St Thomas' Chapel of Ease

The ‘Township of Heighington’ is part of the Parish of Washingborough with Heighington. The Parish was established in Norman times and a Parish Church built in Washingborough possibly on or near the site of an Anglo-Saxon church.  Around 1200 a place of worship was established in Heighington: there could not be two main churches within one parish, but to encourage worship in outlying areas, a Chapel of Ease was sometimes allowed by a diocese.  

The Chapel of Ease in Heighington continued to be used into the 1600s but was falling into disrepair.  A local wealthy man, Thomas Garrett bought the Chapel of Ease. Services continued to be held there. Thomas Garrett died in 1620. Under the terms of his will, the incumbent of Washingborough is tasked with conducting services in the Chapel. The will also provided a trust fund to found a school in the Chapel of Ease for the boys of Heighington, Washingborough and Branston mainly for the teaching of Latin and Grammar. 

Considerable renovations to the Chapel were undertaken and completed in 1865 at which time additional provision for the school was made with the building on of the school rooms. Still known by many villagers as the Chapel of Ease, the dedication to St Thomas was made in 1993.

Thomas Garrett's original trust fund has evolved into Garrett’s Charity and to this day the Chapel and the school rooms are owned by Garrett’s Charity not by the Church of England.

Parish website: www.washingboroughgroup.org.uk/stthomas.html