St Martin
Blyton, Lincolnshire
Blyton church is dedicated to St Martin, best known for the account of his using his military sword to cut his cloak in two, to give half to a beggar clad only in rags in the depth of winter.
All Saint's is a typical parish church surrounded by its ancient churchyard, which at the end of January is covered with winter aconites and snowdrops. The inside of the church is a good example of the work of Bodley and Garner with a painted ceiling and beautiful triptych behind the altar. Other interesting features include ceiling, chancel, rood screen, war memorial book and reredos. A large medieval knight is available for brass rubbing. It is a big church for quite a small village, with a tall battlemented and pinnacled tower, long nave with small side aisles and a chancel. It is built from rough limestone rubble, apart from the chancel which was completely rebuilt in the late 19th century using carefully shaped blocks. There has been a church here since the 12th century and the north arcade is all that is left of the Norman church. The rest of the church dates from the 13th century, although the tower and clerestory were added in the 15th century when the nave windows were enlarged at the same time. By the 19th century the church was in a poor state of repair and restoration was funded by the Lady of the Manor, Charlotte Meynell-Ingram. Her husband had died in a hunting accident in 1871 and she had no children. She employed Bodley and Garner to restore the church in memory of her husband, with Burlison and Grylls responsible for the stained glass. Although he is buried in the church at Hoar Cross, there is an effigy of him in the nave. Work was continued by her nephew Francis and he was responsible for funding much of the stained glass in the nave since the original medieval glass had been removed by the vicar of nearby Messingham church who 'collected' it for his church. The present glass tells the story of the life of Jesus. The nave was restored and a new chancel built in the Decorated style. This complements the rest of the inside of the church. A reset brass from around 1405 of one of the D'Alison family is situated on top of a tomb to William D'Alison who died in 1546 and George D'Alison, his son, who died in 1549.