St James' Church, Aslackby

St James’ Church stands in the quiet Lincolnshire village of Aslackby, 11 kilometres north of Bourne. Built of limestone ashlar and ironstone rubble, it mixes Early English and Perpendicular styles with a tall west tower, north and south aisles, a chancel, and a south porch. The tower, added in the early 14th century, has buttresses rising in three steps to crocketed pinnacles and a small stair turret on the north-west corner. Gargoyles project above the clerestory parapet, and the west doorway is pointed with continuous mouldings and large iron hinges. A blocked pointed arch above the door frames a 14th-century window with three lights. The church’s history begins with the Knights Templar, who founded a preceptory here in the 12th century. Geoffrey de Temple, a Templar priest, is recorded in 1225, and Hubert de Rye provided a church and round chapel in 1164. After the Templars were suppressed in 1312, the property passed to the Knights Hospitaller and later to lay patrons. The present building was begun around 1300, extended in the 15th century, and restored in 1856. In 2010 a £135,000 refurbishment added a tower meeting room, oak kitchen, toilets, and central heating, while archaeologists uncovered Saxon pottery and possible timber structures beneath the churchyard. Inside, the nave and aisles lead to a rebuilt chancel, and the tower now houses an 18th-century Hanoverian coat of arms restored by the community. The church hosts concerts, talks, family activities, and a film club, and has welcomed performers such as composer Sally Beamish and pianist Ashley Wass. The surrounding conservation area preserves the rural setting, and the churchyard contains stone foundations older than the tower, along with reburied human remains and animal bone.