For a tiny, pretty church in tiny, pretty village, it is swathed in a huge amount of history!
Situated just off the A453, the church of St George, Barton-in-Fabis is a small worshipping community with ancient roots. It is one of five churches that make up the 453 group of churches, the others being St Lawrence at Gotham, St Winifred at Kingston-on-Soar, Holy Trinity at Ratcliffe-on-Soar, and All Saints at Thrumpton.
Only one other ancient churches in this county (North Clifton) was dedicated in honour of St. George— out of 126 dedications in England.
While there is no mention of a church at Barton in the Domesday Book, it is believed that it must have been built shortly after the survey was made in 1086, as it is recorded that during the reign of Henry I. the lord of Bunny (Odo de Boneia) gave to the Prior and Convent of Lenton the Church of Barton-in-Fabis.
In 1263 Barton churchyard obtained unenviable notoriety by way of a murder being committed in its grounds. St George’s rector was a pluralist absentee, Bartholomew de Agnani by name, and probably one of the hated Italians who at that time swarmed into English livings and dignities. Lenton Priory, asserting that he had died, presented the living to Thomas de Raley. Agnani protested, and appealed to the Pope, who ordered his reinstatement. Armed with the Papal Injunctions, Agnani's proctor met the Lenton Prior at Barton, where in the presence of the latter he was stripped and beaten so severely beside the churchyard that he died.
There is almost nothing of the original church building left apart from a few pieces of alabaster grave covers used in the churchyard wall. This is not surprising as the local stone used for building churches on the south side of the Trent was of a perishable nature, and incapable of taking any fine work. Bearing in mind that the situation of the village makes it particularly liable to damage whenever the river overflows its banks, it may be that the “phenomenal rain”, which is said to have fallen incessantly between Midsummer and Christmas, in the year 1346, caused such a flood as not only “cleansed the stain of strife and murder from the churchyard”, but also wrecked the old Church. The church was rebuilt late in the 14th century and evidence of this can be seen in the square-headed window tracery, the predominance of the ogee arch and the "wave" moulding were all predominant in architecture at that time.
The church is well known for the alabaster tomb in the chancel dating from 1616 with reclining effigies of William and Tabitha Sacheverell. Pictures and details of this can be found at http://southwellchurches.nottingham.ac.uk/barton-in-fabis/hmonumnt.php For a more detailed (if somewhat long winded) description of St Georges church, please go to http://www.nottshistory.org.uk/articles/tts/tts1918/barton1.htm
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