St Bartholomew's Church

St Bartholomew’s Church stands in the small village of Welby, Lincolnshire, four miles north-east of Grantham. Built on part of the old Ermine Street Roman road, it sits in a quiet rural setting with a churchyard that holds a memorial to nine servicemen from the two world wars. The church is Grade I listed and belongs to the Diocese of Lincoln, its history stretching back to the Domesday Book of 1086. A parish register from 1569 records early baptisms, marriages and burials. The nave’s south side was rebuilt around 1400, while later restorations in the 19th century added a north aisle, chancel and organ. The church is worth visiting for its well-preserved architecture and layers of history. It seats 240 and mixes Early English and Perpendicular styles, with a west tower topped by an octagonal spire containing two tiers of lucarnes. Inside, the north arcade has 15th-century octagonal piers, and the rood screen dates from the early 16th century. A 17th-century octagonal font and a 19th-century pulpit and lectern remain in use. Archaeologists have found medieval stained glass, pottery and graves beneath the flagstone floors. Visitors find a calm interior of ashlar and exposed rubble, with a Perpendicular south porch that Pevsner called “oversized.” The porch holds a 14th-century stone tomb cover showing a woman and child, moved from the graveyard. A charity founded in 1824 by the Rev’d William Dodwell is commemorated inside. The churchyard’s war memorial lists eight men from the First World War and one from the Second. The building’s Grade I listing recognises its national importance, and recent restorations have kept its fabric in good order.