about six miles south from Horncastle, and five miles
eastward of Tattershall station, with a population of more than 800.
Letters _via_ Boston arrive by mail cart at 7.30 a.m. This is the seat
of a considerable industry, carried on by Mr. Titus Kime, as a grower of
greatly improved varities of potatoes, agricultural seed, and, latterly
on a large scale, of bulbs of different kinds, in which he seems likely
to compete with the Dutch trade.

The church, which is dedicated to St. Helen, is a fine structure of
oolite stone, probably one of the largest in the neighbourhood, except
the collegiate church of Tattershall. It consists of tower, nave, north
and south aisles, south porch and chancel. The body of the church was
restored in 1873, and re-opened on June 13th of that year, at a cost of
more than 2,000 pounds, by J. Banks Stanhope, Esq., Lord of the Manor;
the then rector, the Rev. W. Sharpe restoring the chancel, and the
parishioners and other friends the tower. The latter consists of three
tiers, having a small square window in the south and north walls below,
with a two-light floriated window on the west. In the tier above are
two-light windows on all four faces. At the summit it has battlements
and four tall pinnacles. There are three bells, the date of the largest
being 1627. The body of the church is also battlemented, and has
pinnacles, the westernmost of these having the figures, within a niche,
of St. George and the dragon.

The south porch has an early English doorway within, the outer one being
modern. In the moulding above the inner doorway is a curiously crowned
head, probably representing the Empress Helena, the patron saint; other
curious devices running down the moulding on each side. To the right of
the inner doorway are initials M.S., date 1681. The font has a large
octagonal bowl, with heads at the angles, and elaborate trefoil devices
on the faces; the shaft is plain, octagonal, the pediment a stone cross.

[Picture: St. Helen's Church, Mareham-Le-Fen]

Both aisles have four lofty bays, with early English columns. In the
north aisle is one three-light perpendicular trefoiled window, in its
western wall; in the north wall, on each side of the north door, is a
three-light perpendicular window, with mullions interlacing; and to the
east a four-light round-headed trefoiled window. Over the north door is
a tablet, with a Latin inscription, commemorative of the Rev. H.
Sheppa