Places you’ve walked by all your life,
the things you’ve missed
and taken for granted.
Windows buried, their arches
showing above ground,
what we may call Early English,
disguised by brick and tarmac –
the layers of untold history:
a million stories lost in the retelling
copyright Francis Barker 2020
To my mind it is one of the best examples of English Perpendicular architecture anywhere.
At various times in history, the church has fallen into disrepair but has been restored, even preserving a colony of three species of bats within its structure!
The major advantage of the massive Perpendicular windows is the great amount of light let in.
words and photographs copyright Francis Barker 2019
However, during the English Civil War of the 1640s, the rebellious forces of Oliver Cromwell finally took the what remained of the abbey in a siege against the Royalists in 1643. It was at this time that the structure appears to have sustained much more serious damage, as some of the remaining architecture testifies.
copyright words and pictures Francis Barker 2019
Interestingly, in Shakespeare’s play King John, Swinstead is mentioned several times, maybe in mistake for Swineshead, where King John is thought to have visited on his last journey, before he died at Newark in Nottinghamshire.
Like nearby Corby Glen church, there are some examples of medieval wall art.
There is an explanation for the symbols incorporated into the wall art.
copyright words and photos Francis Barker 2019
One such is in the south west of the county, in the lovely village of Corby Glen. Here on many of the walls of the church you can see paintings and illustrations of religious and spiritual imagery, representing stories from the Bible and the faith and beliefs in general of the later medieval period.
If you look carefully, you can make out several layers of art, where older ones have been superseded with new work.
During the Reformation in the 1500s, all of this art was whitewashed over, part of the process of removing all imagery, which also meant stripping out idols and even rood screens which separated the nave from the chancel.
It was only in more recent times that this treasure trove of art was rediscovered through church restoration.
Today this art represents some of the most important medieval imagery not only in the county of Lincolnshire, but also in the whole of England.
copyright words and pictures Francis Barker 2019
Ciscography 