St. James' Church, Louth is a
parish churchA parish church, in Christianity, is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish, the basic administrative unit of episcopal churches....
in the
Church of EnglandThe Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England, the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the oldest among the communion's thirty-eight independent national and regional churches...
in
LouthLouth is a market town and civil parish within the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England.-Geography:Known as the "capital of the Lincolnshire Wolds", it is situated where the ancient trackway Barton Street crosses the River Lud, and has a total resident population of 15,930.The Greenwich...
,
LincolnshireLincolnshire is a county in the east of England. It borders Norfolk, Cambridgeshire, Rutland, Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire, South Yorkshire, and the East Riding of Yorkshire. It also borders Northamptonshire for just 19 metres, England's shortest county boundary...
,
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
.
It is a medieval building. At tall, it has the tallest spire in England of any Anglican parish church, and the second highest spire of any parish church after the Roman Catholic Church of St. Walburge, Preston.
The chancel and nave were re-built between 1430 and 1440. Work began on the spire in 1501 and it was completed around 1515.
St. James' Church, Louth is a
parish churchA parish church, in Christianity, is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish, the basic administrative unit of episcopal churches....
in the
Church of EnglandThe Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England, the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the oldest among the communion's thirty-eight independent national and regional churches...
in
LouthLouth is a market town and civil parish within the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England.-Geography:Known as the "capital of the Lincolnshire Wolds", it is situated where the ancient trackway Barton Street crosses the River Lud, and has a total resident population of 15,930.The Greenwich...
,
LincolnshireLincolnshire is a county in the east of England. It borders Norfolk, Cambridgeshire, Rutland, Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire, South Yorkshire, and the East Riding of Yorkshire. It also borders Northamptonshire for just 19 metres, England's shortest county boundary...
,
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
.
History
It is a medieval building. At tall, it has the tallest spire in England of any Anglican parish church, and the second highest spire of any parish church after the Roman Catholic Church of St. Walburge, Preston.
The chancel and nave were re-built between 1430 and 1440. Work began on the spire in 1501 and it was completed around 1515. The cost was £305-7s-4d. The spire was restored in 1844 by
Lewis Nockalls CottinghamLewis Nockalls Cottingham was a British architect who pioneered the study of Medieval Gothic architecture. He was a restorer and conservator of existing buildings...
.
The church is mainly 15th century and is the third building on the site, replacing 11th and 13th Century buildings.
Originally the church had five subsidiary chapels and altars and a three-story rood screen.
In October 1536, as a result of Henry VIII's ecclesiastical changes, people gathered in the church to start the Lincolnshire Rising, which was followed by the
Pilgrimage of GraceThe Pilgrimage of Grace was a popular rising in York, Yorkshire during 1536, in protest against England's break with Rome and the Dissolution of the Monasteries, as well as other specific political, social and economic grievances...
. Neither succeeded and the church was stripped of its riches including the rood screen.
List of Rectors
- 1200 Jordan, Priest
- 1247 Herueus (Harvey)
- 1276 Gilbert de Tetilthorp
- 1278 Master Richard de Welleton, Chaplain
- 1294 William de Leycton
- 1328 Robert de Foston, Deacon
- 1345 John de Waynflet
- 1349 Thomas de Kele
- 1368 Robert de Bloxham
- 1369 John de Harhill
- Simon Waynflete
- 1421 Thomas Gedeney (Gednay)
- 1443 Master Thomas Sudbury
- 1502 Master Richard Barnyngham
- 1514 Master Thomas Egleston
- 1527 Master George Thomso
- 1534 Master Thomas Kendall
- 1537 Geoffrey Baily (or Baylie)
- 1549 John Louth
- 1558 Robert Doughty
- 1600 James Calfhill
- 1601 Alexander Cooke
- 1604 John Melton
- 1630 Paul Glisson
- 1654 Henry Gray
- 1656 Henry Daile
- 1668 Samuel Adcock
- 1671 William Wetherell
- Samuel Nicholls (not instituted)
- 1704 William Richardson
- 1711 Charles L'Oste
- 1730 Stephen Ashton
- 1764 Stephen Fytche
- 1780 Wolley Jolland
- 1831 Edward Reginald Mantell
- 1859 Albert Sydney Wilde
- 1915 A.S. Duncan Jones
- 1916 Charles Lenten
- 1928 Humphrey Phillippe Walcot Burton
- 1952 Aidan Crawley Pulleine Ward
- 1969 Michael Edgar Adie
- 1977 David William Owen
- 1993 Stephen Douglas Holdaway
Bells
There is a fine peal of 8 bells. They were recast in 1726 by Daniel Hedderly. In 1798 the great bell was cracked when it was rung to celebrate Nelson's victory on the Nile.They were re hung in 1957 and the treble and two were recast.
Organ
The original Gray and Davison organ from 1857 was altered by Forster and Andrews in 1868/9. After a rebuilt in 1911 by Norman and Beard, it now has 37 stops and three manuals and pedals.
Organists
- Joseph Hill (1768-1819) - formerly a pupil at Beverley Minster
Beverley Minster, in Beverley, East Riding of Yorkshire is a parish church in the Church of England. It is generally regarded as the most impressive church in England that is not a cathedral....
; about 30 years of age when he was appointed to Louth, presumably his first and only appointment. See also obit.
- John Hoyland
John Hoyland was an English organist and composer....
1819 - 1827 (previously organist of St. James' Church, Sheffield)
- William Hoyland 1829 - 1857
- George Dixon ???? - 1865
- George Henry Porter 1866 - 1897
- Owen Menai Price 1897 - 1909 - 1919 - 1946
- Harold Dexter 1946 - 1949 (later organist of Southwark Cathedral
Southwark Cathedral or The Cathedral and Collegiate Church of St Saviour and St Mary Overie, Southwark, London, lies on the south bank of the River Thames close to London Bridge....
)
- Dennis Townhill
Dennis William Townhill OBE was an English organist and composer.Born in Lincoln, he was educated at Lincoln School and studied under Dr Gordon Slater at Lincoln Cathedral....
1949 - 1956
- Michael Nicholas
Michael Bernard Nicholas FRCO is a British organist, conductor and composer, who was organist and master of choristers at Norwich Cathedral from 1971 to 1994 before becoming Chief Executive of the Royal College of Organists.-Life:...
1960 - 1964
- Michael John Smith 1965 - 1966 (later organist of Llandaff Cathedral
Llandaff Cathedral is the seat of the Church in Wales Bishop of Llandaff, situated in the suburb of Llandaff in the city of Cardiff, the capital of Wales...
)
- Peter Burness
- Frederic Goodwin 1996-2009
- Keith Morgan 2009
Visiting and tourism
St James is nominated a "Cascade Church" within the Lincolnshire Church Tourism Network, an ecumenical scheme which promotes visits to and understanding of Lincolnshire's many churches. Like other Cascade churches it is stewarded on weekdays and there are guides available until 16:00. The western end of the church now has a tea shop, book shop and toilets, as well as information leading to other churches in the
East LindseyEast Lindsey is a local government district in Lincolnshire, England. The council is based in Manby near Louth, and other major settlements in the district include Alford, Spilsby, Mablethorpe, Skegness, Horncastle and Chapel St Leonards....
area.