The roof of the nave, for some years hidden by a flat whitewashed ceiling, is of Spanish chestnut, with finely carved figures of angels, which support the intermediate principals. In front of the tower arch stands the Font, of caen stone, on octagonal base; the bowl has 8 elaborately carved panels, in three of which are engraved, on scrolls, the words “One Lord,” “One Faith,” “One Baptism.” [39b] The Pulpit, at the north-east corner of the nave, is also of Caen stone, in similar style, with four decorated panels, having, beneath the cornice, the inscription “He that hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully;” the book-rest is supported by the figure of an angel, with outspread wings. The Reading Desk, on the opposite side, consists of open tracery work, carved in modern oak. The Lectern, an eagle of brass, was presented, in 1901, by the Misses Walter, in memory of their father, Mr. Joseph Walter, for many years church warden. [39c] The seats in the chancel have handsomely carved poppy heads, and are placed east and west, instead of, as formerly, north and south, facing west.
On the south side of the chancel arch, in the west face of the wall, is a small stone, bearing the names of “Thomas Gibson, Vicar. John Hamerton and John Goake, Churchwardens, 1675.” On the south wall of the chancel south chapel is also an illuminated sheet of iron bearing the following inscription to the same Vicar:—“Sacred to the memory of the Rev. Mr. Thos. Gibson, A.M., 44 years Vicar of this parish. He lived in such times when Truth to the Church, and Loyalty to the King met with punishment due to the worst of crimes. He was by the rebellious powers carried away prisoner
four times from the garrison of Newark for a dissenting teacher, afterwards sequestrated, and his family driven out, by the Earl of Manchester. He survived the Restoration, and was brought back at the head of several hundreds of his friends, and made a Prebendary in the Cathedral Church of Lincoln. As his enemies never forgave his zeal to the Church and Crown, so nothing but the height of Christian charity could forgive the insults he met with from them. He died April 22, 1678.” [40a] Above this is a shield, containing three storks, proper, on an argent field; and with a stork, as crest.
On the north clerestory wall of the nave are tablets in memory of Jane, wife of Thomas Taylor, to the east; in the centre to Thomas Taylor, Surgeon, and Margaret his wife, to Mary Anne, wife of Thomas Hardy Taylor; and to the west of these, to Anne, wife of Erasmus Middleton, to Erasmus Middleton, and to their daughter, Grace, wife of James Weir, and to James Weir, who died Dec. 15, 1822. On the south clerestory wall, westward, is a tablet to the memory of Thomas Bryan, Hannah his wife, and their son Edward, all interred at Scrivelsby; another, to the east, is in memory of Edward Harrison, M.D., his wife, and his brother, erected by his nephew.
In the north aisle of the chancel is a modern, canvas, lozenge-shaped, framed copy of an older memorial, formerly painted on the south wall, on which are depicted the arms of Sir Ingram Hopton, with this inscription:—“Here lieth the worthy and memorable Knight, Sir Ingram Hopton, who paid his debt to nature, and duty to his King and country, in the attempt of seizing the arch rebel (Cromwell) in the bloody skirmish near Winceby, Oct. 6, 1643.” [40b] The motto is Horatian (the first lines from Odes iii., xiv., 14–16; the other two from Odes iv., ix., 29–30).
Nec tumultum,
Nec mori per vim, metuit, tenente
Cæsare terras.
Paulum sepultæ distat inertiæ,
Celata virtus.
Close to this, and above the arch leading into the nave, are a number of scythes, some with straight wooden handles, attached to the wall, which are said to have been used at the Winceby fight. [41a]
On the wall of the north aisle, nearest the archway into the chancel, on a small slab of Purbeck marble, is a brass of Sir Lionel Dymoke, kneeling on a cushion; on either side were formerly small shields displaying the arms of Dymoke, Waterton, Marmyon, Hebden and Haydon; [41b] and on small brasses were the figures of two sons and three daughters. Parts of these are now lost. The figure of Sir Lionel is in the attitude of prayer, from his left elbow issues a scroll with the inscription “S’cta Trinitas, unus Deus, miserere nob.” Beneath is another inscription, “In Honore s’cte et individue trinitatis. Orate pro a’i’a Leonis Dymoke, milit’ q’ obijt xvij die me’se Augusti, A° D’ni M° cccccxix. Cuj’ a’i’e p’ piciet, de.’ Amen.” Below this monument, in the pavement, is a brass, now mutilated, of the same Sir Lionel Dymoke, wrapped in a shroud, with two scrolls issuing from the head, the lettering of which is now effaced. Beneath is an inscription also now obliterated, but which Mr. Weir gives as follows:—
Leonis fossa nunc hæc Dymoke capit ossa.
Miles erat Regis, cui parce Deus prece Matris,
Es testis Christe, quod non jacet hic lapis iste,
Corpus ut ornetur, sed spiritus ut memoretur.
Hinc tu qui transis, senex, medius, puer, an sis,
Pro me funde preces, quia sic mihi sit venie spes.
The actual suit of armour worn by this Sir Lionel Dymoke was formerly in the church, since in the evidence taken after the “Lincolnshire Rising,” in 1536, it was shewn that “one Philip Trotter, of Horncastle,” took it from the church, and himself wore it, while carrying the standard at the head of the insurgents (State Papers Domestic, Henry VIII., vol. xi, No. 967) [42a]