A monument to Princess Gwenllian of Wales located near the site of the former Gilbertine Priory at Sempringham - National Grid Reference TF108326.

"Gwenllian of Wales or Gwenllian ferch Llywelyn (June 1282 - 7 June 1337) was the only child of Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, the last native Prince of Wales ... 

A few months after Gwenllian's birth, north Wales was encircled by the English army of King Edward I.

On 11 December 1282 her father, Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, was killed in battle ...

Gwenllian's uncle, Dafydd ap Gruffudd, assumed her guardianship, but on 21 June 1283, he was captured with his family at Nanhysglain, a secret hiding place in a bog by Bera Mawr in the uplands of north Wales ...

Gwenllian and the daughters of her uncle Dafydd ap Gruffudd were all confined for life in remote priories in Lincolnshire and never allowed freedom.

Gwenllian was placed in the Gilbertine Priory at Sempringham, where she remained until her death 54 years later"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gwenllian_of_Wales 

DB 2 June 2020

Shown on the OS 25 inch map published 1904 as a "Holy Well (Chalybeate)"

"Well. C12, C19, C20. ... Possibly connected with the cult of St. Gilbert, whose Gilbertine abbey was several hundred yards to the south"

https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1241281 

DB 8 August 2020 

The church of St Andrew, Sempringham, stands alone surrounded by fields.

The Norman S doorway and N arcade remain from the original building, while the tower is late 14th century and the apsidal chancel Victorian (Edward Browning, 1868).

In the 12th century, Gilbert of Sempringham built his monastery for men and women nearby, thus founding the Gilbertine monastic order which flourished in the middle ages. Gilbert was canonised in 1202.

Frank Robinson, 2010

St Andrew's viewed from the south-west.

October 2017

The decorative frieze in pseudo Norman style applied in the Victorian restoration.

October 2017

Kelly's Directory of Lincolnshire 1919 states :-

"The church of St. Andrew stands on an eminence overlooking the Fen district, about three-quarters of a mile from any residence now existing, but was formerly surrounded by a village:

it is a building of stone, in the Norman and Perpendicular styles, consisting of a modern apsidal chancel, nave of four bays, north aisle, south porch and a plain but massive embattled central tower of Perpendicular date, with eight rich pinnacles and containing 3 bells:

the nave and aisle, which formed part of the priory church, are Norman :

there is a plain doorway of this period on the north side and a very fine Norman arch on the south side, with ancient doors of fir, splendidly ornamented with iron scrollwork:

the font is octagonal:

there were formerly north and south transepts, but these, together with the chancel, were taken down and the materials sold:

it was restored in 1868-9 at a cost of about £1,500, furnished in part by Her late Majesty Queen Victoria, as impropriator and owner of half the parish:

the north wall was wholly rebuilt from the foundation and extended, three out of four the tower arches opened, the roof renewed and the church reseated, the new seats being careful reproductions of the old work:

a stained window, the gift of Mrs. Saunders, was inserted on the north side of the towter, and on the south side is another, presented by her husband, the Rev. J. C. K. Saunders M.A. a former rector of Friesthorpe and vicar here, 1861-9 ; there are also memorials to their two daughters:

another stained window was given by Mr. W. H. Constable, of Cambridge who executed the other two windows:

the chancel rebuilt by the Crown is in the Early English style:

the south porch, erected to commemorate the 60th year of the reign of Her late Majesty, was dedicated by the Bishop of Lincoln in Oct. 1899, and inside it has been placed a fine Norman arch, which, after being separated from the church for over 100 years, was recovered by the late Rev. E. H. Harrisson, vicar 1901-I914:

there are 250 sittings"

DB 2 June 2020

White's Directory of Lincolnshire 1856 states :-

"Earl Fortescue was lord of the manor of Sempringham, and owner of a great part of the parish; but in 1855 be sold the manor and his estate here to the Crown.

Part of the township belongs to the Brown, Oliver, Gould, and other families.

The Crown is also impropriator of the great tithes of the parish, and patron of the Church (St. Andrew,) a neat but ancient structure, with a tower containing three bells, and crowned with eight rich pinnacles.

The north aisle is separated from the nave by four pillars, two of them clustered and the others round, one panelled, with flowers under the arch.

The south door has a fine Norman recessed arch.

The font is octagonal, with shields in quatrefoils.

The vicarage, valued in K.B. at £2. 15s. 8d., and now at £131, with Pointon curacy annexed to it, is in the incumbency of the Rev. Samuel John Hillyard"

DB 2 June 2020

"Parish church. c.1170, mid C14, c.1400, restored and chancel rebuilt 1868-9 by Edward Browning"

https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1241280 

DB 8 August 2020 

C12 west front and north aisle.

DB 8 August 2020 

"Barn now outhouse. C17, C20"

https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1260599

DB 2 June 2020

The porch was rebult in 1868-69 by Edward Browning.

October 2017

Plaques at the base of the tower, on the south of the church, commemorating Saint Gilbert and the Gilbertine Order.

"ST. GILBERT OF SEMPERINGHAM (CIRCA 1083 - 4TH FEBRUARY 1189), VICAR OF THIS PARISH, FOUNDER OF A RELIGIOUS ORDER FOR WOMEN AND MEN, WAS BORN, LIVED AND WAS BURIED HERE"

DB 8 August 2020 

Grotesque sculpted figure.

DB 8 August 2020 

"C12 west front ... 2 human heads in gable"

https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1241280 

DB 8 August 2020