Andrew Bowell has been visiting churches in South Holland – THE PARISH CHURCH OF ST JOHN, HOLBEACH FEN, LINCOLNSHIRE
St John’s chapel of ease was erected in 1840 by Robert Eliot of Fleet on land donated by Algernon Percy Banks St. Maur, 14th Duke of Somerset KG, and by subscription, including a gift of £800 from Bishop John Kaye of Lincoln ( Bishop of Lincoln 1827 -1853). Brick built in Early English style it was described by Pevsner in 1964 as consisting of a nave, short chancel, lancet windows, bellcote and shallow porch. Holbeach Fen had become an ecclesiastical parish on 28th June 1867. The church can seat 200 people.
The register dates from 1867. In 1909 the living consisted of a Vicarage with a net yearly value of £265; including 14 acres of Glebe land with residence, in the gift of the Bishop of Lincoln. In 1909 the incumbent was Rev. Harold Eaton Curtis.
