Whilst canvassing in the tiny, remote village of West Torrington I took the opportunity to visit the church. I stood in this quiet spot not realizing that the first vicar here had been St Gilbert of Sempringham in the twelfth century. St Gilbert was the founder of the monastic order of Gilbertine. How strange that from this very place one of the towering figures of medieval monasticism started his career. I later went back into the churchyard and tried to imagine him there.

Earlier I had found a good guide in the open church of East Barkwith. This particular church has some nice perpendicular features, including the porch and also has a worn but attractive statue of the Virgin and Child above the entrance.