The Stump

St Botolph's Church
St Botolph's Church Boston
Denomination	Church of England
Previous denomination	Roman Catholic
Churchmanship	Broad Church
Website	www.parish-of-boston.org.uk
Administration
Parish	Boston, Lincolnshire
Diocese	Lincoln
Province	Province of Canterbury
Clergy
Rector	The Reverend Alyson Buxton

St Botolph's Church is a parish church in the Church of England in Boston, Lincolnshire. It is notable for its extraordinarily tall tower, known as the "Boston Stump".

The church is one of the largest parish churches in England and has one of tallest Medieval towers in England. The tower is approximately 272 feet (83 m) high. It can be seen for miles around, its prominence accentuated by the flat surrounding countryside known as The Fens. On a clear day, it can be seen from East Anglia on the other side of The Wash. The nickname, The Stump or Boston Stump, is often used affectionately as a reference to the whole church building or for the parish community housed by it. The formal name is Saint Botolph's Parochial Church of Boston.

The name "Boston" is thought to have evolved from "Botolph's Town".

Early English legends have created the belief that the church was built on the site of a monastery founded by Botolph in 654, but with the main source of this being the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, this is heavily disputed. Modern historians believe it much more likely that Botolph's monastery was located at Iken in Suffolk.

What is beyond doubt is that the Boston Stump is not the first church to have been built on the site. Archaeological records indicate that a smaller wooden and stone Norman church had existed on the location of the south aisle of the present building. Excavations during the mid 19th century revealed a Norman stone pillar and a number of coffins from the period. Stukeley, the eighteenth-century antiquary, mentions large stone remains to the south of the church.

The size of such a small church was however inadequate for a booming town with trading revenues to rival London and a theological centre with no fewer than four monasteries, so work would begin at the start of the 14th century on a much grander building, more fitting for a prosperous town.