Blyton is a long straggling village along the A159, a few miles north of Gainsborough. Apart from the Ice Cream Parlour, the Village Teapot and Blyton Park Driving Experience, there is little to attract the tourist. There is little information about the village or church on the internet.
The church tower dominates the surrounding area. The church is set back from the road and is normally kept locked.
I had read that it contained flags of the allies from the First World War which were given to the church by their monarchs and heads of state. I like a good story so that was a good reason to visit the church on the rare occasion of it being opened for The West Lindsey Churches Festival.
Apart from the base of the church tower and a Norman arch inside the church, little remains of the Norman church built here. The church was extended in the C13th when the side aisles and arcades were added. The wood beamed roof with the clerestory and the font are C15th. The church was extensively restored in the late C19th when the chancel and north aisle were rebuilt. Much of the furnishings, including the pulpit, and organ which came from Morton Church, date from then. The bells were recast and rehung.
Opening the door, the first feeling is of a sad and rather unloved church. The Vicar is responsible for five other churches in the area and there is a list of service times on the church noticeboard.
With its rough stone walls and a wooden roof, it at first feels quite dark. The glare of sunlight streaming through the large east windows makes photography difficult.
The remains of the rood beam can be seen above the chancel arch and there is a small wooden crucifix above it.
The Norman arch leading into the base of the tower is all that can be seen of the original church.
The carved C15th font is just inside the door.
The C19th font standing on four dark marble legs is very different in style.
At the end of the south aisle is a small chapel. The altar top is a stone grave slab.
Set in the east window is a stained glass image of Bishop Edward King, who was Bishop of Lincoln from 1885-1910 and was brought here from a redundant church in Lincoln.
There are two other small stained glasses in the chancel from the same church; one of St George and the other of St Helena.
The altar has a rather plain panelled reredos. The east window has the coats of arms of the Diocese of Lincoln with the Calthrop family and Duke of Cornwall below. (Apparently, the he Duchy were patron of the living in the C18th and C19th.)
The chancel also has a brass memorial plate to two of the children of Sir John Wray of Wharton, who died in infancy. He was MP for Lincolnshire and He approved the executions of Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford and William Laud, but not of Charles I. He supported the Parliamentary cause in the English Civil War and is buried in the nearby Glentworth Church.
The allied flags hang from the nave roof and after one hundred years are beginning to show their age...
The story of the flags begins with request by the mother of a Blyton soldier who had been killed in France for a French flag to hang in the church in his memory. Hearing this, another mother who had lost a son in Belgium asked for a Belgium flag. The vicar, Reverend Potto Letts, wrote to the different embassies and consulates of all the Allied companies requesting a flag to hang in the church.
King Albert quickly responded with a message and the Belgian flag. The French President sent the Tricolour. The Viceroy of India, and the Governors of Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa all sent empire flags. The King of Italy, Emperor of Japan, President Wilson of the USA and the President of Portugal all responded. Romania and Yugoslavia also sent flags. Lloyd George who was Prime Minister during the war but then out of office, sent a Welsh flag. Admiral Beatty sent a white ensign reputed to have been flown at the Battle of Jutland. Apparently George V refused to send a Royal Standard because protocol only allowed the flag to be flown when the king is actually present...
It is a lovely story and makes the church stand out as different to all the other very similar village churches. It was an interesting visit and I’m glad I went. I can now cross that of my todo list.
website
The church tower dominates the surrounding area. The church is set back from the road and is normally kept locked.
I had read that it contained flags of the allies from the First World War which were given to the church by their monarchs and heads of state. I like a good story so that was a good reason to visit the church on the rare occasion of it being opened for The West Lindsey Churches Festival.
Apart from the base of the church tower and a Norman arch inside the church, little remains of the Norman church built here. The church was extended in the C13th when the side aisles and arcades were added. The wood beamed roof with the clerestory and the font are C15th. The church was extensively restored in the late C19th when the chancel and north aisle were rebuilt. Much of the furnishings, including the pulpit, and organ which came from Morton Church, date from then. The bells were recast and rehung.
Opening the door, the first feeling is of a sad and rather unloved church. The Vicar is responsible for five other churches in the area and there is a list of service times on the church noticeboard.
With its rough stone walls and a wooden roof, it at first feels quite dark. The glare of sunlight streaming through the large east windows makes photography difficult.
The remains of the rood beam can be seen above the chancel arch and there is a small wooden crucifix above it.
The Norman arch leading into the base of the tower is all that can be seen of the original church.
The carved C15th font is just inside the door.
The C19th font standing on four dark marble legs is very different in style.
At the end of the south aisle is a small chapel. The altar top is a stone grave slab.
Set in the east window is a stained glass image of Bishop Edward King, who was Bishop of Lincoln from 1885-1910 and was brought here from a redundant church in Lincoln.
There are two other small stained glasses in the chancel from the same church; one of St George and the other of St Helena.
The altar has a rather plain panelled reredos. The east window has the coats of arms of the Diocese of Lincoln with the Calthrop family and Duke of Cornwall below. (Apparently, the he Duchy were patron of the living in the C18th and C19th.)
The chancel also has a brass memorial plate to two of the children of Sir John Wray of Wharton, who died in infancy. He was MP for Lincolnshire and He approved the executions of Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford and William Laud, but not of Charles I. He supported the Parliamentary cause in the English Civil War and is buried in the nearby Glentworth Church.
The allied flags hang from the nave roof and after one hundred years are beginning to show their age...
The story of the flags begins with request by the mother of a Blyton soldier who had been killed in France for a French flag to hang in the church in his memory. Hearing this, another mother who had lost a son in Belgium asked for a Belgium flag. The vicar, Reverend Potto Letts, wrote to the different embassies and consulates of all the Allied companies requesting a flag to hang in the church.
King Albert quickly responded with a message and the Belgian flag. The French President sent the Tricolour. The Viceroy of India, and the Governors of Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa all sent empire flags. The King of Italy, Emperor of Japan, President Wilson of the USA and the President of Portugal all responded. Romania and Yugoslavia also sent flags. Lloyd George who was Prime Minister during the war but then out of office, sent a Welsh flag. Admiral Beatty sent a white ensign reputed to have been flown at the Battle of Jutland. Apparently George V refused to send a Royal Standard because protocol only allowed the flag to be flown when the king is actually present...
It is a lovely story and makes the church stand out as different to all the other very similar village churches. It was an interesting visit and I’m glad I went. I can now cross that of my todo list.
website