PLEASE RESPECT THE CHURCH AND DO NOT VISIT IN DARK/UNSOCIABLE HOURS.
The Church of All Saints, Ruskington is a Grade 1 English Heritage Listed Building
Ruskington is a large village and civil parish in the North Kesteven district of the county, located on the north-south B1188 road and slightly north of the A153 road.
Ruskington was recorded in the Domesday Book as "Rischintone" - "farmstead where rushes grow".
There is an Anglo-Saxon burial ground situated on Lincoln Road near Mill House. The remains of a Roman road also runs parallel and to the west of Lincoln Road, but this is apparent in aerial photographs only.
According to a mounted scroll inside the Church:
“Records show that a small Saxon Church, probably constructed of timber, was built in 1086. At the end of the 12th Century a more substantial Norman structure was replaced by yet another on the present site.
The small lancet windows low down on the North and South Walls of the Chancel still remain.
Features of the 12th Century building are the South doorway and an exceptionally fine pillar in the Arcade of the Nave. The broad circular base and dog tooth ornamentation can be seen from the Children’s Chapel.
During the 13th Century the North Arcade was rebuilt with plainer pillars. Nevertheless, the bases, which were probably the only seats at the time, were left and remain to the present day.
In the South Aisle the East Window was built during the 14th Century and the other two a hundred years later. The exterior window sills appear to be mediaeval tomb slabs.
After the Spire collapsed the Tower was rebuilt in 1620. Some of the stone was probably used in constructing the Porch on the East side of which a gargoyle still looks surprised at finding itself in such a strange position. The Children’s Chapel was built in 1949.”
The Memorials:
The World War 1 Memorial
Is in the Church in the form of a Brass Plaque mounted on a marble back plate.
It is located on the North wall and flanked by the Royal British Legion Standard and the Union Flag.
The Plaque bears the names of all 30 Ruskington men who died in the Great War, and commemorated on this site.
Above the names is the inscription:
“TO THE GLORY OF GOD AND IN HONOURED MEMORY OF THE FOLLOWING WHO DIED FOR KING AND COUNTRY IN THE GREAT WAR”
Below the names the Memorial reads:
“GREATER LOVE HATH NO MAN THAN IS THAT A LAYS DOWN HIS LIFE FOR HIS FRIENDS”
The World War 2 Memorial
This is on the opposite wall, in the ‘Children’s Chapel’, in the form of a framed wooden plaque, incised with the names of the 11 village men who gave their lives.
It was made by Messrs F. Hossack and Son of Ruskington.
The dedication at the top of the Memorial reads:
“This children’s chapel is dedicated to the memory of the men of this parish who died in seeking to overcome the powers of evil which threatened their Country in the years 1939 – 1945”
The inscription below the names read:
“Suffer the little children to come unto me and forbid them not for of such is the Kingdom of Heaven.”
The 1st Airborne Reconnaissance Squadron Memorial:
Situated alongside the World War 2 Memorial, in the Children’s Chapel, is a Marble Memorial Plaque to the 1st Airborne Reconnaissance Squadron, a Reconnaissance Corps unit which formed part of the 1st Airborne Division and was sent to North Africa, seeing service in Italy, Arnhem.
When the Squadron returned from Italy in New Year 1944 it was moved and billeted in the village and retrained from a Glider squadron to a Parachute one.
After training the 45 members of the Squadron joined ‘Operation Market Garden’ – the attack on the Rhine Bridges at Arnhem, from which 30 men returned to the village on 28 September 1944. The villagers were said to be devastated by the loss of so many men. After VE Day, the Squadron saw service in Norway, at Stavanger and Oslo, where it oversaw the withdrawal of German troops.
The Memorial lists the names of 43 men of the Squadron who gave their lives in the Second World War.
The names of the men shown on the Memorial are shown on the left. At the foot of the Plaque is the citation:
“From this place, where it had found a home during its last months in England, the Squadron flew to the Battle of Arnhem.“
If you would like to add to the Church Micro series yourself then please look here
http://churchmicro.co.uk/
There is also a Church Micro Stats & Information page that can be found at
http://www.15ddv.me.uk/geo/cm/index.html