There had been a church at Stow even before the arrival of the Danes in 870 – the year they are documented to have burnt the church down.
The building remained in ruins until an abbey was built in 1040, reputedly by Bishop Eadnoth II.
It is partly Saxon and partly Norman in date and is designated by English Heritage as a Scheduled Ancient Monument and was also included in the World Monuments Fund's 2006 list of the world's 100 most endangered sites.
The arches in the Anglo-Saxon part are the tallest of their era in Britain.

A mile to the west of the village and lying just to the south of the Roman road known as Tillbridge Lane are the remains of the medieval palace of the Bishops of Lincoln built in 1336.
All that can be seen today are the earthworks of the moat and to the north and east of the site the earthwork remains of its associated medieval fish-ponds.
There had been a church at Stow even before the arrival of the Danes in 870 – the year they are documented to have burnt the church down. The building remained in ruins until an abbey was built in 1040, reputedly by Bishop Eadnoth II. It is partly Saxon and partly Norman in date and is designated by English Heritage as a Scheduled Ancient Monument and was also included in the World Monuments Fund's 2006 list of the world's 100 most endangered sites. The arches in the Anglo-Saxon part are the tallest of their era in Britain.
A mile to the west of the village and lying just to the south of the Roman road known as Tillbridge Lane are the remains of the medieval palace of the Bishops of Lincoln built in 1336. All that can be seen today are the earthworks of the moat and to the north and east of the site the earthwork remains of its associated medieval fish-ponds.
Stow, Lincolnshire