Dunsby

The village of Dunsby on the very edge of the fens could easily be missed if you were in a hurry driving north from Bourne on the B1177 but it is well worth a visit, if only to see the church by the wayside with its grey embattled tower and a figure of Our Lord in a niche. 

The tower, like most of the church, is 14th century but the south doorway with heads of a man and woman at the sides, the chancel arch and the four pointed arches in the nave, are a century older. The 500-year-old font has an obscure inscription which has been interpreted as In the beginning Jesus Christ, born of Mary, is He the Baptist. The modern glass of the east window has an attractive picture of the Adoring Shepherds, with the Archangels Michael and Gabriel kneeling above, and St Nicholas and St George below. 

Near to the church in a semi-circular stone niche, is the village contribution to the Silver Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II, a public seat, probably made by the local blacksmith, with the wrought iron inscription E R 1977 worked into the back. 

During the 19th century, Dunsby Hall was the home of John Compton Lawrance, only son of Mr Thomas M Lawrance who died in 1856. He was called to the Bar at Lincoln's Inn in 1859 and was subsequently made a QC  in 1877, becoming Recorder of Derby in 1880 and elected Conservative MP for the Stamford division of South Lincolnshire in the same year.

See also The Grand Bazaar and Art Exhibition of 1888

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