The journey to The Beonna at All Saints

Sometime around 1200 a now unknown patron or resident ordered the construction in the small fens village of Benington a church dedicated to All Saints. It was then just a single-roomed rectangular building with a nave at the west end and the smaller chancel at the east, but was built with lofty ceilings (and ambitions) and to a size massively exceeding local need. With additions and enhancements made in the 1300s and 1400s, and a Victorian restoration by James Fowler of Louth, All Saints showcases the fascinating developments undergone by Lincolnshire's Fenland churches from the medieval period, during the Reformation, at the time of the Victorians and in the new technological and social opportunities of the modern day.

All Saints as built in 1200
All Saints as built in 1200

Fast-forward some 800 years since the laying of the first stone and the building, closed as a church in 2003, has been re-invented. In what is an enormous achievement for the people of Benington and its surrounds, and for all those involved in the project, All Saints is now once again resuming its important place at the heart of the local community.

Can you help us increase our knowledge of All Saints, its building and the people who have been connected with it?

If you would like to join a friendly, relaxed, team of people interested in local history we would love to hear from you. Use our online subscriptions to look at historic newspapers, the census and other local information, visit the archives in Lincoln, gather stories and oral history, or help to find photos new and old. 

However you would like to be involved, whether alone or with us, regularly or just occasionally, we would love you to join us. 

If you would like to be involved in any way, or to have information or photos, please do get in touch. Please send us a message using the form on the right, phone Katie on 07951 166575 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!