Emergency appeals
St Mary’s Stow in Lincolnshire
We are urgently seeking £35,000 to cover the cost of unforeseen repairs at one of the oldest churches in the country. In May 2007 we started works to the roof at St Mary’s Stow during the course of which it became clear a number of roof beams were rotting and some of the masonry was in a worse condition than previously thought. We need to find funds to cover this extra work while the scaffolding is still in place. St Mary’s, despite being the ‘finest Norman church in Lincolnshire’ according to Sir John Betjeman, is relatively isolated and typifies problems faced by many parish churches.
These include small congregations facing rising costs of repair. WMF have already made a £50,000 grant from the Robert W. Wilson Challenge To Conserve Our Heritage, but we need your help to raise the remaining funds.
St Mary’s Stow - An Overview
Originally founded in 678 AD and rebuilt in the eleventh century, St Mary’s is a magnificent example of a Saxo-Norman parish church. One of the things that makes it particularly special is that it retains much many of its early architectural elements and reflects a time where great wealth was bestowed upon the county of Lincolnshire. After a devastating fire, the church was partially rebuilt between 1034 and 1050 by Bishop Eadnoth II. It was then re-founded and re-endowed by Leofric, Earl of Mercia and his infamous wife Lady Godiva, who is better known for riding naked through the streets in protest against excessive taxation.
The church also houses a fine example of ‘Viking graffiti’ (a long-ship) as well as a particularly beautiful fifteenth-century font. Other decorative elements include remnants of a thirteenth-century wall painting of St Thomas à Becket; a Jacobean pulpit and sixteenth-century bells accompanied by the rules for their ringing which date from 1770.
By the middle of the nineteenth century the church had fallen into considerable disrepair, and many people thought it should be demolished. The then Rector of the time, the Revd George Atkinson passionately fought for its survival and devoted his own fortune to its restoration. John Loughborough Pearson was employed to restore the roofs to their original pitch, reinstate Norman windows and rebuild the vaulting in the choir.
From the turn of the nineteenth century a dwindling local economy created a gradual decline in the local population and time has again taken its toll on the church. Currently the lead roof is in the greatest need of repair. Its gradual dilapidation is affecting the timber roof trusses and guttering.
WMF Britain is working closely with local experts and members of the church who requested our help in raising funds. To date much has been raised, but more funds are urgently needed to complete the work. Please follow the link if you are able to help us restore this church and send a clear message that our extraordinary national collection of parish churches should be saved where possible.