'The beste and fayrest of al Lincolnshire': The Church of St Botolph, Boston, Lincolnshire, and its Medieval Monuments

Using a quotation from the English antiquary John Leland (c. 1503-1552) as their inspiration, the editors provide a fresh look at the monuments of Boston Lincolnshire (eastern England), and in particular the parish church of St Botolph's. Modern-day Boston is a small, sleepy market town, with little of its industrial enterprises having survived into this century, and is nowadays chiefly of importance as a shopping centre for its rich agricultural hinterland. Almost alone of the landmarks of Leland's Boston, St Botolph's remains as a testament in stone to Boston's glory days. It is the tallest parish church tower in the world, with a height of 83m. The nave is 74m long and 32m wide, larger than many cathedrals. This volume results from a 'Study-Day' organised at Boston by the Monumental Brass Society in May 2009 and forming part of the programme to celebrate St Botolph's 700th anniversary. In addition to the papers presented on the day, others have been specially commissioned to give a thorough overview of the town in the later Middle Ages, the architectural history of St Botolph's, the religious guilds which played such an important part of the lives of the townsfolk and, above all, the monuments. To this has been added a detailed illustrated catalogue of the medieval monuments. Contents: 1) Introduction (Sally Badham); 2) Medieval Boston: Economy, Society and Administration (Stephen Rigby); 3) 'The beste and fairest of al Lincolnshire': the parish church of St Botolph, Boston (Linda Monckton); 4) 'He loved the guild': the religious guilds associated with St Botolph's church, Boston (Sally Badham); 5) Incised slab commissions in fourteenth century Boston (Paul Cockerham); 6) 'From remembrance almost out araced': the brasses and indents of St Botolph's church, Boston (Sally Badham); 7) The lost brasses and indents of Boston (Derrick Chivers and Paul Cockerham); 8) Two Lincolnshire merchants: Walter Pescod of Boston and Simon Seman of Barton-upon-Humber (Jessica Freeman); 9) Two alabaster effigies in St Botolph's church (Mark Downing); 10) Conclusion (Paul Cockerham); Appendix 1: Catalogue of the pre-Reformation monuments of St Botolph's, Boston (Sally Badham and Paul Cockerham); Appendix 2: A survey of the floor monuments in St Botolph's, Boston, undertaken in 1978-83 (Brian Gittos and Moira Gittos); Appendix 3: Selected Boston wills.