Saint Botolph's Church, Boston, Lincolnshire.

The Tower of Saint Botolph's Church,

Boston, Lincolnshire, is visible for many miles

over the flat scenery of Lincolnshire.

It is known as the "Boston Stump".

Photo: August 2004.

Source: From geograph.org.uk.

Author: Martin Clark.

(Wikimedia Commons)

St Botolph's Church is a Parish Church, in the Church of England, in Boston, Lincolnshire. It is notable for its extraordinarily tall Tower, known as the "Boston Stump". Residents of Boston are known as Bostonians. Emigrants from Boston named several other new settlements after the town, most notably Boston, Massachusetts, in the United States.

Reredos and Altar

of Saint Botolph's Church,

Boston, Lincolnshire.

Photo: 28 August 2006.

Source: Own work.

Author: Immanuel Giel.

(Wikimedia Commons)

The Church is one of the largest Parish Churches in England, and has one of tallest Mediaeval Towers in England. The Tower is approximately 272 feet (83 m) high. It can be seen for miles around, its prominence is accentuated by the flat surrounding countryside, known as The Fens. On a clear day, it can be seen from East Anglia, on the other side of The Wash. The nickname, "The Stump" or "Boston Stump", is often used affectionately as a reference to the whole Church building or for the Parish Community housed by it. The formal name is Saint Botolph's Parochial Church of Boston.

The Boston Stump, soaring magnificently to 272 feet.

The Tower of Saint Botolph's Church was begun in 1309 and rises, chronologically,

through the "Decorated" and "Perpendicular Gothic" architectural styles. It is known locally as

'The Stump', serving as a navigation landmark for ships in The Wash.

Photo: 5 February 2007.

Source: From geograph.org.uk.

Author: Richard Croft.

(Wikimedia Commons)

Interior of

Saint Botolph's Church,

Boston, Lincolnshire.

Photo: 28 August 2006.

Source: Own work.

Author: Immanuel Giel.

(Wikimedia Commons)

The existing Church was begun in 1309, in the usual way, at the East End. With the Chancel built, work reached the South Aisle and moved on through the Nave until its completion around 1390. Foundation trouble, thanks to the close proximity to the River, then held progress up while the Chancel was extended to prop the building up and create a greater level of structural stability, as the Nave Piers were leaning dangerously to the East. This work was successful to the extent that, today, the Tower leans by less than half a centimetre, despite its great height.

The Tower was not begun until 1450, by excavation of a deep, wide, hole. Indicating the architectural skill employed by the builders at the time, the Tower remains structurally solid and has not required any restoration work to realign it, despite the River Haven being only 33 feet (10 m) away, and the original foundations built under water level.

The Church was completed, between 1510 and 1520, in the Perpendicular Style that had become popular during much of the 15th-Century. It features a walkway, roughly at two-thirds of the height of the Tower, that encircles the edges, giving great views, of The Wash, in the East, towards Lincoln, in the West. Reached by 209 steps, this also provides access to the Tower Level with the Bells.

The Tower is topped with a highly-decorated Octagonal Lantern, ringed with Pinnacles, one of fewer than half-a-dozen Mediaeval examples surviving in England. Others, including the Abbey Church of Bury St Edmunds, are now ruined. Up until the 19th-Century, the Boston Stump had the tallest roof of any building, Religious or Secular, in the world.

The grave of John Taverner,

one of the greatest Early-Tudor composers,

is buried under the Tower

of Saint Botolph's Church,

Boston, Lincolnshire.

Photo: 6 October 2007.

Source: From geograph.org.uk.

Author: James Yardley.

(Wikimedia Commons)

Interior of The Tower.

Saint Botolph's Church,

Boston, Lincolnshire.

Photo: 15 April 2004.

Source: From geograph.org.uk.

Author: Dave Hitchborne.

(Wikimedia Commons)

The Chancel, Reredos,

and High Altar,

Saint Botolph's Church,

Boston, Lincolnshire.

Photo: 15 April 2004.

Source: From geograph.org.uk.

Author: Dave Hitchborne.

(Wikimedia Commons)