Church Micro 6864...Bennington - All Saints Traditional Geocache

The Church of All Saints’ Benington was listed a Grade I building in January 1967and is now 600 years old, originating from the early Thirteenth Century.

All Saints’ charts the developments in ecclesiastical rural architecture through to the Fifteenth Century with a fascinating Victorian restoration conducted by James Fowler of Louth in 1873 to top it all off.  It is built in coursed squared limestone rubble and ashlar, with slate and lead roofs.  The church consists of a western tower, clerestoried nave, aisles, chancel and south porch.

The tower is a two stage late 14th century tower with a moulded plinth, string courses, parapet and corner buttresses, each with a crocketed ogee with beast head corbels halfway up.  There is also a beast-head and fleuron corbel table.  There are also two-light belfry openings with cusped transom and ogee heads to the lights, and hood moulds with human head stops.  The west doorway has a moulded surround containing a quatrefoil frieze.  This is flanked by ogee cusped pilasters which would have framed the door, but have been cut back when the west window was enlarged and flanked by cusped and crocketed niches.  There is also a large four-light 15th century window with hollow moulded surround and panelled tracery. 

One of the Benington Church bells bears the following inscription:

• “The hills and vales and towns all round
  Shall echo with a pleasant sound.”

Another bell bears the following:

• “To Church, the House of God, come all I pray,
  To praise His name to all eternity.”

These were rung until the church closed in 2001.

A battlemented clerestory has six three-light 15^th century windows with panel tracery and linked hoods. The nave is 13^th century (partly rebuilt in the 19^th century) and of coursed squared limestone rubble with a slate roof, to the east-end of which is an octagonal stair turret.  This has a roll moulded string course and corbel table, and four lancets to the north side.

The east window has five lights and is 15^th century with a deeply moulded surround and panel tracery, and is flanked by 19^th century buttresses bearing a quatrefoil.  The festival day of All Saints is 1^st November and the east window is so devised, not being in the centre of the chancel that the sun at its rising shall shine as fully as possible into the Church on that day.

On the south side there are four 15^th century three-light windows with cusped heads and panel tracery.  There is also a continuously moulded 14^th century priest’s door.

The south aisle has a three-light reticulated 14^th century east window which was restored in the 19^th century and on the south side, five two-light windows matching those on the north side. In the west end a three-light 14^th century reticulated window matches that in the east end. The gabled 14^th century porch is lead roofed with a moulded outer arch with fleurons, octagonal responds and a quatrefoil frieze to its base. This also has a contemporary, continuously moulder inner door.

In the interior are six 14^th century bay nave arcades with two hollow chamfered orders and octagonal piers, responds and capitals on large circular 13^th century bases.  In the tower is a 15^th century arch with double hollow chamfered arch and octagonal responds, while the 14^thcentury nave roof pitch is fossilised in the tower wall. 

The early 13^th century chancel archhas a roll and a square moulding with three collared clustered shafts and stiff leaf foliage.  The 15^th century nave roof has moulded principals of a queen post construction, with ached braces resting on cambered ties, which are in turn braced to posts and supported on carved corbels. These are supported by angels with shields. 

In the east end of the north aisle is a four centred arched doorway to the stair turret and a cusped headed piscina.   A projecting octagonal bowl on a corbel and a small trefoil headed niche is located adjacently.  In the south aisle a trefoil headed piscine has a cut back bowl, while in the chancel a roll moulded cill course and lancets with shafted and roll moulded rear arches have foliate capitals.  On both side walls are annular corbels and springing bays for bays of a 13^th century vault, now vanished.  In the south wall is located a 14^th century triple sedilia with ogee arches and clustered shafts, a pointed headed piscine, and a double aumbry with roll moulded surround.  In the north wall there is a segmental headed moulded tomb recess, two moulded headed openings and a further single aumbry.

Fittings include a 15^th century seven bay chancel screen, the central bay being wider with double doors.  Its panels are traceried with brattished segmental transoms with ogee tops and panel tracery.  This also has a restored coved canopy on fine clustered shafts, while a carved and sculpted pulpit of 1864 stands to its north. 

In 1534 there were three altars in the church:

1. The High Altar to All Saints.

2. Our Lady’s Altar at the east end of the north aisle at the entrance to the rood loft: a bracket for the figure, the Piscina and receptacle for alms, remain.

3. Corpus Christi Altar at the south-east corner of the south aisle.

This is a rare dedication: the Feast of Corpus Christi was only established in the 15^thCentury.

Further fittings include a 14^th century sandstone octagonal font, with airs of figures under crocked ogee arches to each face and angel suppers to the bowl.  The pilastered stem also has figures and a caved base stood upon three octagonal steps with two kneeling stones, for priest and god-mother who represent the infant.  The height of the font is 6’ 2”.

At the restoration of the Church in 1874, the organ, formerly in the gallery at the west-end of the Church, was enlarged and placed in the south aisle.

There are table tombs to the memory of Richard Cowell and his wife in the churchyard.  An entry in the Parish Register tells us that Wm Porrill and Jane Pawley were married 28^th May 1724.  Their early bliss was short-lived: Jane was buried 3rd April 1725 and her husband 22^nd October 1727.  A tombstone, which is Grade II listed, with the following inscription is on the west side of the church porch:

•  Sacred to the memory of Mr Wm Porrill,
   Shopkeeper of this Parish,
   who died 22nd October 1727, aged 67.
   Bequeathing his estate for the endowment
   of a school and amply providing for the
   maintenance of a schoolmaster,
   two poor men and two poor women
   belonging to this and the adjoining parish
   of Leverton for ever, and denominating
   the charity (which this perishable stone
   but feebly records), Benington Bede.
                       

Benington Church had its own rector living and working in the parish until October 1994, when it joined forces with Freiston and Butterwick and Rev Brian Grellier became the ‘priest in charge’.

Sadly in September 2001 the Church held its final service and was closed until a decision regarding the future is made.  

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