OUR HERITAGE
The former church, St Michael on the Mount, is a relatively ‘young’ church built in the Victorian era in the then popular Gothic revival style.
The Medieval Church
The former medieval church was situated opposite the front of Christ’s Hospital School which is now the Lincoln Art College.
The medieval church was destroyed by parliamentary forces and their artillery in 1643 and was completely abandoned in 1685. A smaller church was built in 1739, measuring a mere 5 metres by 9 metres, with a capacity of no more than 45 seats.
The ‘New’ Church
It was the Reverand John Sommerville Gibney who when appointed as Perpetual Curate of the parish of St Michael on the Mount in September 1845, immediately saw the need for a larger building as his parish was growing and number of boys at the Christ’s Hospital School, also known as ‘Bluecoat School’ was steadily increasing.
The Bluecoat School was willing to contribute to the cost of building a new church under the condition that there would be enough space for the 120 boys boarded at the school.
The architect Samuel Sanders Teulon was appointed and building work began in 1854. To accommodate the boys, the architect made good use of the contours of the sloping site, by adding a large gallery to the north side into the church, part of which is now the main entrance to The Old Palace Lodge and the lounge area.
The church was completed in 1871 and flourished until it was made redundant by the Diocese of Lincoln in 1998.
It then served a multitude of purposes until plans were made in the summer of 2011 to convert the former church building into a guesthouse, now known as The Old Palace Lodge, creating a wonderful range of 16 comfortable classic rooms, master rooms and suites.