Our Churches

St Mary’s, Frampton

“So by ‘indirect crooked ways’ we reached Frampton, an out-of-the-world village, a spot where one might go in search of peace when weary of men’s voices and their tread, of clamouring bells and whirl of wheels that pass.” — James John Hissey, Over Fen and Wold (1898)

The Domesday Survey (1086) records a parish church and priest at Frampton. The earliest church was likely wooden, replaced by a Norman stone church around 1150 of which only the font bowl and hidden pillar foundations remain; that church was largely pulled down around 1350 and rebuilt as the Nave, Aisles and South Transept standing today. Major restoration took place in 1889.

A 2015 re-roofing project, prompted by lead thefts, used Terne Coated Steel and uncovered 1852 plumber’s graffiti reading “FFHewitt Kirton 1852” — Francis Fisher Hewitt, born at Kirton in 1831. The oak Pulpit dates from the mid-17th century, bought from Bourne Abbey for £3-3-0 after a fire there and installed in 1891. The South Transept holds a damaged monumental effigy, possibly of Johanna de Huntingford (c.1300, unconfirmed), and a medieval altar Mensa now set in the floor.

A 25-candle Chandelier, gift of Coney Tunnard Gent in 1722, hangs in the nave — its boss carries a carved rabbit, a visual pun on the name Coney. The Tower holds a peal of six bells, the earliest dated 1602. In April 2016 a WW1 display cabinet was installed with ceramic poppies from the Tower of London’s ‘Poppies in the Moat’ display, one for each name on the Frampton War Memorial, alongside the ‘Death Penny’ and King George message for Rifleman Ernest James Howell — the plaque that later turned up in an Illinois antique shop and was presented back to the church in 2009 (see the War Memorial page).

• Full History Guide LeafletSt Mary's Church, Frampton (PDF)
• Major Repair ProjectFriends of Frampton Churches roof-works presentation (PDF)

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