Church Of St Lawrence

The Church of St. Lawrence is a Grade II* listed building located on Denton Town Lane. The nave dates back to around 1530, while the chancel and transepts were added in 1872 by architects J. Medland and Henry Taylor. This church features a timber-framed structure that was weather-boarded on the south side and rendered on the north side in 1862, although it has been painted to maintain its character. The roof is covered with graduated stone slates and the building has a cruxiform plan, complete with a west gallery and a bellcote.

The nave consists of four bays and includes a stone plinth, coved eaves, and three or five-light mullioned windows in each bay. There is a central west door with a blocked window above it. The chancel and transepts are designed under a continuous roof and parallel roofs, respectively, and they feature more elaborate details at the east end, including foiled openings, rosettes on the barge boards, and a five-light east window. The bellcote has a pyramidal roof and has been restored to showcase its decorative framing.

Inside, six structural bays of the timber-framed design remain. Shaped posts and curved braces support tie-beam roof trusses, which include inclined struts and purlins with cusped bracing, along with a ceiling at collar level. The framing between the posts is either concealed by plaster or completely removed where the transepts and chancel meet. A west gallery is supported by 19th-century cast-iron columns. The church also features an early 18th-century baluster font, pews from 1859, and part of a former wardens pew from the 17th and 18th centuries preserved beneath the gallery. Additional carved timberwork dates from the 19th and 20th centuries. The windows contain fragmentary early 16th-century glass from a former east window. Notable memorials include an oval inscription plate for Edward Holland from 1655, supported by short columns and scrolls, and a wall tablet for Dame Mary Asheton from 1721. The Church of St. Lawrence is an important early example of a timber-framed church.