Monument record MLI89565 - Site of St Margaret Pottergate church and churchyard

Summary

Site of St Margaret Pottergate church and churchyard

Type and Period (2)

  • (Medieval to Post Medieval - 1066 AD to 1781 AD)
  • (Medieval to Post Medieval - 1066 AD to 1880 AD?)

Protected Status/Designation

Full Description

PRN 70527 This church was a proprietary foundation, founded by Osbert the Sheriff who was sheriff of Yorkshire and Lincolnshire in the last years of the 11th century. Osbert gifted the church to the cathedral and it was confirmed in the cathedral records in 1114. The church survived throughout the medieval period and well into the post medieval period until its parish was united with St Peter Eastgate in 1778. It was demolished shortly afterwards (c.1781). 18th century illustrations of the church show late medieval additions to its fabric including a a north east chapel with a flat lead roof, indicating that the church was still being maintained and invested in in the late medieval period. The churchyard continued in use after the destruction of the church itself, being used as an overspill graveyard for St Peter Eastgate after the amalgamation of the parishes until the 19th century. The churchyard was originally larger, but houses were built over it along its Pottergate frontage in the 12th century. {1}{5} Drawings of the church show a squat tower with double belfry openings, evidently of Norman date. In 1847 a stone coffin was recovered near the church site. In the coffin was an inscribed cruciform lead plaque. The inscription mentions Siford, who may be identified with Siward the priest who was a lawman in 1066. The inscription also mentions a dedication to St Helen, something not mentioned in any other source. {2} The west tower shown on 18th century drawings is now believed to be an atypical example of the 'Lincolnshire Tower' type, probably one of the mid 12th-century derivatives. It stood to the south-east of the cathedral with a churchyard extending from the line of Greestone steps to the east, to Pottergate to the west and to Minster yard to the north. It is marked as St Margaret's burial ground on 19th century maps. {7}

Sources/Archives (7)

  •  Bibliographic Reference: Jones, Michael, J; Stocker, D.; and Vince, A.. 2003. The City by the Pool including LARA. RAZ 9.60.5, 10.60.5, 11.91.2.
  •  Bibliographic Reference: HILL, J.W.F.. 1948. Medieval Lincoln. pp 142-3.
  •  Index: SMR file cards for Lincoln. LINCOLN. SK 97 SE; FA.
  •  Index: Ordnance Survey. OS card index for Lincoln. LINCOLN. SK 97 SE; 73.
  •  Article in Serial: Edmund Venables. 1888. 'A list and brief description of the churches of Lincoln previous to the period of the Reformation' in Associated Architectural and Archaeological Societies’ Reports and Papers. pp 341-42; no.41.
  •  Bibliographic Reference: E. Mansel Sympson. 1906. Lincoln: A Historical and Topographical Account of the City. p 335.
  •  Bibliographic Reference: Paul Everson and David Stocker. 2006. Summoning St Michael: Early Romanesque Towers in Lincolnshire. No 33.

Map

Location

Grid reference Centred SK 97921 71756 (88m by 50m)
Civil Parish MINSTER, LINCOLN, LINCOLNSHIRE

Related Monuments/Buildings (0)

Related Events/Activities (0)

External Links (0)

Record last edited

Mar 21 2021 8:35PM

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