St. Botolph's Church — Attraction in Boston

Woo hoo I made it here and what a Church this is ! The Church of Saint Botolph , Boston affectionately known as the Stump is incredible . The building of the present Church is thought to have begun in 1309 but Christianity begun in Boston when the man himself Botolph or Botulph preached here and founded a Church . The name Boston itself is said to be derived from Botolphs Stone . The tower itself started in the early fifteenth century possibly by Reginald of Ely and what a sight it is even today . On the day I arrived it was a hive of activity based mainly around the cafe the staff were friendly , informative and nice . The slender pillars to the internal arches don't look strong enough to hold this place up and infact lean eastward noticeably , surely a miracle ! I loved the Reredos which I was told was actually not installed until the early twentieth century but certainly looked amazing . This is one cool Church and as already mentioned seems to be a centre of activity for the locals . The stained glass windows are beautiful the pulpit quite impressive . I loved the Byzantine style painting of Saint Botolph himself . The staff are great . This place is not only vast in size but beauty too well...

I almost died there. Don't know if they still allow tourists to climb the stairs to the upper landing in the tower, but I paid my pence and climbed up to the top finding about 3 inches of bird poo. After taking some awesome pictures of Boston from that vantage point, I noticed that there were stairs off the landing and continuing to climb up the spires. The difference was that the previous staircase had periodic openings in the stone to allow sunlight in, but the upper staircase had none. So, I carefully placed one hand on either side and felt ahead of me with my foot for the next step. Step after step after step, it got progressively darker until I could see nothing ahead of me. Step after step after step and . . ., all of a sudden, there was no step. I teetered at the top looking down I could see a small patch of light that was the entrance from the landing. The oId wooden landing must have long since rotted away. I managed to stabilize myself and carefully climb back down. So, be careful if you're climbing the spires...

200+ steps curl up to the first balcony on the iconic Boston Stump tower. Fantastic views across Boston and the fen await you - if you're prepared to wait until the spots before your eyes disappear and you've caught your breath again - it took me 15 minutes to recover!! Bus so worth it! Access to the stairs cost £5 per adult and under 18's go free. Of course you could cheat and look at the views on one of the interactive screens in the church itself. You'll also find building blocks and brass rubbing for the younger children and a huge amount of historical information for the older ones. Well worth a visit and whidlt there we bought some Lego bricks to help towards the completion of a Lego model of the building - you get a certificate too! We enjoyed it, the grandchildren loved it - an all age treat and a true gem...