Church Of St Lawrence

The Church of St Lawrence is an early 16th-century building. The west tower is constructed of flint rubble with dressed stone quoins, topped by brick crenellations. The main body of the church was rebuilt between 1714 and 1716 for the Duke of Chandos by John James. The exterior is of brick and has understated stone arched windows and broad Tuscan corner pilasters.

The interior is richly painted in a continental Baroque style. A gallery was built to accommodate the Duke and his family, featuring a wide arched, semi-domed central section. The nave has an elliptical barrel vault and merges seamlessly with the choir. The east end includes a retro-choir, dominated by a curved wooden organ case and flanking paintings. The entrance to the retro-choir is framed by finely carved pairs of columns and pilasters in antis, topped by a broken cornice and segmental pediment, attributed to Grinling Gibbons. The painting scheme is largely the work of Laguerre, with the exception of the Nativity and Pieta on the east wall and the transfiguration in the gallery, which are attributed to Bellucci. The walls are painted with trompe l'oeil niches, depicting the figures of the Evangelists on the north side and Christian graces on the south side. The nave ceiling is painted with arches designed to look coffered, dividing it into eight panels depicting the miracles and teachings of Christ. Above the choir, the ceiling features an adoration of God, represented by the Hebrew name YAVEH in characters within a blaze of light. Original features that remain include box pews and decorative ironwork.

Attached to the north side of the church is the Chandos Mausoleum, decorated in a classical trompe l'oeil style by Brunetti. A sculpted monument to the 1st Duke is located on the west wall, attributed to Grinling Gibbons. It depicts the Duke, bewigged and dressed as a Roman, separated by plain pilasters from his two wives, Mary and Cassandra, who are kneeling on either side. There are two monuments on the south wall: one, a black sarcophagus on a white pyramid, commemorates Mary, wife of the 1st Marquess of Carnarvon (died 1738), by Sir Henry Cheeve; and the other, a large white sarcophagus with curved, fluted ends, commemorates Margaret, Marchioness of Carnarvon (died 1760). Additional 18th-century monuments are found at the base of the tower.