25th February, 2018. All Saints church, Gainsborough.

Just ‘across the road’ from Gainsborough Old Hall stands All Saints Church surrounded by its now grassy and tree planted churchyard. It is a fine example of a combination of Gothic and neo-Classical architecture, the latter a product of the Renaissance. The surviving late-Perpendicular west tower (Gothic) was retained when the remainder of the medieval church was demolished, this , presumably, at some point in the early-to-mid 18th century. The nave, a rectangular block, and apsidal chancel were built in the high fashion of the day, the new build bonded to the base of the west tower in a proper strengthened manner. The two tiers of round-headed windows flood light into the interior while the pierced parapet and low-pitched roof of the nave conform to the neo-Classical fashion. I have not been inside but pictures show there to be a gallery around three sides of the nave and surviving box pews. No chancel screen. The nave and chancel were then constructed as an ‘audible’ church, that is so that the minister’s readings and sermon could be heard by all the congregation, a Protestant ethic achieved by neo-Classical architecture. Inside the nave two rows of columns support the ceiling/roof, these seem to be plain (un-fluted) with a high base.

With All Saints church, Gainsborough being a mostly Georgian church comparisons are invited with two other Georgian East Midlands churches – Derby All Saints (Derby cathedral) and Stallingborough church near the south Humber bank.