St Vincent's Church, Caythorpe

There were two churches at Caythorpe in the 11th century, recorded in the 1086 Domesday Book. The present church building dates from the early, and chiefly completed before the middle of, the 14th century. The construction was probably sponsored by the niece of Edward II, Lady Elizabeth de Burgh who held the local lordship. The patronage of the present church at origin was held by the Knights Hospitaller, whose earlier Knights Templar had their Lincolnshire headquarters at Temple Bruer, 6 mi to the north-east. The earliest record of a Church of England rector at Caythorpe is of Christopher Mallam, parish priest in 1551. In 1842 the living was a rectory, valued in the Kings Books at £20.…

The major architectural feature of St Vincent’s is its nave, with Pevsner reporting the building as "one of the rare two-naved churches;" it being one of only four such in England. A two-and-a-half-bay arcade supported by three octagonal piers runs through the centre of the nave and rises to the roof ridge. It begins at the west wall and ends with a half arch meeting the west arch of the central crossing. The chief timbers of the nave, with its corbels at the south, are probably 14th-century. A 17th-century poor box is at the west of the nave. The unadorned "chalice shaped" Decorated hexagonal baptismal font is, according to Caythorpe Parish Council, 600 years old, but according to English…