Clixby

Location

In 1727 most of All Hallows Clixby was demolished, leaving the chancel to serve as the parish church.  Built into the west wall of the chancel are the former chancel arch and the responds of the former nave aisles.  The capitals of the responds are decorated with nailhead decoration, providing evidence that the lost elements of the building were mostly Early English.  The reset door of the porch is decorated with dogtooth.  The chancel was restored in 1889 by Charles Hodgson Fowler and inside has a wonderful Bodleyesque roof in reds and greens with stencilled motifs and texts.  On the floor in front of the high altar is a fourteenth century incised slab decorated with a cross and a chalice, covering the grave of a priest, Robert Blanchard. 





Then there is the font.  Clixby has one of the finest fifteenth century fonts in the county.  The sixteen panels of the bowl and stem are decorated with a wide range of different motifs, including figures of the apostles holding their attributes, a glorious angel with wings unfurled, a rose and other foliage forms.  The figures all have a wild mop of hair that stands out from their heads, which seems to be a characteristic of fifteenth century sculpture from the Lincolnshire Marsh, see my link here for another example.  The font doesn't originate here or in the Lincolnshire Marsh, but was to Clixby from St Peter's Low Toynton in the Wolds when that church was declared redundant in 1973.  If you have a strong stomach you will find a photo of the interior Low Toynton church here. The font is in safe hands, for although Clixby church is redundant too, it is cared for my the Churches Conservation Trust.     



Access: The church is kept open during daylight hours.  Parking is a little tricky, but there is limited roadside parking directly opposite the church.  Do take care as the road passing the church is quite fast. 

If you want to see further photos of Clixby look in my Flickr set