Editing St Botolph's Church, Boston (section)

==Foundation and architecture==

The existing church was begun in 1309 at the east end, as was customary. With the [[chancel]] built, work reached the south aisle and moved on through the [[nave]] until its completion around 1390. Foundation trouble, because of proximity to the river, delayed progress while the chancel was extended to prop the building up and create a greater level of structural stability. The nave piers had been leaning dangerously to the east. This work was successful to the extent that today the tower leans by less than half a centimetre, despite its great height.

The tower was not begun until 1450, by excavation of a deep, wide hole. Indicating the architectural skill employed by the builders at the time, the tower remains structurally solid and has not required any restoration work to realign it despite [[The Haven, Boston|The Haven]] being only {{Convert|33|ft|m}} away and the original foundations built under water level.

It was completed between 1510 and 1520 in the Perpendicular style that had become popular during much of the 15th century. A walkway at roughly two thirds of the height of the tower encircles the edges, giving great views from [[the Wash]] in the east toward Lincoln in the west. Reached by 209 steps, the walkway also provides access to the tower level with the bells.

The tower is topped with a highly decorated octagonal lantern ringed with [[pinnacle]]s, one of fewer than half a dozen medieval examples surviving in England. Others, including the church of [[Bury St Edmunds Abbey]], are now ruined.

The nave is {{Convert|242|ft|m}} long and {{Convert|104|ft|m}} wide, making the internal space of the building impressive by its sheer size. It terminates in the vaulted chancel containing the high [[altar]] at the extreme eastern end of the church. The church was vaulted in wood in the 18th century, but the nave vaults were removed in the 20th century.

The relatively short period of construction for such a large church is fairly unusual in England, and an indication of the wealth of Boston. Most similarly sized churches, largely cathedrals, took hundreds of years to build due to constant fund shortages, giving them a variety of different styles as exhibited by other East Anglian churches, such as [[Ely, Cambridgeshire|Ely]] or [[Peterborough]]. The Stump was built in less than 150 years, giving it a rare sense of architectural coherence and unity.

===Misericords===
St Botolph's has an array of sixty-two [[misericord]]s dating from 1390. Subject matter includes mythology, heraldry, and some everyday scenes - NB-02, for instance "Master seated birching a boy who is trying to protect himself with a book. Three other boys are looking on," and NB-03 "Two jesters, each squeezing a cat under its arm and biting its tail".