Sir Richard Bingham, Knight of Bingham Wapentake

Richard of Melcombe Bingham, Knighthood unrecorded, was living in 1404 but died before 1408.--(Bingham Researchers, No. 4, p.7.)

A document is available at the National Archives UK, proves he was a Knight, an unpaid bill remained after his death, so proves when he died as well. [[https://www.geni.com/documents/view?doc_id=6000000198842696822]]

[https://binghamparishchurch.org.uk/who-we-are/our-church]/
The earliest work is at the foot of the tower which has one and a half metre thick walls. The rest of the building was erected during the reigns of Kings Edward I and II, these dates being inferred from the styles of decoration. It is thought that the economic prosperity of the area was enhanced by Sir Richard de Bingham who then invested money into the construction. The Tomb of Sir Richard is marked by the effigy of a cross-legged knight inside the church. Small fragments of another ancient tomb remain in the church and they probably relate to his son Sir William de Bingham.

The earliest record of a rector is in 1226 and by 1291 the town headed the Bingham Deanery. It was about 1320 that the church was completed. This had been a massive undertaking for perhaps only one hundred households. Most of the masonry was quarried locally but some used in the tower is from the Ancaster quarries on the far side of Grantham.

Approximately a hundred years later a second flurry of building took place under the new Lords of the Manor the Rempstones who replaced the de Binghams. Sir Thomas Rempstone was buried in the Church after drowning in the Thames in 1406.

Two windows in the East side of the North transept were replaced at about the time of his son’s death and contained the family coat of arms.