St Martin's Church, Lincoln

St Martin,s Church, Lincoln
St Martin,s Church, Lincoln Shown within Lincoln
Coordinates: 53°13′58.33″N 0°32′24.95″W / 53.2328694°N 0.5402639°W / 53.2328694; -0.5402639
Location	Lincoln, Lincolnshire
Country	England
Denomination	Church of England
History
Consecrated	9th-10th Century
Architecture
Style	Georgian
Years built	1740
Administration
Diocese	Lincoln

St Martin’s Church was among the oldest churches in the city of Lincoln, England. It has been suggested that during the Saxon Period and during the Danelaw, St. Martin was considered to be the patron saint of Lincoln. The church is likely to have been associated with the rare St. Martin silver pennies minted in Lincoln, probably before 918 A.D, when Lincoln was taken back from the Danes by the Saxons.

The church stood at the top of Lincoln High Street in the downhill area of Lincoln, before the land rises steeply to ‘‘uphill’’ Lincoln, which is dominated by Lincoln Cathedral. In the Medieval period the area around St Martin’s church was the commercial centre of Lincoln and it stood very close to the Norman Jew's House and Jews Court. The church was largely destroyed in the English Civil War in 1643 and left as a ruin until 1739-40 when it was rebuilt in a Georgian style. This is the church that was recorded by the artist Samuel Hieronymus Grimm around 1784. About 1812 a new aisle was added to the church by the Lincoln architect William Hayward. Then in 1873 it was suggested that whole of the church should be demolished to make way for a larger church. Due to the intervention of the Mayor of Lincoln, the tower, which was a prominent landmark on the Lincoln skyline was saved until it was demolished in about 1930. Much of the decorative stonework from the demolished church was used in the new church of St Andrew in Canwick road which was built in 1876-7, but this church was demolished in 1970

St Martin’s Church was rebuilt in 1873 in West Parade at the corner with Orchard Street by the architect A S Beckett. An application was made to demolish the replacement church in 1966 and after a legal hearing the building was demolished in 1970.

Today, only the graveyard, which lies between St Martin’s Lane and Garmston Street remains. The graveyard has been paved with some of the grave-slabs from the old church.

Surviving objects from the church included the communion plate which consisted of three communion cups silver with paten covers and two silver flagons. One of these cups with a paten cover made by an unknown maker with initial 'A' and hallmarked in London in 1569, is now on display in the Lincoln Cathedral Treasury.