St. Swithin’s Church, Lincoln is a Grade II* listed parish church located on St Swithin's Square, Lincoln, England.
The original church of St Swithin, was near the Sheep Market. It suffered a bad fire in 1644 during the English Civil War. It was rebuilt in stone in 1801. This was replaced with a new building on Sheep Square. The foundation stone was laid on Easter Day 1869 by the Bishop of Lincoln, Christopher Wordsworth.
The church was built to designs of the architect, James Fowler of Louth and financed by Alfred Shuttleworth the Lincoln industrialist. The nave and aisles were built between 1869 and 1871, the chancel was completed in 1879, and the construction of the tower and spire took place between 1884 and 1887.
Nikolaus Pevsner described the church as "without doubt his (James Fowler's) most important church."
During the construction a Roman altar was discovered.
The church contains a west window which was made by A L Moore & Co.
The church was listed as Grade II* in 1973.
In October 2014, St Swithin's Church was relaunched, at the invitation of the Bishop of Lincoln, by a planting team from Holy Trinity Brompton (HTB) in the Diocese of London led by Revd Jim Prestwood.
The church building is currently closed. The church currently meets at the old TSB Bank building in Bank Street, Lincoln for three Sunday services at 9.15am, 10.30am and 6.30pm each week.
A single bell of 3 cwt and 21 pounds was supplied in 1851, cast by Messrs Mears. It is currently described as unringable.
Church. Nave and aisles 1869-71, chancel 1879, tower and spire 1884-87. By James Fowler of Louth, and "without doubt his most important church". Paid for largely by the Shuttleworth family. Rockfaced ashlar with ashlar dressings and slate roofs. Early English style.
PLAN: west tower with spire, nave with clerestory, north and south aisles, north and south porches, chancel, vestry.
EXTERIOR: deep moulded plinth, string courses, sill band, billeted eaves, coped gables with crosses. West tower, 3 stages, has gabled angle buttresses and stair turret to south-east. Inscribed eaves band with gargoyles, 4 spire-topped octagonal pinnacles, flying buttresses supporting a set back octagonal spire with a single tier of lucarnes. West door has clustered shafts under a crocketed gable. Above, a 3-light window with hoodmould. Second stage has blind arcading with crocketed gables. Third stage has on each side a pair of moulded 2-light openings with shafts and crocketed gables. Clerestory has on each side 18 lancets, those to the south set in blind arcading with shafts. North aisle, 6 bays, has buttresses and five 3-light windows with Geometrical tracery and hoodmoulds. In the west end, a similar window. North porch has a moulded doorway with shafts and hoodmould under a coped gable. Similar south aisle has a coped parapet and an additional window at the east end. Buttressed, larger south porch has a doorway with double shafts and hoodmould, and above it, a blind arcade with figure panels. On either side, a 2-light window with Y-tracery. Chancel, 2 bays, has buttresses, pierced balustrade, and crocketed east gable. East end has sill band, a 5-light window with hoodmould, and above it, a recess with a demi-figure. Flanking buttresses are topped with blind-arcaded spires. South side has two 3-light windows. Vestry has gabled porch and two 2-light windows with Y-tracery. North gable has an external stack and 2 lancets.
INTERIOR: double chamfered tower arch has double ringed shafts and hoodmould. Tower chamber has blind arcading and a west window by A L Moore & Co. Nave has 6 bay arcades with round and octagonal piers, octagonal responds and double chamfered arches with hoodmoulds. Clerestory has sill band and linked hoodmoulds. Arch braced double purlin roof with curved wind braces, and round wall shafts on corbels. Aisles have sill bands, glazed wooden porches, and lean-to roofs with arch braces. North aisle east end has a double chamfered arch with panelled screen and organ pipes. South aisle east end has a painted triptych and brass, 1913, and stained glass window, 1888. Chancel has roll moulded arch with double ringed shafts, screen wall with quatrefoil band and wrought-iron railing. Continuous sill band. North side has a stilted arched recess with organ case and Perpendicular style screen. East end has a panelled dado in the same style, and a wooden reredos with figures in niches. Stained glass window, 1879. South side has piscina and sedilia with crocketed gables. 2 stained glass windows c1880. Arch braced wooden barrel vault with painted decoration.
FITTINGS include traceried oak pulpit and panelled octagonal font, both on bases with clustered shafts, stalls and desks, all C19. Freestanding wooden screen with inscription, semicircular pediment and keystone, C20. Roman stone altar, discovered on the site, remains on display.