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This is
one of the few churches in Lincolnshire vested in the Churches Conservation
Trust (formally the Redundant Churches Fund). It is used for worship once a
year at Harvest Festival time, when it is always full both of people and
produce and the walls ring to the sound of harvest hymns.
The dedication of this church is not often found, in fact St. Barbara may well
not have existed at all. She is supposed to have been shut up in a tower by her
father and is usually depicted in paintings with a tower. She is the patron
saint of those in danger of sudden death such as miners and gunners.
The plain unbuttressed tower gives a clue to its early Norman origins. The
lower parts are in small rubble stones. The upper belfry stage is in smooth
ashlar and is a 14th-century addition.
The small nave has a south aisle and a clerestorey upper stage. This is lit by
two three light windows of late 15th-century form. The chancel with its plain
tiled roof has Early English pointed windows with simple tracery in the form of
a "Y" at the head. The eastern end of the chancel has been rebuilt in
the late 16th-century. The stonework is banded with some broader courses
running between the narrower ones. The east window is a simple three light
stone mullioned window with a plain cornice. This end of the church has a very
domestic character and could almost be mistaken for a house.
The north side is nearly blank. A slender lancet window in the chancel and a
single clerestorey window are the only features, except for a small blocked
doorway with an unusual arch called a Caernarfon arch. These arches are carried
on corbel stones at the base. This type can be found in a number of the
medieval castles in Wales - hence the name.
The church is entered through the low gabled 14th-century south porch. It is
worth pausing in here to look at the graffiti. One set of initials is dated
1677 in a stone lintel in a well executed 4-sail windmill, and on the porch
seat footprints have been etched.
Inside the chancel arch is of an early Norman form with a round head and plain
chamfered imposts: (the capital from which the arch springs). Above this arch
is a painted Royal Arms which has been painted over a medieval wall painting of
the Doom. These pictures of the Last Judgement showing Christ at the centre,
with Hell on His left and the Blessed on His right, were a common feature in
medieval times. Few now survive intact.
The simple interior has a pleasant 18th-century panelled oak pulpit and some
panelling in the nave and chancel. The plain octagonal font dates from the
14th-century. This small rural church in this near deserted village has a
beautiful tranquil atmosphere and can be described as one of the churches the
Victorians largely left untouched.