Church Of St Lawrence

The Church of St Lawrence at Castle Rising is a parish church dating from the 12th century, substantially restored by A. Salvin around 1849 at the expense of Fulke Greville Howard (died 1846), with further additions made in 1883 at the expense of Mary Howard.

The building is constructed of carstone and Sandringham sandstone with dressings of Barnack limestone. The base of the nave features very large undressed blocks of Sandringham sandstone, and the roof is covered in plain tiles. The plan comprises a nave, central tower, chancel, south porch and south transept.

The west facade is built of coursed carstone and sandstone with two limestone string courses. The steep pitched gable was rebuilt in the mid-19th century in Sandringham sandstone. At its centre is a semi-circular headed west doorway with two shafts to each side (renewed), bearing carved capitals and two orders of Romanesque decoration. Above the capitals is a blank arcade with a semi-circular headed window rising above it, richly decorated with three orders: the first order features spiral shafts with grotesque capitals and an arch decorated with large dogstooth lozenges; the second order is a continuous pattern of small dogstooth lozenges; the inner order has decorated shafts with grotesque capitals and a zig-zag arch above. Either side of this central composition is a double arcade of three outer intersecting semi-circular headed arches with lozenge decoration, three smaller inner semi-circular headed arches with triangular ornament, and treble shafts with grotesque capitals. The gable above was rebuilt around 1846 with arcades of two blank arches either side of a central light (though a drawing by J.S. Cotman from 1813 shows outer shafts that are no longer visible). A central oculus with a plain stone surround dates from around 1846.

The south nave wall contains six high semi-circular headed lights from around 1846, two of which lie to the west of the porch. A small lean-to structure of 1883 sits to the east, replacing an earlier building. The south porch is constructed in greensand, dating from 1883, and displays Romanesque style details including a semi-circular south doorway in yellow limestone with renewed single shafts and a single order above decorated with lozenges.

The south transept, also of 1883, is built mainly in sandstone in the Early English style and features angle buttresses, a three-light south window, two lancets to the east return, and a single lancet to the west.

The north facade shows varied treatment of carstone and sandstone with some roughly coursed herringbone work in carstone. A north semi-circular headed doorway displays renewed shafts decorated with zig-zag ornament.

The square central tower was raised by one stage in the late 19th century in limestone ashlar, displaying Romanesque style blank intersecting arcade. It has a 19th-century saddle roof matching that of the adjacent castle forebuilding, with shallow stair turrets to the south-west and north-west. Small bullseye windows to the right of the south and east faces emerge from the middle tower passage, now positioned across the gable line of former steeper attached roofs. A large semi-circular headed opening on the tower is partially obscured by the roof of the south transept.

The chancel is articulated by limestone pilaster strips to the north, south and at the angles, with a cornice of figure corbels. The south wall retains two 12th-century semi-circular limestone arch heads with indented decoration, both now blocked (one behind a pilaster strip). Two 19th-century lancets light the south chancel, with one 19th-century lancet to the north. Three 13th-century lancets to the east feature shafts and figure stops, with a string course bearing indentations matching those of the blocked south chancel openings.

The interior is dominated by the central tower, which opens into the nave, chancel and south transept. The semi-circular headed Romanesque arch to the nave displays two orders of zig-zag decoration with roll mouldings and traces of red pigment. Two shafts flank each jamb: those to the south bear cushion capitals, whilst those to the north feature interlacing foliage on their capitals. Remnants of lettering remain painted on the soffit. The arch from the tower to the nave has plain roll mouldings.

Altar recesses flank the nave: that to the north sits beneath a semi-circular headed recess and features a detached column at the angle with the nave, with remnants of painting on the jamb; that to the south displays a pointed 13th-century arch with nail head moulding and slender shafts crowned with stiff-leaf capitals (the left detached, the right retaining a squint to the former chapel, now the 1883 link to the south transept). Above the nave from the tower passage is an arcade of three Romanesque arches decorated with zig-zag mouldings.

The arch to the chancel is Early Transitional in style with a pointed head. The tower arch bears two orders of zig-zag mouldings, whilst the chancel arch has two plain roll moulded orders, each rising from shafts with cushion capitals at the angles of stepped jambs. The arch to the south transept from the tower is deeply moulded with five orders and slender shafts, characteristic of the 13th century, though partly renewed. The arch to the north is obscured by the organ, with a small doorway to the tower to its left.

The tower vault features ribs of zig-zag moulding springing from shafts with cushion capitals at the angles. An arcade of two arches to the south is interrupted by the insertion of a 13th-century arch. The passageway within the tower beneath the vault has single semi-circular headed openings from the north, west and east, and a double opening from the south (the lower part blocked by the 13th-century arch, the upper opening partly blocked by the gable of the 1883 south transept).

In the chancel, three 13th-century lancets to the east each feature three orders of nail head decoration above slender shafts with stiff-leaf capitals (outer shafts renewed). A 14th-century banner stave locker to the left displays a crocketted and cusped ogee head niche. The remainder of the chancel, restored from a ruinous state in the 19th century, is rendered in 13th-century style and includes a blank arcade to the reredos and east wall with black marble shafts and nail head mouldings matching the east lancets. To the south are an arcade to the piscina and three steps of sedilia in plain 13th-century style; the north piscina features nail head mouldings. The chancel has a two-tier arch-braced roof.

The south transept, reconstructed in 1883 in 13th-century style (the previous transept having long since been lost), includes a west lancet with stiff-leaf capitals.

The nave features a tall pitched roof dating from around 1849. A pointed arch to the south gives access to the former chapel, now the 1883 link to the transept. A semi-circular headed blocked archway faces north, and the north doorway nearly opposes that to the south. The west wall is dominated by a high central window with double splay, flanked by lower large blank openings with semi-circular heads and side shafts bearing cushion capitals. Above the central window is an oculus from around 1849, set within a semi-circular headed rear arch with side shafts and a dropped semi-circular sill.

An 11th-century font of square form with a plait rim and figure heads at the angles stands at the nave crossing. It probably originates from an earlier church now within the ramparts of the adjacent castle. The west and south faces of the font are decorated, with the south face bearing three cats.

According to tradition, St Felix, who died in 648, is said to have begun his mission to East Anglia around 630 at Babingley, approximately 1.5 kilometres to the north.