ALL SAINTS, WINTHORPE
All Saints' Church, Winthorpe, is a Grade II listed building, attaining listing status on 15 October 1984. The church you see today is the third church built on the site, having been erected between 1886-1888 after the old church had fallen into disrepair. At the time of listing, the gate piers and the Thompson tomb in the churchyard, also achieved Grade II status.
The site of the church, off Gainsborough Road, was that occupied by Parliamentary troops during their attacks on Newark at the time of the Civil War. The original version of the church was severely damaged during the Civil War.
A report made in August 1559, used in the Act of Uniformity (1559) found that the chancel was already roofless. The oldest church on the site dates back to at least the 13th Century, although records are very limited prior to the late 17th Century. The second version of All Saints' was built after the Civil War. It underwent substantial repairs in 1779 when the tower fell and had to be rebuilt. As the second building was razed in 1886, excavation revealed the base for a cannon, gunpowder, and hundreds of skeletons. In August 1886, construction of the new church commenced. Sir Henry Bromley, Baronet of Stoke Hall, East Stoke, placed the foundation stone of the new church on All Saints' Day, 1 November 1886. Construction was completed in 1888 and, on 19 June 1888, All Saints' Church was consecrated by the Bishop of Lincoln after the original consecration was postponed from 7 June 1888 as the Bishop of Southwell had taken ill.
The church is constructed primarily of red Walkeringham brick. Ancaster stone was utilised for exterior trim, with red Mansfield stone employed in the interior. The tower, with brick spire, is at the northwest corner of the church. The lower portion of the tower features the entrance to the building, as well as a porch with a staircase that extends up to the belfry. In the belfry, two new bells were supplemented by three old bells from the former church. The number of bells was eventually increased to six. The bells were re-tuned and re-hung between 2002-2004. The arched entrance to the porch has ashlar trim, over which there is an ashlar cross. The ground floor of the tower has the entrance to the north, a pair of lancet windows to the east, and another pair to the west. Each side of the first floor of the tower features a grouping of three lancets, with a single lancet window flanked by blind lancets. The bell chamber, at the second floor of the tower, has four pairs of lancet windows. The spire has four lucarnes and a pinnacle trimmed with ashlar crockets. The church roof is tiled and the gable ends capped with stone.
An apsidal baptistry which projects from the west side of the nave has three lancet windows, over which is a band course. The south wall of the nave has three double lancet windows, each of which is surmounted by a cinquefoil and band course. The south wall of the chancel has three lancet windows with ashlar trim. The nave and chancel are in the same locations as those of the previous church. However, the baptistry is at the site of the previous west tower. The church is substantially larger than the former. The current tower, vestry, north aisle, organ chamber and the most eastern portion of the chancel are all located on previously unoccupied ground, although the vestry was built over the Handley vault. The north aisle has five arched windows with ashlar trim. The double lancet of the organ chamber gable is surmounted by a quatrefoil. The most notable set of stained-glass windows in All Saints' is the grouping of three lancet windows above the altar, at the east end of the chancel. It was contributed by Mrs. Edward Gordon as a memorial to Cassandra Handley, the spouse of Charles Richard Handley. The set of windows depicts Christ surrounded by some of the saints.
In addition to the three old bells, there are several other vestiges of the former church. In the churchyard, they include an oval stone tablet and the pinnacle. The interior of the building contains a ceiling boss, door lock with key, royal arms and some monuments from the previous church. Remnants of the original version of the church are limited to those incorporated into the wall of the churchyard.
The cost of construction of the church was borne by Edward Handley, in memory of his cousin Philip Handley. Memorial tablets to both men are located in the church nave. Other tablets dedicated to the memory of members of the Handley family line the walls of the vestry. Those members include: William Farnworth Handley, John Handley, his wife Martha Story Handley, his son John Handley, and Benjamin Handley. Tablets behind the organ honor Benjamin and Frances Handley, as well as four of their children, including their son Benjamin Handley who drowned as a young man in the Tagus in 1813. Memorials to Henry Handley (Edward's father) and Georgiana Handley (Edward's sister) are present in the chancel.
Other memorials in the organ chamber include those to William Rastell and his wife Mary, their son William Thomas Rastell, Annie Ranstall, Roger Pocklington and his wife Mary, their son Roger Pocklington and his wife Jane, and Christopher Morley and his wife Charlotte. Memorials to churchwarden Robert Hunt Bradley, physician Robert Taylor and his wife Elizabeth, and their son Robert Taylor are present in the nave. Other tributes are scattered throughout the church.
Today, All Saints' is in the East Trent Group of Churches which is 11 churches strong.
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THE CACHE
You are looking for a man who shares his surname with a body part and was originally from Halifax.
He was born April 25 ABCD and died May 10 EFGH.
The cache can be found at;
N 53 C(G-A) (F-G-E)(G-H)(B-A)
W 000 GxG-(E+H) (D-H)G(F-A)
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