St James' Church at Louth

St James's church spire can be seen towering over the town and the church was at the forefront of the Lincolnshire Uprising in 1536. Henry VIII had decided that the monasteries were too rich and powerful and decided to dissolve them and confiscate all their property. The dissolution of Louth Park Abbey was the catalyst for action. The people of Louth were fiercely against this and the Uprising began when the Vicar, Thomas Kendall, preached a rousing sermon. 30,000 people marched on Lincoln to meet Henry's commissioners, but were stopped by Henry's men. As the plaque above explains, the Vicar was hanged, drawn and quartered in London, at Tyburn. However, this uprising led to the Pilgrimage of Grace the following year, again quashed by Henry's men, and the leaders were brutally killed despite Henry promising leniency. In a letter rebuffing the Louth petition, Henry described Lincolnshire as "the most brute and beastly shire of the whole realm".

The spire of St James' church. The present church's chancel and nave were re-built in 1430-40, and the spire was completed in 1515. It contains the eighth heaviest set of bells in the country.

One of the animal carvings on the front seats - only these seats have the carvings, so must have been for the wealthiest parishioners or patrons of the church.