St Michael, Heydour, Lincolnshire

I Location

Site Location
Heydour
National Grid Reference
TF 009 396
County
traditional: Lincolnshire
now: Lincolnshire
Diocese
medieval: Lincoln
now: Lincoln
Dedication
medieval: not confirmed
now (or name of monument): St Michael
Type of building/monument
Parish church

II General Description

Exterior, general view of church

Exterior, general view of church

Though the chancel is of the 13thc., the W tower and four-bay nave arcade of the 14thc.; the clerestory is later, done in the perpendicular style. The N chapel is probably from the 17thc. Restoration by William White in 1868. In the W tower there are some reset Romanesque voussoirs.

IV Interior Features

5. Interior Decoration

c. Miscellaneous

(i) Reset voussoirs
Interior, W tower, reset chevron voussoirs

Interior, W tower, reset chevron voussoirs

Reset in the NW corner of the bell tower in the wall above the bell tower doorway. Located 1.81 m above the floor level. Twelve complete voussoirs are reset as an arch. The voussoirs are carved with the gaping chevron, an uncommon type of chevron ornament. The two half voussoirs at the springing are new.

Dimensions
w. of arch opening 1.25 m

VII History

In the late 11thc. Heydour was a jurisdiction of nearby Osbournby. Domesday records both a priest and a church here in 1086. By the early 12thc. St. Michael's was part of the endowment of the Dean and Chapter at Lincoln cathedral.

VIII Comments/Opinions

Gaping chevron voussoirs are very rare in the county. Though these at Heydour may have once formed part of an arch, it is clear from the misalignment of the individual voussoirs that they are reset in this wall.

IX Bibliography

  • Domesday Book: Lincolnshire. 57, 21.
  • D. Owen, Church and Society in Medieval Lincolnshire. History of Lincolnshire, Vol. 5. 1971 (2nd ed. 1990), 45.
  • N. Pevsner, The Buildings of England: Lincolnshire. London 1990, 380-81.