https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_James%27_Church,_Louth

St James' Church, Louth is the Anglican parish church of Louth in Lincolnshire, England. It is notable for having the third tallest spire in the whole of the United Kingdom and being the location of the Lincolnshire Rising.

The church is a medieval building. It has the tallest steeple of any medieval parish church in Britain. A recent survey has confirmed the height of the stonework as 287 feet 6 inches (87.63 m) and to the top of the cockerel weather vane as 293 feet 1 inch (89.33 m). It also confirms it as one of the very finest medieval steeples in the country[4]

The chancel and nave were re-built between 1430 and 1440. The building of the tower probably commenced in the 1440s or 1450s and had been completed to its present height by 1499. Work began on the spire in 1501 and it was not finished until 1515. The weathercock was placed on the top of the spire amongst great rejoicing on the eve of Holy Cross day Thursday 13 September 1515. This 'wedercoke' had been made in Lincoln from a huge copper basin captured from the Scots at the Battle of Flodden in 1513 and subsequently bought in York by Thomas Tayleyor one of the churchwardens. The total cost of the spire alone was £305 8s 4d, (equivalent to £240,800 in 2021).[5]

The church is mainly 15th century and is the third building on the site, replacing 11th- and 13th-century buildings. Originally the church had five subsidiary chapels and altars and a three-storey rood screen.

In October 1536, as a result of Henry VIII's ecclesiastical changes, people gathered in the church to start the Lincolnshire Rising, which was followed by the Pilgrimage of Grace. Neither succeeded and the church was stripped of its riches including the rood screen.

The nave roof was replaced in 1825.[6] The spire was restored between 1844 and 1845 by Lewis Nockalls Cottingham.[7] A further restoration took place between 1861 and 1869 by James Fowler, known as 'Fowler of Louth'.[8] The clerestories and arcades were cleaned and underpinned. A new south porch was erected. The church was refitted with open seats of oak, the Corporation stalls being of the same material. The floors were laid with Minton's tiles, designed by the architect. A new heating system by Hayden and Son of Trowbridge was installed with the boiler in a newly constructed vault. A stained glass window, the gift of J. L. Fytche was fixed on the east end of the south aisle, and another window was to be placed at the west end of the north aisle, by Clayton and Bell, in memory of General Sir George Patey. The total cost of the works was around £6,000 (equivalent to £590,000 in 2021).[5] The church was re-opened on 5 August 1869 in the presence of the Bishop of Lincoln.[9]

In 1937, it flew the highest flag in Lincolnshire to mark the coronation of George VI.[10] Later that year, renovation work commenced on the spire, under the supervision of the architect, Mr. Goddard, who had previously worked on Lincoln Cathedral.[10]

In 2015 came a remarkable discovery from the adjoining Rectory garden in the form of two pieces of a pre-Conquest standing stone Cross dating to c950. In form the Cross is of the 'ring' or 'wheel head' type, the central design being of Christ crucified. The type is more commonly seen today in Ireland. The Cross and its implications for the archaeology, history and the early church in Louth are discussed in a major article by Everson and Stocker 'The Cros in the Markitte Stede'. The Louth Cross, its Monastery and its Town. (Medieval Archaeology Journal, vol. 61/2, 2017).[11] The Louth Cross is on display within the church and a small booklet is available from the gift shop.

In 2017 funding was raised to fit a viewing door to the cell just below the spire floor that holds the original medieval treadwheel that was used to haul up the stone and mortar for the building of the spire (1501-1515). Substantial records exist in the churchwardens' accounts from 1501 onward for the construction and use of the wheel which was to become known as The Wild Mare. A small booklet about this rare survival is available from the church gift shop.

There is a peal of eight bells. They were recast in 1726 by Daniel Hedderly. In 1798 the great bell was cracked when it was rung to celebrate Nelson's victory in the Battle of the Nile. They were rehung in 1957, and the treble and two were recast. They have subsequently been refurbished and rehung in 2022.

The clock in the tower was installed in 1846 and made by Benjamin Vulliamy.[14] It had a pin-wheel dead-beat escapement, with an eight-day movement. It was expected to last 200 years before needing replacement, and was set going on 25 July 1846.

It was replaced in August 1901 by a clock made by Leonard Hall of Louth. It contained a double three-legged gravity escapement as invented by Edmund Beckett, 1st Baron Grimthorpe, and chimed the Westminster chimes every 15 minutes. The hour hammer weighs 57 pounds (26 kg). The total weight of the clock is about 1 long ton (1.1 short tons) with driving weights of another 1 ton, suspended on steel wire ropes of 450 feet (140 m).[15]

An organ accompanied the singing of the Te Deum at the consecration of the church in 1515. This organ had been brought some years before from Flanders.[16] When this organ was worn out in 1531, it is recorded in the parish records:

That the honest men of this towne of Louthe deshirying to have a good payr of organs, to the laude, prayse and honour of God, and the Hole, Holy Co’pany of heffen, made an assemble together for this purpose on a certayne daye; at which type Mr. Richard Taylor, preste and bachelor of laws, then abydyng w’tin the dyocess of Norwiche being p’sent, herying the good devoute mynds, and vertuouse intent of the said townesmen, wherin he was borne and brought up, offred for to cause them have a payr made of a c’nnyng man in Lyn, that should be exampled by a payre of the same making at Ely, who was called Mr. Blyton, which then had a singular Prayse, for the sum of xxii powndes, whereof he pr’mysed to giff thereto xi powndes: upon whiche promesse they accorded, insomuch that the said Mr. Taylor covennantyd and bargaynyd the organ to be made and brought to this towne, and set upon the north syde in the hihhe quere, on St Barnabe Eve, in the yere of oure Lorde, M.V. xxxj., &c., &c.

A new organ by Gray & Davison costing £800 (equivalent to £81,200 in 2021)[5] was opened on 17 December 1857[17] by Henry Smart. This organ was altered by Forster and Andrews in 1868/9. After a rebuild in 1911 by Norman and Beard, it now has 37 stops and three manuals and pedals.