Church Of St Lawrence The Martyr

Church of St Lawrence the Martyr

Parish church on the northwest side of Abbots Langley High Street. The building dates from the late 12th century, with substantial additions and alterations spanning the medieval period through to the 20th century. It comprises a short nave with north and south aisles, a lower and narrower chancel, a south chapel, a west tower, a south porch, and a northeast organ bay, all of two bays. The structure is built of knapped flint with clunch dressings, some brick, tile-hanging and rendering, with tiled roofs.

The west tower is short with two stages. The lower stage contains 13th-century lancets to the north and south. To the west is a 15th-century pointed arched entrance with an upper square-headed two-light window. The bell stage has a pointed two-light opening to the west, a similar window and clock to the south, and simple pointed openings to the north and east. A cornice supports a 20th-century brick parapet. Fifteenth-century two-stage diagonal buttresses project to the west, with the southern buttress being the larger. The south aisle and porch are rendered and roughcast.

The porch features a moulded pointed arch with square hood mould, diagonal buttresses and a parapet. The inner pointed arched entrance has arms in the spandrels and quatrefoil ornament on the ceiling. Flanking the porch are 15th-century aisle windows of two lights with square heads, and a diagonal buttress to the west. The clerestory contains three irregularly spaced 15th-century two-light square-headed windows with traces of lower 13th-century windows beneath.

The Corpus Christi chapel projects to the southeast, executed in higher quality work than the rest of the church. It displays knapped flint and clunch chequerwork with good Decorated windows. Two windows to the south have two cusped lights with cusped spherical triangular heads within pointed double-chamfered arches. Brick and stone angle buttresses support the walls; the western buttress has been rebuilt in flint. A gable to the west is tile-hung over a blocked 14th-century window from before the aisle was rebuilt. A door to the east on the south elevation was inserted in 1911 with an outer pointed arch and inner segmental head. The chapel's eastern end features a large three-light window with curvilinear tracery, slightly off-centre.

The chancel is narrower and lower than the chapel but projects as far east. Its three-light eastern window displays early rectilinear tracery, with rendered quoins to the north return. The organ bay to the north, now used as a vestry, projects with a lean-to roof and contains two square-headed two-light windows and pointed arched two-light windows on the returns. Flanking the organ bay on the rendered chancel north wall are two light rectilinear traceried pointed arched windows. The roughcast north aisle has two 15th-century two-light square-headed windows and a pointed arched entrance with diagonal buttresses. A 20th-century spherical triangular window appears on the eastern return, while a blocked 12th-century round-headed lancet is visible to the west. The north clerestory mirrors the south with two-light windows.

Interior features are extensive and significant. The nave contains 12th-century two-bay arcades with round arches featuring inner zigzag and outer billet mouldings. The northern arcade has scalloped capitals with bead ornament on round piers and responds. The southern arcade has a scalloped capital to the round western respond, a central round pier with foliate capital (probably 13th-century), and an octagonal eastern pier with moulded capital (probably 14th-century). A sharply pointed 13th-century tower arch with roll moulding has responds with foliate capitals. The nave to north aisle arcade terminates at the eastern end with a small arch inserted in 1911. The southeast corner of the nave and aisle was originally separated from the Corpus Christi Chapel, but in the 16th century a broad four-centred skew arch was inserted, opening the junction of nave, aisle, chancel and chapel and linking the nave arcade to the chancel arcade. In 1970 this skew arch was reinforced with a central pier forming two pointed arches.

The chancel to chapel arcade dates to circa 1400 and comprises two bays with double-chamfered pointed arches and hood moulds. The octagonal piers and eastern respond have moulded bases and capitals. The inner surround of the chapel's eastern window features a hollow moulding with rosettes. A broad timber chancel arch spans across.

The 15th-century four-bay nave roof features struts on renewed grotesque mask corbels with arched braces to tie beams, brattished wall plates, and ceiled above. The chancel is also ceiled with angel corbels supporting braced tie beams. The south chapel roof has king posts with curved braces to the rafters.

The church contains several important monuments. In the south aisle's western end is a marble monument to Lord Chief Justice R. Raymond (died 1732), designed by Westby Gill and executed by H. Cheere. It depicts a semi-reclining wigged figure with a putto offering a coronet to the right and a seated allegory holding a portrait medallion of Lady Raymond to the left, set against a broad pyramid backing with arms and an epitaph on the pedestal. The north aisle's western end holds a monument to his son R. Raymond (died 1756) by P. Scheemakers, featuring a black marble obelisk and sarcophagus with arms, flanked by seated allegories of hope and plenty. The south chapel's south wall contains a painted marble aedicule to Mrs. A. Combe (died 1640) with a kneeling effigy, Corinthian capitals, an open pediment with flanking figures of Time and Death, and an achievement of arms. The south chapel's north wall displays a marble aedicule to Anne Raymond (died 1714) with a projecting seated figure, fluted pilasters and segmental-headed cornice, with three naively carved cradled babies below on the plinth. Also on the north wall in the spandrel of the arcade to the chancel is a marble aedicule to T. Howe (died 1722). Floor slabs are present in the south chapel, and a bronze dated 1607 lies in the north aisle.

The north aisle's eastern end houses a 14th-century font, octagonal in form with moulded and panelled base. Each face of the bowl contains quatrefoils with Evangelist symbols and shields. Painted Royal Arms of Charles II dated 1678 hang on a board over the south entrance. A painted board with the Ten Commandments dated 1627 is mounted on the eastern wall of the north aisle. Fourteenth-century wall paintings of Saints Lawrence and Thomas flank the south chapel's eastern window. A Gothic tower screen dating to 1908 is present.

The glass includes a fragment of 15th-century glass in the chancel's eastern window on the north wall, showing a half figure of St. Lawrence. The chancel's eastern window contains part of a Crucifixion by Burlison and Grylls, and the south chapel's eastern window features glass dated 1909 by Powells.

The building was substantially restored in 1866 and underwent further restoration and modifications in 1911 (when the organ bay was added), 1935 and 1970. The church was listed at Grade I in recognition of its considerable historical and architectural importance spanning the 12th to 20th centuries.