Church Of St Mary And St Lawrence

The Church of St Mary and St Lawrence is an Anglican parish church, now redundant, with origins dating back to the 13th century. It incorporates features from the 14th, 15th, and 18th centuries. The church is constructed of various materials, including flint for the chancel, limestone and flint chequers for the tower, brick and flint bands for the nave, all topped with tiled roofs featuring coped verges.

The church comprises a chancel, nave, a west tower, and a north porch. A round-arched, chamfered north door, dating from the 13th century, is set within a brick, gabled porch situated on the north side of the nave. To the left of the door are two blocked segmental-arched windows, separated by a buttress and featuring a dentilled eaves cornice. The chancel has two 2-light, square-headed windows with ogee-headed lights from the 14th century. The east end features diagonal buttresses and a 3-light window with reticulated tracery. The south side of the chancel mirrors the north side with two 2-light 14th-century windows, and a narrow pointed priest’s door is centrally located. The nave’s south side has three 2-light windows with keystones and pointed heads, set within square cases, and a dentilled eaves cornice. The three-stage west tower is constructed of high-quality flint chequers and includes diagonal buttresses. A string course sits at the bell stage, supporting two-light louvred windows with transom and cusped heads on the south, west, and north sides. A 3-light square-headed window with a hood mould is on the west face, with a string course at eaves level featuring corner gargoyles, a plain parapet with saddleback coping, and a pyramidal tiled roof.

Inside, the north door's inner frame is planked and fitted with strap hinges in a hollow and cyma-moulded Tudor-arched doorway. The nave has a coved plastered ceiling and a tiled floor. Double-chamfered arches mark the transition to the chancel and tower. The chancel includes a 13th-century cusped piscina in Purbeck marble on the south wall, and a particularly fine set of late 17th-century box choir stalls with balustraded tops. In the nave, the late 17th-century box pews have been partially reset as open pews, preserving their original details. A 13th-century cylindrical font is located at the west end of the nave. The east window contains stained glass by Kempe dating from the late 19th century. Wall tablets include a classical marble featuring cherubs’ heads, commemorating Elizabeth Hill, who died in 1715, and a plain marble tablet signed by Osmond of Sarum, commemorating George Taunton, who died in 1832.