English Heritage sites near Greetham with Somersby Parish
BOLINGBROKE CASTLE
5 miles from Greetham with Somersby Parish
The remains of a 13th-century hexagonal castle, birthplace in 1367 of the future King Henry IV, with adjacent earthworks. Besieged and taken by Cromwell's Parliamentarians in 1643.
TATTERSHALL COLLEGE
11 miles from Greetham with Somersby Parish
Remains of a grammar school for church choristers, founded in the mid-15th century by Ralph, Lord Cromwell, the builder of nearby Tattershall Castle (National Trust).
SIBSEY TRADER WINDMILL
13 miles from Greetham with Somersby Parish
Built in 1877, this restored six storey mill with complete gear, sails and fantail still works today.
LINCOLN MEDIEVAL BISHOPS' PALACE
22 miles from Greetham with Somersby Parish
Standing almost in the shadow of Lincoln cathedral, with sweeping views over the ancient city and the countryside beyond.
GAINSTHORPE MEDIEVAL VILLAGE
30 miles from Greetham with Somersby Parish
A deserted medieval village, one of the best-preserved examples in England, clearly visible as a complex of grassy humps and bumps.
THORNTON ABBEY AND GATEHOUSE
32 miles from Greetham with Somersby Parish
Thornton Abbey’s enormous and ornate fortified gatehouse is the largest and amongst the finest of all English Monastic gatehouses.
Churches in Greetham with Somersby Parish
All Saints Church, Greetham
St Andrew's Church, Ashby Puerorum
St Margaret, Bag Enderby
St Margaret, Somersby
Although we have no exact date for its build, this Grade II listed church is of the Early Perpendicular style and we have found records of a church in Somersby dating to 1235. It is built of the local Spilsby sandstone, the green colour deriving from gluaconite in the stone. The source is a disused quarry 1/2 mile out of the village on the road to Salmonby which was last used during Victorian restoration work.
Our claim to fame is the fact that Alfred Lord Tennyson was born- and spent the first 28 years of his life here in Somersby. His father George Clayton Tennyson was rector of St. Margaret's, Somersby and of its namesake in the neighbouring village of Bag Enderby for 23 years until his death. His tomb is in the graveyard to the west of the porch. Catherina Tennyson mysteriously has a stone here too, next to George. She was the second wife of Horatio, Alfred's youngest sibling.
See within the chancel the plaque to George Littlebury, Knight who died without issue in 1621 and who was the landowner at the time. Near the pulpit there is a plaque to members of the Burton and Langhorne Burton family, who after the Littlebury's were landowners for several centuries. There are many Burton graves on the left of the path as you enter the churchyard from the road.
You can't miss the copy of a bust of Tennyson, sculpted by his good friend, Pre-Raphaelite Thomas Woolner. And in the display cabinet there are various artifacts lent to us by the Tennyson Research Centre in Lincoln and others including an image of the young Tennyson. All Tennyson siblings born in Somersby were christened in the font.
We are very proud of the Perpendicular Cross found outside, missed by the Roundheads who destroyed many others in the area after the battle of Winceby which is just a few miles away to the south. And notice the sundial above the porch with its inscription ‘Time Passeth' and dated 1721.
There was restoration work carried out to the church in 1833 whilst the Tennysons were still living here although George had died in 1831. And it was restored again in 1865 which is when we believe the thatched roof was replaced with slates.
During recent restoration work (2015) we discovered a graffiti in the belfry which simply says ‘AT 1837'. Was this Alfred signing off? The family left that year and he never returned.
No churches found in Greetham with Somersby Parish