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St Martin, Winnall - Trust Annual Report 1969

This small Victorian church, now presents a forlorn and overgrown appearance at the bottom of the hill on the way to the Winnall Industrial Estate.

It is known that there has been a church at Winnall since the 12th century and it is probable that the foundation goes back even earlier. The Victorian Gothic building was designed by William Coles, the City Surveyor, using some of the stone from the earlier church.

The cost in 1858 was £400 and it took less than six months to build. The bell, dated 1713, was originally hung in the old church.

There was never a very large population in this area and the church was always very small and the cost of restoration would have been relatively high as the new Winnall estate is well served by the last surviving mediaeval church of St. John, which members of the Trust had an opportunity of visiting in the summer.

Until recently it seemed probable that St. Martin's would be demolished, but an application has been made by members of the Scandinavian-Lutheran Church to restore the building and use it for their services. It seems that there are enough Lutherans from Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland living in the South of England to make this a worthwhile project. At present they have no alternative but to travel to London. The Trust very much hopes that this will come about.