If you have any comments or new information about this record, please email us.

Summary

Possible site of Holy Trinity Greestone Stairs church and churchyard

Full description

PRN 70248
This church was situated on a terrace cut into the foot of the cliff, an awkward site which may suggest a relatively late foundation date. Its parishioners may well have been artisans (especially potters) due to its proximity to the Pottergate pottery kilns. By 1428, however, its associated parish had less than 10 inhabitants. During the 14th century the church was home to an anchorite. A second reference to an anchorite at the church occurs in 1502. By 1523 the church was "not now used as a sanctified place" and was demolished and sold off subsequently. The exact location and extent of the church and churchyard are not known. {1}{7}
The anchorites who occupied the cell at this church were female and include the Lady Matilda who was resident there in 1453 when she received a gift of 6s 8d from Philip Tilney, Prebendary of the Cathedral. {7}
This church was first mentioned in documentary sources in 1147. It is also known as Holy Trinity on the Hill. It was dismantled in 1535, after being disused since 1523, and the stones sold or taken for "paving and mending the kings high ways". This church became the legal precedent for the later dismantling by the Common Council of numerous other decayed churches in the city. {6}
Some stone from the church was sold off to private buyers, whilst some was used to mend the highways and some was donated to the Warden of Greyfriars for 'reparation of his house'. Other articles sold include the bells, the ash trees in the churchyard and also the 'utensils and necessaries'. {8}
An east-west orientated human burial was recorded during a watching brief. The bones although fragmentary were articulated but no sign of a grave cut was discovered. It is thought that the burial represents an inhumation belonging to the medieval Holy Trinity church, but unfortunately gives no clue to the position of the missing church and graveyard. {2}{3}

<1> Jones, Michael, J; Stocker, D.; and Vince, A., 2003, The City by the Pool including LARA, RAZ 9.60.8, 10.60.8 (Bibliographic Reference). SLI9142.

<2> City of Lincoln Archaeology Unit, 2002, Greestone Centre, De Montford University, Lindum Road, LRC00 (Report). SLI7582.

<3> City of Lincoln Archaeology Unit, 2002, Greestone Centre, De Montford University, Lindum Road, LCNCC:2000.284 (Archive). SLI7583.

<4> SMR file cards for Lincoln, SK 97 SE; FP (Index). SLI3134.

<5> Ordnance Survey, OS card index for Lincoln, SK 97 SE; 89 (Index). SLI2604.

<6> Kenneth Cameron, 1984, The Place-Names of Lincolnshire, Part 1, p 115 (Bibliographic Reference). SLI6442.

<7> Edmund Venables, 1888, 'A list and brief description of the churches of Lincoln previous to the period of the Reformation' in Associated Architectural and Archaeological Societies’ Reports and Papers, pp 336-37, no. 20 (Article in Serial). SLI11158.

<8> Stocker, D.A., 1990, ‘The archaeology of the Reformation in Lincoln’ in Lincolnshire History and Archaeology, Vol 25, p 20 (table 1) (Article in Serial). SLI6707.

Monument Types

• BURIAL (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1523 AD)
• CHURCH (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1523 AD)
• CHURCHYARD (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1523 AD)
• INHUMATION (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1523 AD)
• ANCHORESSES CELL (Medieval - 1300 AD to 1523 AD)

Associated Finds

• HUMAN REMAINS (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1523 AD)

Associated Events

• Greestone Centre, De Montfort University, Lindum Rd

Protected Status

• Conservation Area

Sources and further reading

Search results generated by the HBSMR Gateway from exeGesIS SDM Ltd.