Ramblers Church Walesby - A Report of a Visit Includes History & Photos
This certainly was a belting day out - fabulous weather and I found myself walking, for a change, in the Lincolnshire Wolds and, more precisely, the village of Walesby. High upon a hill stands a solitary church overlooking the village - officially known as All Saints but now perhaps better known as The Ramblers Church
The church marks one of the highest spots in the Lincolnshire Wolds and is alongside the famous Viking Way, 147 miles in length and stretches between the Humber Bridge in North Lincolnshire and Oakham in Rutland.
The current structure show Saxon and Norman base origins with various build styles ranging from 12th to 15th century although it was probably a religious site for very much longer as Roman archaeology exists nearby, remains of a villa were found in 1861, and crucially, Saxon burials have been found by the site which date back to the late Dark Ages or very early Middle Age circa AD 600
Ramblers Church Walesby
I understand that although not in continual use today it is still used for special ceremonies and on the day I visited was unlocked.
It allowed me to take this annoyingly blurred picture of heads carved into one of the stone pillars.
It is really quite something to stand in a building that has seen christenings, marriages and funerals performed for 8 centuries.
Furthermore, standing outside the entire vista is quite staggering and the immediate field areas around it just scream earthworks and occupation dating back over a 1,000 years !
An Internal Stone carved Pillar
The village of Walesby itself is listed in the Domeday Book in 1086 under the spelling Walesbi and is clearly a place worthy of further investigation and another trip. It’s a delightful place and well worth going to visit.
If you’re interested in walking then there are plenty of superb walks of varying distances to suit all - if you’re feeling adventurous you can always tackle a the Viking Way or perhaps a portion of it 
Walesby Church All Saints
This is my final parting shot as I left after spending quite a long time there, in quiet contemplation and generally feeling truly immersed in centuries of history. You’ll note this aspect is from just a little way down the hill to give you the perspective looking up - take a look at the first picture, left-hand side to get an idea of the view from the hill on which the church still sits looking out on a much changed world whilst remaining a quietly unspoiled spot - and long may it remain so.
Flowery Prosedly Yours
Rod
chris keyworth said,
August 18, 2009 @ 8:42 pm
there is the site of a very nice Roman Villa 5 mins walk from here where some really nice mosaics were found, in the 1800s
Little Brother said,
August 18, 2009 @ 9:36 pm
Rod,
Looks great, I remember the woods from our childhood but can’t remember this little gem. A fine building. Well found.
LB
Ian Sell said,
June 30, 2010 @ 1:16 am
I,ve just come across your site, my sister lives in Tealby and whenever I visit her from Australia we always take a walk across the fields backing her house, past Castle farm to Walesby church and onto the village. I was there in 2009 and apparently It,s starting to attract vandals which is such a shame as one of the caretakers who was present at the time stated that it was impossible to be there all the time to watch over the place
Rod said,
June 30, 2010 @ 8:22 am
Ian ,
thanks for the comment and welcome to the site.
It’s a dreadful thing to hear - really depressing - hopefully it’s not a trend and just a couple or so morons and it’ll die out.
I cannot understand the mentality
Best
Rod