From a closed church to an asset to be used by the whole community

Our ambitious programme of conservation, redevelopment, regeneration and retrofit works began in 2017 and was completed in late 2018. Bonsers Restoration was our principal contractor and their onsite team was led by Paul Thorneycroft and site foremen Jamie Thornton and Dave Morris. Rodney Melville and Partners were our architects and ground works were provided by Vere Bros (Contractors) Ltd of Boston. The car park was made possible by the Diocese of Lincoln and we gratefully acknowledge this support.

The capital works were project managed by Isabel Assaly of the Churches Conservation Trust Regeneration Taskforce and her colleague Amelia Evans supported our community engagement during this phase.

A thank you to our funders and supporters

We gratefully acknowledge the financial support of WREN, the Architectural Heritage Fund, the Medlock Trust, the Garfield Weston Foundation, the Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation, Lankelly Chase, the Churches Conservation Trust, Lincolnshire Co-Op, the Tesco Charity Trust, Benington Village Hall, Butterwick Parochial Council and Lincolnshire County, Boston Borough and Benington Parish Councils.

Support and advice has been provided throughout by the Churches Conservation Trust, Historic England, the Diocese of Lincoln and Liz Bates and colleagues at Heritage Lincolnshire.

Particular thanks go the National Lottery Heritage Fund (previously the Heritage Lottery Fund), who provided ‘round one’ development funding of £119,200 (2013) and a subsequent ‘round two’ grant of £1.8m (2015) that made possible the delivery of the project:

‘We’re delighted that the Heritage Lottery Fund has given us this support. All Saints is a very beautiful building which has been at the heart of the community for over 800 years. Now we will be able to give it a sustainable future so it can continue to play an important part in the lives of present and future generations. We are very grateful to all those who have helped us achieve our goal, especially The Churches Conservation Trust, the Diocese of Lincoln and the Architectural Heritage Fund, their support has been invaluable' (Kevin Pinner, BCHT Chairman)

Additional thanks go to Amanda Turner, our Grants Officer at the National Lottery Heritage Fund, and our project mentor, David Fairbanks.

Above all, we thank the residents of Benington and surrounds.

King Beonna rules East Anglia

People have lived in Benington since the Anglo Saxons, if not earlier, and this early medieval settlement may have had royal links. The place name Benington is believed to come from the Old English phrase for the 'Farmstead (ton) of the people (ing) of Beonna’ - ‘Beonna-ing-ton’.

Raising the Roof

All Saints continued to grow upwards and outwards in the late Middle Ages, when the nave roof was raised and a second level of windows (the clerestory) was installed. The western bell tower and the porch to the south were also added, creating the late medievalfootprint that we know today.

Victorian Splendour

Nothing stands still. From the elaborate wall paintings that would have been seen in the Middle Ages to the austere whitewashing and iconoclasm brought by the Puritans, All Saints has always been a living building keeping alive the changing beliefs, fashions and needs of its users. The Tractarian-inspired, 'high', renovations overseen in the 1870s by the Victorian architect James Fowler of Louth are still impressive today.

Were you part of the story of the creation of The Beonna?

Joan Barnes, trustee and local historian, would love to hear from anyone who was involved in any way in the final days of All Saints and the creation of The Beonna. Perhaps you were a member of the Friends of All Saints, organised a fundraising event, helped to run activities, took items for safeguarding or played a part in looking after the closed building and its churchyard.

Benington Community Heritage Trust would love to create a record of the hard work from the local community that made The Beonna possible. Our record of the project will help future generations to understand why the people of Benington thought that it was so important to bring the building back to life. We would love to include your story within this.

If you would like to be involved in any way, or to help us to collect and record these stories, please do get in touch. Please send us a message using the form on the right, phone Alison on 07376 336803 or come along to our next activity.

Don't forget to keep an eye out for photo displays, local history days, the chance to help create the Benington archive, and more!