later see at Silk Willoughby.
I always enjoy looking at the graffiti, and to be fair so does Gary, who drives on the day, even though he has little interest in the churches themselves. In many cases, I am sure, the mark of the common man and woman, who probably wouldn’t have had the money to afford a gravestone. Just scratched initials and sometimes a date, all which is left of a life with the exception of their name listed in the church registers.
Moving inside, there was a sign pinned to the south door saying that it was delighted to be open again for private prayer along with a list of do’s and don’ts.
Walls are whitewashed and there is no stained glass, with the exception of a few medieval fragments. There is very little in the way of wall and floor memorials and it does appear that this parish has not been as affluent as some in the past.
The north arcade is of three bays, with this and the chancel arch dating from the 13th century. A look to the west shows the outline of the previous roof line before the clerestory was added.
There is a scattering of gravestones in the church grounds here but nothing of any great interest or rarity and it appears that there was a substantial gravestone clearance here at some point in the past.
A delightful church, it was great to see it again. We moved on, heading a mile or so north east to neighbouring Haceby, which will be covered on a separate page.
North Beltisloe: A friendly, welcoming benefice. A selection of covid signs from the day. Left is from Humby Chapel, the other two are from Sapperton.
ROPSLEY : CHURCH OF ST PETER
Church Post Code NG33 4BS
Open to visitors
Visited October 2020
We moved on to Ropsley; the largest of the seven villages in the North Beltisloe benefice. The church here was open and it was lovely to be able to see inside. I was here several years ago, with a very basic digital camera and it was always the intention to revisit with the Nikon one day; it just took around 15 years, no point in rushing! It had been a dull start to the day, but the promised sun had finally beaten the stubborn morning cloud cover by the time that we reached Ropsley, the fifth church of the day visited.
Ropsley is a very pleasant South Kesteven village, which recorded a population of 634 at the time of the 2021 census. It can be found some five miles to the east of Grantham. The church of St Peter can be found off to the south of the village, on slightly raised ground. A black and white cat, after a fashion, came up and sort of said hi, before losing his or her nerve and fleeing off in the direction of the nearby retirement bungalows.
The church that we see today consists of west tower with octagonal broach spire with three tiers of gabled lucarne windows, nave with north and south aisles and clerestories, south porch, south chapel and chancel.
The church here dates back to the 11th century, with some long and short Saxon stonework helping to date it to that time. The buttressed west tower is 13th century; with the octagonal broach spire dating to the 14th century. A close look at the east wall of the tower shows the outline of an earlier roofline before the clerestory was added. This is a church of pleasing proportions.
The south porch is large and ornate, with crocketed pinnacles and an empty image nice central. A frieze across the top of the porch consists of a repeated quatre foil design. A plaque over the south door notes that this porch was built in 1486.
Two bells hang here, with each dating from the 17th century. The first is from Henry II Oldfield of Leicester and is dated 1620. This bell has the inscription ‘I sweetly tolling, men do call, to taste on meat that feeds the soule’. The second was cast more locally, by Thomas Norris of the Stamford bellfoundry in 1664.
All was peace and calm inside. I really relish these periods of complete silence! There was hand sanitiser on entry and unrestricted access throughout the church. The north arcade is of three bays with this dating from the 12th century, with circular piers and square capitals with a scallop design. The south arcade dates from the 13th century, with the piers more delicate in design, with a replacement octagonal pier to the west having some interesting graffiti in Latin, which translates as “This column was made for the feast of St. Michael in the year of our Lord 1380 and the name of the maker was Thomas Bate of Corby" What a fascinating little piece of history, with the carving liable to have been done by someone who live through the Black Death, which killed over a third of the population of Europe in the late 1340’s.
There are small recesses cut in to piers to north and south which would have contained small statues, and still does today in a pier to the south.
Red carpet runs the length of the nave, past Victorian pews, and up to the altar. Standing at the 13th century chancel arch and looking west, the tower arch, which also dates from the 13th century, has a doorway to the south which leads to the stair turret to the bells.
Moving in to the chancel, the altar is plain and simple with blood red altar cloth, which is normally the colour used during Pentecost. There is a 14th century double sedilia against the south wall; this providing the seating for the priests during the Mass and an aumbry against the north wall, which would have been used to store the holy vessels. There is also a tomb recess at the east end of the south wall.
There are altars at the east end of the south chapel and north aisle. There is a medieval piscina on the south wall of the south chapel showing that the Mass was celebrated at this side altar. A door at the east end of the north aisle gave access to the rood loft which would have stood here in pre reformation days.
There is not a great deal of stained glass to be seen here, but what there is, is of interest. A three light window in the south aisle concerns Mary Magdalene ay Jesus’ tomb on Easter morning; this taken from John Chapter 20. Starting with the right hand panel as we look at it, an angel of the Lord speaks to Mary ‘“Woman, why are you crying?” “They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him. (verse 13) We then switch to the left hand panel, with Mary speaking to an unknown man (with nimbus) ‘At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus. He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?” (verses 14-15). Central we see Mary talking to the risen Christ, dressed in blood red cloak and nimbus; wounds visible on hands ‘ Jesus said to her, “Mary ”She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (verse 16 all NIV Translation).
At the east end of the south chapel is a two light depiction of St Peter and St Paul. St Peter is holding the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven whilst St Paul holds a sword point downwards.
A memorial stained glass window in the south aisle is to one William Dales, a pilot who was shot down and killed in 1941. He is depicted, in uniform, with two dogs, one at his side and one at his feet. The face of the pilot is an actual photograph superimposed in to the window; the dog at his feet is thought to be a depiction of his own dog.
Over in the south aisle, hemmed in by chairs, is a recumbent effigy of a lady at prayer; under an ogee headed canopy. This dates from the 14thn century. Close by, a curious bald headed figure looks down on those in the aisle through sightless eyes.
The church grounds are large and have much of interest. There are a couple of ‘Belvoir Angel’ stones here, one in situ and one lying against the wall of the church close to the south porch. These are a long way from home, having thought to have been carved in or around Hickling on the Nottinghamshire / Leicestershire border. These are each battered and bruised but would have been beautifully carved in swithland slate, the in situ one dates from 1730, a memorial to one John Pickwell.
There is a fair amount of damage to this stone. There were two small angels at the top of this stone but the angel on the left as we look at it is gone with the exception of a small part of one wing. The angel on the right is damaged but substantially there.
In typical style for this stonemason, there are some spacing issues with the word 'died' being added in small font underneath where it should have gone! Inscription at the foot of the stone reads 'A husband kind a father dear the same is he who lyeth here God gave him time for to repent and for his sins he did lament' This stone has a Grade II Listing.
There are some finely carved slate gravestones in the grounds here and it is always worth taking a look at the small details. A woman holds out a banner which points the onlooker towards Hebrew Chapter 11, which extolls the virtues of faith in action. Nearby we see the intertwined Christian symbols of cross and anchor. A banner has script which reads ‘Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord’ with this coming from Revelation Chapter 14 verse 13.
This is a delightful church with much to see; it was good to visit it again some 15 years after the original visit. It was time to hit the road again, with the plan being to head east towards Pickworth, before picking up the A15 and heading north towards Sleaford. We made the most of the times that we were able to travel in those covid times. Things were not looking great nationally, death rates were high and it was thought that a second lockdown would be introduced fairly soon. This indeed was to happen some three weeks later!