Church Of St Lawrence

The Church of St Lawrence is a parish church dating to 1891, designed by C. Hodgson Fowler in the Decorated style. It is constructed of ashlar with plain tiled roofs. The church comprises a western tower, a nave, a chancel, a south porch, and a vestry. The three-stage west tower has angle buttresses, a pierced parapet, pinnacles, and a set-back spire with two tiers of lucarnes. The belfry stage features two-light windows, while the west window is of three lights with an ogee-headed single light above. The north aisle includes four two-light windows. The gabled vestry features a small two-light window, a continuously moulded pointed doorway, and a glazed triskele to the gable. Windows in the nave’s side walls are two and three lights, and the chancel windows are similarly styled with cusped flowing tracery. The large east window consists of five tall lights with elaborate flowing tracery, including mouchettes. All windows have moulded pointed stone surrounds and hood moulds. The gabled south porch features a moulded pointed outer doorway, above which is a pointed blank niche. Inside, the four-bay north nave arcade has filleted quatrefoil piers, annular capitals, and double-chamfered pointed arches. The tall tower arch has engaged triple-shafted reveals, annular capitals, and a triple-chamfered arch. A niche in the south wall of the tower, formed of reset early 13th-century mouldings, contains a collection of moulded stone fragments from Revesby Abbey. The tower is vaulted with a circular bell opening. The chancel arch mirrors the tower arch, featuring paired columns and a double wave-moulded head. A broad arch on the north side of the chancel leads to the organ loft and a pointed doorway. The sanctuary has a fine tiled floor, carved wooden panelling with tile and mother-of-pearl inlays, and an inlaid reredos with kneeling figures of gilded angels. The church fittings are all from the late 19th century. The pulpit incorporates four 16th-century Flemish panels and a reused 17th-century cornice. The font utilizes a section of reused medieval moulded shaft with a cushion capital top. A reset monument to Joseph Banks, who died in 1727, stands in the north aisle; it takes the form of a marble sarcophagus with a swept base, surmounted by a Carrera bust, by Nost. A nearby marble escutcheon displaying the deceased's arms is presumed to be from the original tomb. Above hangs a mourning banner belonging to Sir Joseph Banks Bart, the renowned explorer and grandson of the deceased. Group value context: the church displays considerable architectural merit reflecting the Decorated style.