St Andrew
Donington on Bain, Lincolnshire
The church of the flying hassocks, a pretty Early English church nestling in a delightful Wolds village situated on the long distance Viking Way walk.
Remains of a 14th century cross base and shaft can be found in the picturesque, tree surrounded churchyard and the church also possesses two cast iron grave markers.
Made of Lincolnshire greenstone, the church has Norman origins but much restoration has taken place, in particular by local Victorian architect, James Fowler.
However there are fragments of Romanesque sculpture to be found on the west doorway of the nave and on the font. The dedication to St Julian is rare in the England but, if it refers to the first bishop of Le Mans. The Domesday Book records a church in Benniworth in 1086 on land owned by the archbishop of York, Thomas of Bayeux (1070-1100). The French connection between the land and Archbishop Thomas, may explain why the church got its name.
George Clayton Tennyson (1778–1831), the father of Lincolnshire poet, Alfred Lord Tennyson, was rector of the church of St Julian in Benniworth from 1802-1831.
One particular item of interest is the drum shaped font located at the west end of the nave. With a post medieval base, the font is reconstructed using some original fragments of the arcade’s lower column shafts and bases which are made of a light, grey white stone. The drum carries an intersecting arcade motif which rests on columns with triple scallop capitals and attic bases. Each arch is adorned with a roll mould traversing the centre of the arch face. The interior of bowl is lead lined.
