Church of St Botolph Boston, England

Text courtesy of Historic England. © Crown Copyright, reprinted under the Open Government License.

BOSTON

TF3244SE CHURCH CLOSE 716-1/7/8 (South side) 27/05/49 Parish Church of St Botolph

GV I

Parish church. 1309 work commenced on chancel, nave and aisles completed 1390, tower started c1450 and completed 1520. Restoration by Gilbert Scott in 1845 and George Place of Nottingham in 1851-53. Further restoration of 1929 by Sir Charles Nicholson. Nave altar of 1978 by Ronald Sims. MATERIALS: ashlar with lead roofs. PLAN: western tower with tall octagonal lantern called 'The Stump', nave with clerestorey, aisles, chancel, south porch and chapel, north vestry. EXTERIOR: tall 3-stage tower with stepped set back buttresses, all panel traceried with crocketed pinnacles. Deeply moulded plinth with quatrefoil frieze, moulded offsets to each stage, blank tracery to all surfaces, castellated parapet. Tall octagonal lantern with flying buttresses, decorated parapet with ogee arches, crocketed pinnacles to each angle. To all 4 sides a pair of 2-light double height windows to the middle stage, with pointed heads and crocketed ogees over. To the belfry stage a single broad opening with moulded pointed head, containing pierced 4-light bell openings. On the south and north sides the ground floor stage has a tall double height 4-light window with pointed head and cusped tracery. To the west side a pair of doors with traceried heads, set in a wide recessed doorway with cusped and crocketed ogee arch over, seaweed tracery, double panelled spandrels and to either side double height blank statue niches with nodding ogees, all with castellated and arcaded parapet. Above a very large 8-light west window, with cusped tracery and continuously moulded pointed surround. The north aisle has a moulded plinth and parapet, plain stepped buttresses with decorated gablettes, figures and pinnacles. In the west end a C15 5-light window. The north side is of 7 bays with tall 4-light windows with flowing tracery, hood moulds with human head stops. The 2nd bay from the west has a doorway with pointed moulded surround and traceried C14 door. Above is a 4-light traceried window. At each end of the north aisle is a tall pinnacle with statue niche. The clerestorey is of 14 bays with closely set 2-light windows, quatrefoil frieze to parapet and flat pilaster buttresses with decorated pinnacles with statue niches, some containing original carved figures. At the west end is a battlemented stair tower. The north aisle east window is of 5 lights, with reticulated tracery. The aisle end has a pierced quatrefoil frieze to the parapet. The organ chamber and vestry extension by Sir Charles Nicholson has a flat roof behind a parapet. The chancel is of 4 bays, with tall stepped buttresses with diamond-set tall pinnacles. It has a moulded plinth and panelled frieze to the parapet with lobed quatrefoils. 4 windows of 4 lights, 2 with flowing tracery, 2 with perpendicular tracery. The eastern one is partly blocked off due to the altar reredos. The east window is of 7 lights with flowing tracery and by George Place. Pierced gable parapet to chancel and nave. The south side of the chancel is of 5 bays and similar to the north side. Under the central window is a priest's doorway with ogee moulding over pointed head, with foliate pinnacle. It is flanked by statue niches and has a castellated top. The south aisle has a moulded plinth and wave-moulded parapet with tall panelled pinnacles with crocketed finials and statue niches. It is of 5 bays, with gabled stepped buttresses. The east window is of 5 lights with flowing tracery. The south side has similar 4-light windows. The nave clerestorey is similar to the south side, but has alternating forms of flowing traceried windows. The south porch is of 2 storeys with parvise. The buttresses have 3 tiers of niches and pinnacles. To the east side is a chimney stack with brattished top and side pinnacles. The south doorway is deeply moulded with thin moulded shafted reveals and above a cusped moulded arch. I