The East Coast Main Line railway cuts through the eastern side of the village over viaducts.

The earliest parts of the building are some Anglo-Saxon "long-and-short" stonework, visible externally at the southeast and southwest corners (quoins) of the nave.

The church also has several Romanesque details dating from the Norman era, including a Priest's Door ("uncommonly ornate", according to Nikolaus Pevsner) with a finely carved tympanum; the empty circular niche in the tympanum is said to have held a relic; the birds in roundels to either side are probably eagles, as one is legendarily supposed to have sheltered Medard from the rain.

[6] A finely sculpted capital depicting a Green Man surrounded by oak leaves, similar to examples at nearby Kirkby Underwood[6] and Greatford, also dates from c.1300.

It reached 126 mph (203 km/h), the fastest ever officially recorded for a steam locomotive, just south of the village at milepost 90¼, where a sign beside the track was erected in 1998 to mark the 60th anniversary of the event, and the exact spot (between Aunby and Carlby) in Lincolnshire where The Mallard reached its highest speed.

There were earlier claims to this speed, notably by the Great Western locomotive 3440 City of Truro, but this 1933 run is generally considered to be the first reliably recorded instance.

[10] They advertised that they had won Gold and Silver medals, and supplied "His Majesty the King and other members of the Royal Family; also to the principal Nobility of this and Foreign Countries.

Former clay workings, an uneven area now overgrown with woodland, has been developed as The Spinney, a nature reserve, picnic site and children's adventure playground, through a grant from the Millennium Commission.

[12] A Heritage Orchard, with historic, mainly local, cultivars of apples, pears, plums, cherries and gages, has been planted at the site[13] and a small sensory garden is also being developed.