The exact site of Maidenwell church is not known although it would have been within the site of the medieval settlement of Maidenwell which survives as a hamlet. The earliest reference to the church at Maidenwell dates to the time of Hugh of Wells, Bishop of Lincoln from 1209 to 1235. It is the Priory of Stainfield that had the right to present a vicar to the church and so owned the church and its income. Medieval bishops’ documents show that the priory continued to appoint vicars until at least the late 14th century. {1} In 1407, Bishop Repingdon of Lincoln gave Stainfield Priory a licence to lease out the lands tied to several churches in the diocese of Lincoln for three years. Maidenwell church was one of these churches. The church lands were still being leased out in 1449/50 with an annual payment of 12s. being made for expenditure on the church of Maidenwell. {2} The benefices of Maidenwell church and Farforth church were united in 1450 or 1592 according to Maurice Beresford. The earlier date is the more likely since there is no record of Stainfield still holding the church in the accounts compiled for the exchequer at the dissolution of the monasteries in the 1530s. {3}{4} The village of Maidenwell had been in decline for some time (see MLI43566) and, with fewer inhabitants, by the 15th century the income of the church had fallen to a point where the church could no longer be maintained. Any remaining parishioners at Maidenwell had to walk the mile or so to Farforth church to attend Mass and receive the sacraments. Once the union of the churches of Farforth and Maidenwell had occurred it is likely that any work to maintain the church at Maidenwell ceased and the church fell into ruin and eventually any above ground ruins disappeared and the site was lost. It is possible that buried remains of the church and the church graveyard do still survive somewhere within the area of the medieval settlement. It is also possible that material from these structures could also have been re-used on later building in the area. {1}