Church of St Lawrence is a Grade I listed building in the Surrey Heath local planning authority area, England. First listed on 28 February 1955. A Medieval Church. 2 related planning applications.
Church of St Lawrence
- WRENN ID
- dark-railing-heath
- Grade
- I
- Local Planning Authority
- Surrey Heath
- Constituency
- Surrey Heath MP: Dr Al Pinkerton (LD)
- Country
- England
- Date first listed
- 28 February 1955
- Type
- Church
- Period
- Medieval
- Address
- Church of St Lawrence, High Street, Chobham, GU24 8AF
- OS grid reference
- SU 973 617
- Coordinates
- 51.34692, -0.60315
- Source
- Historic England listing
Description
The Church of St. Lawrence is a church dating back to the 12th century, with a 15th-century south aisle and a 16th-century west porch. It was restored and given a north aisle in 1866 by Benjamin Ferrey, and a chancel and south transept were added in 1898. The church is constructed with heathstone and puddingstone, with brick extensions to the northeast and a timber-framed porch to the west. The roofs are plain tiled, with Horsham slab eaves courses and a lead spike with ribbed chevron decoration atop the tower. The tower is buttressed and has a stair turret to the southeast angle, a battlemented parapet, and two-light round arched openings to the top stage, with a clock on each face. A gabled porch with scalloped bargeboards sits on the west face of the tower, featuring a pointed arched entrance. The south aisle has 15th-century stone windows with three lights, while the rest of the windows are 19th-century, with plate tracery to the north chancel chapel windows. The west door is stone-arched, with planked and studded doors and strapwork hinges. A further studded and arched door is located on the south side.
Inside, the church features a stone floor and four-bay nave arcades; the southern arcade is from the 12th century, with very heavy square pillars in the west bay and circular piers with multi-scalloped capitals in the remaining bays, supporting pointed arches with a slight chamfer. A 19th-century column arcade is present to the north, exhibiting foliage capitals. The roof structure consists of crown posts, decorated wall plates, and panelled ceilings. The chancel arch is 19th-century and rests on scalloped corbels. The chancel itself is three bays and has a scissor-brace roof. A unique feature of the south aisle roof is its corbels supporting detached posts with arches leading to the roof rafters, with wind braces between the wall plate and purlin.
The church's fittings are largely 20th-century, but include a 17th-century wood font; one of three surviving examples in Surrey, with a panelled octagonal bowl on a stone stem and plinth, topped with an acorn finial. A 20th-century war memorial screen occupies the west end. Monumental inscriptions include a 1723 dedication to Anthony Thomas, showcasing grey veined marble with a gadrooned top, cartouche, winged skulls, and cherubs heads; a dedication to Sir William Abdy (died 1803) with polychrome marble and a pyramidal top; a dedication to Mrs. Bainbridge (died 1827) featuring a mourning woman; and a memorial to Thomas Bainbridge (died 1853) by H. Hopper.
Local climate
Church of St Lawrence sits in a drier-than-average part of the UK, with an average of 740 mm of rain a year. This makes it drier than 76% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is lower than that of 65% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 37 freeze-thaw cycles a year, more than 68% of listed buildings. Of these, 16 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.
Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.
More on this building
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- No EPC on record for this property
- Sale history — 4 transactions since 1996
- Related listed building consents — 2 applications
- Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
- Flood risk assessment
- Radon risk assessment
- Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
Matched applications, energy data and sale records are assembled automatically and may contain errors. Flag incorrect data.
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