St James, Rigsby

Image: © Dave Hitchborne Taken: 18 Apr 2008

The present church was designed by James Fowler of Louth and was built of Ancaster stone in 1863, at a cost of £685. All the labourers, in the Parish of Rigsby with Ailby, contributed a week’s wages. It replaces a chalk walled and thatched roofed structure supported by props as shown in an early picture. The inner portions of the doorway of the west front and the arch from the nave to the vestry are remnants of the original Norman building, which was built by the Rigsby family sometime prior to 1086. They also built a similar one at Tothby. The Rigsby church was converted to a chapelry in 1195 by Robert de Welle and given by Gilbert de Rigsby to the Gilbertine Priory of St Katherine at Lincoln, to which it belonged for over 300 years. The Stained glass Catherine wheel window in the west wall was given by Lady Mary Nisbet–Hamilton. Those in the chancel are in memory of Mary, wife of John Higgins. They represent the Good Shepherd, The Ascension and The True Vine. The stained glass window in the apse is in memory of Anne, the youngest daughter of Dr Uvedale West and his wife Mary. The sword and helmet were discovered in a tomb in the churchyard and are thought to date from the 15th–century. The octagonal font 1350–1500. The register dates from 1686. http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/830228

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