Church Of St Laurence

The Church of St Laurence is a significant building dating from the 10th to 11th centuries, with late 12th and 13th-century elements. It was restored and partly rebuilt in 1874 by Henry Woodyer. The structure is made of coursed and random limestone rubble with ashlar dressings, topped with roofs of Stonesfield-slate and concrete plain tiles. The church features a chancel, an aisled nave, and a west tower.

The 13th-century chancel includes a pair of lancet windows in the east wall, a further lancet and a 2-light Decorated window to the south, and a square-headed 15th-century window. To the north, the vestry, built in the 19th century, has a 3-light window in the Decorated style beneath a gable. The rebuilt aisles, constructed of coursed rubble, contain small lancets, while the north side features a short gabled projection that houses a re-used 12th-century doorway with two orders, engaged shafts, an inner roll, and an outer band of undercut chevrons.

The base of the three-stage tower, dating from before the Conquest, has small windows to the north and south with external splays. Other windows and all quoins have been renewed, and the roof has been rebuilt with gables facing east and west.

Inside, the chancel has deep splays to the lancets, a small aumbry, a trefoiled piscina, and a restored archway to the north. The chancel arch features 19th-century responds, while the nave arcades consist of two bays with Transitional round piers that have corner spurs and knob-volute capitals, which are partly restored. Above these are elaborate 13th-century arches with multiple-roll moulding and dog-tooth ornament. The tower arch is from the 19th century, and all roofs are also from this period, featuring arch-braced collar trusses and curved windbraces.

Monuments within the church include several brasses and fragments, mostly removed from their casements, the elaborately panelled 15th-century tomb chest of John Langston (who died in 1487), some 17th-century ledgers, and a collection of 18th and 19th-century wall tablets located beneath the tower. The 12th-century font has arcaded sides, and the early 13th-century bell located below the tower is noted as the oldest inscribed bell in England.