Of the sixty-ish “Georgian” churches in Lincolnshire, Stainfield (1) is just slightly pre-Georgian, built in 1711. An elegant, balanced, building, it has a Gothic E. window by Fowler of Louth. Now, there’s a surprise. Some people just can’t leave well alone.
Just as attractive is Cherry Willingham (2) of 1753, whose classical facade is topped by an octagonal lantern. Then there is lovely little greenstone Hannah (3), with its unspoilt interior (also a 1753 rebuild). Standing on a slight rise NE of Alford, it resisted the East Coast floods of 1953 and is also one of the few churches to survive attempts by the Diocese of Lincoln to close it.
Partial rebuildings make some churches more complicated. Toynton All Saints (4) seems very long, until you realize that it is a Georgian wraparound of a 12th–14th c. aisled church – like Baumber (ND June 2010). At North Willingham (5), they replaced the nave and chancel in 1777, but left the medieval tower for C. Hodgson Fowler to rebuild the top in 1896.
Further reading: Holman and Sheila Sutcliffe in Lincolnshire Churches: Their Past and Their Future, ed. Henry Thorold (1976), pp. 17–21.
ND