St John the Divine

The little church of St John the Divine at Southrey in Lincolnshire is far from being a typical English country church, more like something that has been transported from New England.

Built by the parishioners and a local carpenter Richard Turner in 1898 at a cost of about £130 as a temporary structure, and is not subject to Faculty. The neat little gabled and belfry timber building was covered in PVC to protect the original wood. The church rests on a concrete plinth incorporating stones from the nearby ruins of Bardney Abbey. Maintenance has recently included redecorating in white and sky blue along with recarpeting.

The church now boasts a wonderful new five paned stained glass window to commemorate World War I and the sacrifice made by all the servicemen from the village during the last 100 years. A book has been compiled to show the lives of this men and their families and is available for purchase at the church. Memorials in the churchyard from that time have also been cleaned and restored.

The most recent addition to the church is a fully disabled access composting toilet and new storage facility, money raised for this amounted to £28,000. The church holds a service every week and the doors are open 365 days a year. Regular meetings of Knit and Natter for the residents takes place weekly long with children's workshops during the school holidays. Speakers evenings give another dimension to the village with talks from Bees to World War I Aviation and crafts from Chirstmas cake decoration to glass painting. All visitors are welcome to take pictures and sign the visitor’s book, which helps to enhance future projects for the upkeep of this site. The site is accessible to all. In 2016 the church was awarded the Lincolnshire Heritage Forum Best Volunteer Project for its stain glass window.