Although I'd travelled along the road to Markby before, I had failed to notice the little church, laid back off the road and hidden behind the trees. Because of the presence of road works just before the church, it gave me time to see a poster advertising the Sunday service for St Peter's Markby.
Three and a half miles outside of the market town of Alford in Lincolnshire, United Kingdom, is the village of Markby. This small village only has about twenty four houses. St Peter's Church the only thatched church in Lincolnshire, was built on the same site as the original Augustinian Priory and it is believed to have been constructed with some of the original stone from the priory ruins.
Markby priory itself was founded in 1160 and run by the Augustinian's or Black Canons. Local people were encouraged by the Canons to use the priory church. When the Dissolution of the Monasteries took place in the reign of Henry VIII, the canons managed to obtain permission to use a corner of the old priory. In 1611 the present church was built with a tiled roof. In 1672 the churchwarden Richard White, substituted the tiles for thatch and took the tiles as payment. The chancels of many neighbouring churches were thatched, because the cost of lead was high and tiles during this period were very brittle.
The late 19th century saw St. Peter's Church in a very poor condition, so much so that it wasn't fit to be used on a regular basis. Built in its place, not far from St. Peter's, was a new corrugated iron church. This was known as 'Christ Church'. The old church was still used for the occasional wedding and funerals.
By 1962 the 'iron church' had rusted so badly that it was no longer usable, so it was decided to renovate the old St. Peter's, as seen in the photographs. The thatched roof was last replaced in 2008.
