St Faith-in-Newland

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Description

St Faith's is an unusual church in the Lincoln group of suburban churches (RAZ 9.60.15). It may have disappeared very early; by 1263 the parish had been united with St Mary-le-Wigford (Hill 1948, 138) and after this, presumably, if it survived at all, the church would have been relegated to a chapel of ease. Whether it was demolished or converted is an important local issue on which archaeology can shed light, and the details of the conversion will be of great interest. Similarly we have no idea how long the former manor of Willingthorpe survived as a distinct entity in this part of the city, and the survival of the church (in whatever form) might give us a clue to the survival of the manor itself. Some hint of the fate of St Faith's after the Reformation is provided by the reference in Thomas Sympson's Adversaria (1737, 287) to the active brick works here in the early 18th century, which had occasionally encountered buried coffins that were used as horse-troughs. This is probably the same brick kiln reported in 1687 to have been brought into being during the life-time of the then occupant - John Scrimshaw (Cameron 1985, 177). In RAZ 10.41.1 it is argued that there were 'common' clay diggings on the common fields west of Newland in the Early Modern Era and that such diggings would have required a common kiln in which to fire their clay. It is possible that this is the origin of the brick works on St Faith's churchyard. The City Council would have taken control of the churchyard after the Act of Union of Parishes in 1549 and it would have been in an ideal location for the construction of a common brick kiln. This possibility can be explored archaeologically in future work on this RAZ and the results should be compared with the comparable kiln at St Botolph's - where a more detailed research agenda for such kiln sites is set out (RAZ 9.40.2, 10.40).

LARA Boundaries

The general location of the church is known, but the enclosure which has been identified between Newland Street West, Charles Street West, South Parade and West Parade is likely to represent the whole curia of the manor and not just the churchyard. This RAZ, therefore has the same boundaries as RAZ 9.32.1.