Burwell is a village in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, 24 miles E of Lincoln and 5 miles S of Louth. St. Michael’s was made redundant in 1981 and is now in the care of the Churches Conservation Trust. It underwent a major restoration in the late 1990s. It consists of a W tower, nave and chancel, all built or rebuilt in the late 15thc and early 16thc. On the exterior of the S nave wall the blocked arches of a former arcade can be seen. The Romanesque chancel arch remains.

In 1066 Burwell was held by Godric, and in 1086 by Anscot who held it in demesne. It was assessed at 8 carucates and a church was recorded in 1086. Ansgot built a Benedictine Priory on the site c.1100-07, and granted the church to the monks of La Sauve Majeure Abbey in Aquitaine, in return for hospitality he received there.

Pevsner (1964) dates the chancel arch to the early 12thc, which is accepted here. He identifies the quadrupeds on the N capital as horses or stags - quite an adventurous attribution as they have lost their heads.