St Denys

About

St Denys' is the Grade I listed Anglican parish church of Aswarby, a small village in the North Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, about 3.5 miles south of Sleaford. It sits within the Church of England parish of South Lafford, in the Diocese of Lincoln.

The church is dedicated to St Denys (Dionysius, or Denis in French), the third-century Bishop of Paris and patron saint of the Kings of France — an unusual dedication for an English parish church. Aswarby Hall, nearby, was long the seat of the Hervey and Carr (or Carre) families.

The explorer George Bass, after whom the Bass Strait between Tasmania and mainland Australia is named, was born in Aswarby in 1771 and baptised in this church; his father and grandfather both served as churchwardens here. The church holds a monument to him, and today includes an exhibition honouring his life and voyages.

History

The church's origins go back to the 12th century, when Aswarby lay within the ancient Aswardhurn wapentake of the Danelaw. The south doorway and font both survive from this Norman-era building, dating from the reign of Henry I; the font is a round tub design, later fitted with a 20th-century carved wooden lid.

The church was extended and altered in the 14th and 15th centuries, giving it its four-bay nave arcade, clerestory windows, and tall chancel arch. The west tower and spire, clasping buttresses and embattled, gargoyled parapet also belong to this medieval phase.

The chancel was rebuilt in 1849 to a design by H. E. Kendall in a 14th-century style, and the wider church was restored in 1850 by the architect Edward Blore. The church contains several memorials to the Whichcote family, including three funeral hatchments, alongside the monument to George Bass.

St Denys' was designated a Grade I listed building on 1 February 1967, with the listing amended in 1990. Between 2015 and 2018 the church underwent a major Heritage Lottery-funded project to repair its roof, tower and spire, and to create new guidebooks, leaflets and information banners for visitors and school groups.