St THOMAS OF CANTERBURY AUNSBY
This church has some interesting and unusual features. If the visitor looks up to the top of the spire on a clear bright day, the inscription "Ave Maria" can be seen. Apparently the tower and the spire were taken down stone by stone in 1861 and rebuilt exactly, reusing each stone. This work was supervised by Mr. W. Thompson an architect from Grantham. But the tower and spire including the inscription are in essence of late medieval.
The beautiful stone carves well, and around the south aisle parapet is a lovely continuous scroll carving, which careful observation shows to be a series of identical leaf or dagger forms known as mouchette decoration. The buttresses have delicately carved gables, with small figures leaning out from the wall head to peer down on church goers. There is also beautiful flowing window tracery in the aisle windows. The one at the end of the aisle is so sinuous it has an Art Nouveau character to it - over 500 years before its time.
This attention to detail and beautiful carving is found also on the south doorway. Look carefully here and see how many frogs can be counted in the decoration of this stone arch.
Within the church is more carving of an earlier period. Here the early origins of Aunsby are confirmed, with scalloped Norman capitals to the chancel arch, and unusual square leafy capitals from late Norman, to the North aisle arcade. These piers are plain, sturdy and circular with traces of red paint remaining. Note the contrast with the south aisle piers, which are slender and grouped to form quatrefoil piers, with more stylish foliate capitals of the Decorated Gothic style.
The font is very similar to Aswarby, being a late Norman circular tub, with clasping shaft and square still leaf capitals.
In this church all the stonework is exposed and the floor is tiled. The roof and fittings all date from the 19th-century restoration. The Victorian work is dull when compared to the lively work of the medieval masons.
In the pleasant churchyard with its low stone wall and sycamore trees, graves are mostly of slate and rather plain. Near the tower is a small row of 18th-century stones, with worn carvings depicting rounded cherubs.