Barholm

Grey stone cottages and farm buildings line the winding road through Barholm, a quiet backwater off the A15 eight miles south west of Bourne, that the noisy 20th century seems to have passed by. Time has been kind to its church and even during the Civil War, money was found to give it a new tower and a quaint inscription records the event:

St Martin's Church dates from the first half of the 11th century but the original Saxon church has been largely rebuilt. It consisted of a nave, possibly shorter than the present one, a short chancel and possibly a west tower. A north aisle was added in the 12th century, the chancel arch rebuilt and a new south door inserted. A new chancel was built in the 13th century and there were few later alterations except for the rebuilding of the tower in 1648. The Saxon-Norman south door is a fine piece of work and owes its state of preservation to having been plastered over until 1855 when the plaster was removed by the then vicar, the Rev William Turner. The arch bears a saw-tooth or zigzag pattern that also occurs on the tympanum while the scalloped capitals resemble those on the north arcade pillars inside. The statue over the door, representing St Martin dividing his cloak with the poor man, was installed during the incumbency of the Rev Henry Fortescue Ostrehan (1906-26). The church was extensively renovated during 1999 at a cost of £40,000 that was raised through donations and grants. The work included re-pointing the tower, new electrical wiring and the refurbishing of the bells, the earliest of which is dated 1400.

The church porch shelters the doorway and dates from the 13th century. It owes its size to the fact that parts of certain services such as marriages and churchings were carried out in the porch in the Middle Ages. The pulpit bears what appears to be an hour-glass holder, for timing sermons, and at its base is a small brass plaque commemorating the Reverend Marshall Tweddell, Rector of Barnack, who died one week after preaching here on Micah 11:10. The brass lectern bears a bible given by the Reverend W Turner in 1856.

Barholm has many attractive stone buildings including this large farmhouse and outbuildings, hardly changed since the 18th century, and although re-roofed in recent years, still clings to its historic origins. 

This is Banks' Farm, named after an old family that once lived here and some of them, mainly from the 19th century, are buried in the village churchyard with tombstones that bear witness to their wealth and standing in the community. They must also have been an important family in the life of the church because two of them are buried near the church entrance in a grave marked by a very grand memorial inscribed: "Sacred to the memory of Thomas Banks who departed this life 19th August 1811, aged 71, and his wife Elizabeth, 9th August 1813, aged 77."

The houses in Barholm have a history because no modern residential development has been allowed in the village this century. All are therefore worth a close inspection and just round the corner on the Tallington Road I spotted a pair of delightful stone cottages with the walls covered in the deep red of Virginia creeper. This property would have been four cottages when built in the 18th century and occupied by agricultural labourers employed on nearby farms but have now been converted into two homes, privately owned and modernised, although their outward appearance has been altered little. 

An attractive property on the road through Barholm was perhaps once the village school. It has been converted for use as a private home and the new owners have commemorated its previous use by calling it Old School Cottage. Further along the road is a small cottage that has been less heavily restored and has even retained its thatched roof although the ubiquitous television aerial can be seen attached to the gable end. 

Another pair of stone cottages in the village have been tastefully modernised and a plaque on the front wall carries the monogram J G but no date and in view of their close proximity to the farm next door, they were probably built for agricultural labourers at the turn of the 19th century while further along the street is a derelict cottage dating from a century earlier and untouched since it was built. Space inside is cramped and the downstairs rooms are barely high enough to stand up yet this cottage was no doubt home for generations of farm workers and their families.

The focal point of social activity is the village public house, the Five Horseshoes, small and intimate and unchanged for centuries, and hub of local gossip where even a strange car passing through brings customers rushing to the windows for a closer look. Earlier this century, the landlord of the Five Horseshoes agreed to abide by a contract drawn up by the local parson to reward the work of the village blacksmith with the church choir over a number of years. The clergyman issued a certificate saying:

I request that on the three great feasts of Christmas, Easter and Whitsun, the licensee of the Five Horseshoes gives on each feast one ounce of tobacco and two pints of beer to William Dack, who shall name and choose such brands as he may favour, and that this arrangement shall continue for his lifetime. I agree that on presentation of a bill by the licensee of the Five Horseshoes, I will pay the cost.

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