Church Of St Lawrence

The Church of St. Lawrence is a church dating from the 12th century, with significant additions and alterations in the 13th, 14th, and 19th centuries. It is constructed of coursed squared limestone, with a tile roof to the chancel and felt to the nave. The church comprises a chancel, nave, south aisle, and a west tower.

The 2-bay chancel features a coupled lancet window to the east, set within a single hood mould. Lancet windows with hood moulds are present on the north and south sides, and a small, rectangular, low-level window with a chamfered stone surround is located to the north-west. A priest’s door to the south has a chamfer, a pointed trefoil head, a hood mould with a serrated inner moulding, and a window to the south-west with three pointed trefoil lights set within a rectangular, chamfered stone surround. The chancel has a chamfered plinth, diagonal buttresses, and a stone-coped east gable.

The nave has a north door with a chamfered surround and hood mould, two 2-light Decorated windows on either side, and a 3-light window to the north-east with reticulated tracery, all with hood moulds. The south aisle's east wall has a similar 3-light window, and there are similar 2-light windows to the south, culminating in a 3-light stepped lancet window to the west, all with hood moulds and label stops. A south door features a many-moulded arch and hood mould with label stops. A south porch has a chamfered and hollow-chamfered doorway, small 2-light windows with cusped heads and cut spandrels on the north and south sides, and a stone slate roof with a stone-coped gable.

The 3-stage west tower has a small one-light window with a round-arched head on the west side, a stone sundial on the south side of the middle stage, and 2-light bell openings with pointed heads and central shafts to the west (now blocked), facing north. There are similarly designed 2-light Decorated bell openings with hood moulds to the south and in the gables of the saddleback roof. String courses delineate the tower stages, and the tower is topped by a stone slate roof.

The nave and south aisle have a chamfered plinth and diagonal buttresses to the south aisle, with offset buttresses to the north. Moulded timber eaves are present on the north side, while the south wall of the south aisle has a plain stone coped parapet. Stone coping finishes the east and west ends of the nave and south aisle, which form a continuous roofline.

Inside, the chancel displays a moulded string course, a stencilled reredos, an encaustic-tiled sanctuary, and a 19th-century scissor-braced roof. A double-chamfered chancel arch has a shaft and capital to the south, and a corbel to the north. The nave features an elegant 3-bay arcade with octagonal piers and polygonal responds. The westernmost pillar is characterized by a moulded base and a moulded capital, while the easternmost pillar boasts a very fine octagonal capital carved with oak trees, and the east respond is also similarly decorated. The south aisle contains a stone bench with an oak top and a piscina with a cusped ogee head, string course at sill level, and polygonal brackets flanking the east window. A Perpendicular nave roof includes a moulded ridge and chamfered ties and purlins, and a lean-to aisle roof is mostly 19th century. The tower arch has a round-arched head and moulded imposts. A 17th-century communion table is situated in the south aisle, alongside a circular tub font with arcaded decoration. 19th-century stained glass windows are present in the east and west windows. A wall monument in the chancel is dedicated to John Blencow, who died in 1666, along with other 19th-century wall monuments.