Church Of St Lawrence

The Church of St Lawrence is a building of considerable historical interest, originating in the 12th century. It includes a south transept dating from around 1250, a 14th-century chancel, and a substantial rebuild of the nave, aisle, and western tower in 1888 by W. J. Shearburn. The church is constructed primarily of random flint rubble, with cut and knapped flint in the tower and nave, and ashlar dressings and quoins. It has plain tiled roofs.

The church comprises a short, west tower, a nave with a south aisle and added porch, a south transept, and an east chancel. The tower features offset buttresses to the west end, two stories behind a battle-mented parapet. It has three lancet windows linked under a continuous hood mould, with louvered openings in the upper stage. A 19th-century Perpendicular-style window is set into the west end, above double doors within a stone surround. The nave has three buttressed bays with ogee-arch, two-light tracery windows under stone voussoir heads to the north side. The chancel, also of three bays, features Y-tracery single-light windows and a two-light window to the north, all under a segmental label moulding. A 14th-century window is located on the east side of the vestry, which flanks the chancel to the south. A gabled 19th-century porch with a simple arched surround fronts the double doors.

Inside, a four-bay south arcade is supported by round piers with moulded capitals. The chancel arch has three orders of jamb shafts, culminating in plain capitals. The nave and chancel have panelled wooden ceilings with billeted wall plates. The two-bay transept has a braced crownpost roof. Notable fittings include a marble and gilt reredos (early 20th century), a late 19th-century pulpit with ogee arched, crocketed panels, and a marble font with a round bowl on a central stem and four detached siennese marble pillaster keyhole step plinths. A piscina is set into the south wall of the chapel, and a water stoup stands by the south door. A stained glass window on the north wall, at the junction with the chancel, was created by Heaton Bulter and Baynes in 1911. Mosaic and terracotta panels flanking the reredos depict Gabriel and Oriel, and were made by Caesar Czarnikow in 1911. Several white stone monuments are located in the chancel, with the remainder having been moved to the tower walls. A neo-classical tablet to Maria Parratt (died 1844), designed by William Pistell, features on the north wall, depicting an arched, grey stone monument with a reclining mourning figure on a couch. Further tablets are positioned on the south wall. It is believed that the transept may have been built by the monks of Merton Priory.