Sotby is a village and civil parish

Civil parish

In England, a civil parish is a territorial designation and, where they are found, the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties...

 in the East Lindsey

East Lindsey

East Lindsey is a local government district in Lincolnshire, England. The council is based in Manby near Louth, and other major settlements in the district include Alford, Spilsby, Mablethorpe, Skegness, Horncastle and Chapel St Leonards....

 district of Lincolnshire

Lincolnshire

Lincolnshire is a county in the east of England. It borders Norfolk to the south east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south west, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire to the west, South Yorkshire to the north west, and the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north. It also borders...

, England, situated north east of the city of Lincoln

Lincoln, Lincolnshire

Lincoln is a cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England.The non-metropolitan district of Lincoln has a population of 85,595; the 2001 census gave the entire area of Lincoln a population of 120,779....

 between the towns of Horncastle and Market Rasen

Market Rasen

Market Rasen is a town and civil parish within the West Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. It lies on the River Rase northeast of Lincoln, east of Gainsborough and southwest of Grimsby. According to the 2001 census, it has a population of 3,200....

.

The parish church is a grade II* listed building dedicated to Saint Peter

Saint Peter

Saint Peter or Simon Peter was an early Christian leader, who is featured prominently in the New Testament Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles. The son of John or of Jonah and from the village of Bethsaida in the province of Galilee, his brother Andrew was also an apostle...

. It dates from the 12th century restored in 1857 by Michael Drury, and is built of greenstone

Greenstone

Pounamu is several types of hard, durable and highly valued nephrite jade, bowenite, or serpentinite found in New Zealand. Pounamu is the Māori name. The rocks are also generically known as "greenstone" in New Zealand English....

, limestone

Limestone

Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....

 and some red brick. There is a gravestone in the chancel

Chancel

In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar in the sanctuary at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building...

 floor to John Porter, rector

Rector

The word rector has a number of different meanings; it is widely used to refer to an academic, religious or political administrator...

, who died 1688.