This is a very small village to have such a grand church. Nassington was once in the Diocese of Lincoln, which stretched from the Humber to the Thames. Nassington was chosen, between the years 1118 and 1121, to be the base of a Prebendary of Lincoln. The prebendary was to exercise authority over the surrounding parishes and a Prebendal house was built close to the church. This was a crucial moment for St Mary and it brought wealth and importace to the church and stimulated its rebuilding and extension. Work on the impressive tower was started within sixty years of this date and over the years further rebuilding took place leading to what is the impressive structure that we see today.
According to the well produced and informative history booklet that was available from the church there was a fire at the church at the turn of the 13th Century. Those found guilty were excommunicated as they had "grievoufly molefted the church of Naffington". This was a very severe punishment in those days
The church had major restoration work done on it in the 1880's. In that time part of a Saxon Cross was uncovered. This is carved on all four sides and is said to have dated from the 10th Century. Amongst other carvings this has on it a representation of the Crucifixion. It has been estimated that, if complete, the cross would have stood some ten feet high.
See Peterborough Churchcrawler for further information.
