Hardwicke Rawnsley he wrote to "The Times" protesting against Britain's high tax on the importation of French wine, which he saw as unfair and as contributing to rural poverty in France. To protect the countryside from damaging development, Rawnsley, building on an idea propounded by Ruskin, conceived of a National Trust that could buy and preserve places of natural beauty and historic interest for the nation. The Trust became a reality in 1895; its co-founders were Rawnsley, Octavia Hill and Sir Robert Hunter. Until his death, Rawnsley worked as Honorary Secretary to the Trust. He was responsible for the campaign to raise
Raithby by Spilsby renewed by Hodgson Fowler in 1895. The lychgate is Grade II listed and dates from 1907. It was dedicated to the memory of Sophy Janet Rawnsley, of Raithby Hall. In the grounds of the churchyard is a stone cross, mostly dating from 1903 but using part of an earlier shaft. The old base is not used and lies away. The red-brick Raithby Hall was the seat of the Brackenbury and Rawnsley families, built around 1760 for Robert Carr Brackenbury and extended in 1848 and 1873 by Sir George Gilbert Scott. It is now an old peoples home, and is Grade