St James the Great

About

St James the Great is the Grade I listed Anglican parish church of Aslackby, a village on the eastern edge of the South Kesteven Lincolnshire Vales, roughly halfway between Sleaford and Bourne. It sits within the ecclesiastical parish of Aslackby, one of six churches in the Billingborough Group of the Deanery of Lafford, Diocese of Lincoln.

The church is notable for its historic connection to the Knights Templar: the remains of the Aslackby Preceptory, a Templar commandery, stand directly opposite the church. After the suppression of the Templars, the site later passed to the Knights Hospitaller. The church is bright and welcoming inside, with flexible seating that reflects its continuing use for a range of community purposes.

In 2024, St James the Great won the Church of the Year award at the National Church Awards, following a major repair project to its roof and the addition of toilets. That project led to the creation of "Aslackby Voices: Through Time's Pulsating Ebb and Flow," a National Lottery Heritage Fund-supported audio trail researched and voiced by people living with early-onset dementia, telling the stories of five people connected to the church — among them Rebecca Gibbons (1843–1897), who emigrated to America and whose descendants later visited Aslackby to hear her story told.

History

The church dates back to the early 13th century, though archaeological work in 2010 uncovered stone foundations of an even earlier structure, incorporated into the base of the present 14th- to 15th-century tower — evidence of a church on this site before the current building took shape. The chancel is Early English in style, though it was largely rebuilt in 1856; the tower and nave are Perpendicular Gothic. Differences in the stonework of the north aisle compared to the tower and south aisle show that the building grew in distinct phases over time.

The church retains medieval stained glass dating from the 14th and 15th centuries. In the south porch is a tablet commemorating the church clock, and the church holds war memorials dating from 1920.

St James the Great was designated a Grade I listed building on 30 October 1968.