St Radegund
Grayingham, Lincolnshire
Grayingham church is dedicated rather unusually, to St Radegund, who was a German princess who was born early in the 6th century and went on to to establish the monastery of the Holy Cross at Poitiers.
The church had a clock as early as 1573 but it seems to have been troublesome as the churchwardens accounts record a number of payments for repairs and complaints from residents that it wasn't working. In 1619 an agreement was made for keeping the clock in good repair for £12 per annum. Two pounds of goose grease were purchased in 1623 for the clock and bells!
Earliest record of the bells is from 1553 when four bells were delivered. Other records go back to the 16th century, at that time they were the most expensive item the wardens had to deal with. In 1600 a new bell was added as by 1765 there were still only four bells recorded.
Sir Gilbertine Waterhouse was a knight of Kirton and was granted a coat of arms by Henry III sometime during his reign between 1207 and 1272. Waterhouse married in 1250 and was senechal, a royal officer in charge of justice and control of the administration, of Kirton. The effigy within the church is believed to be his. It is badly damaged, probably by Cromwell's troops during the Civil War. It was mentioned as being intact in 1641 but there is no further record of it until 1862 when it was found buried under the floor of the church during restoration work!
