Parish Church of St Lawrence

Parish Church of St Lawrence

This Anglican church began in the 12th century, with a 13th-century porch added later. The nave and aisles were rebuilt in the early 14th century, and the building was restored in the 17th century with further alterations in the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries. The interior displays Decorated style while the exterior shows Perpendicular characteristics.

The church is built of coursed sandstone rubble with ashlar dressings, roofed in lead with slate covering the vestry. It comprises a two-bay chancel and four-bay nave with a three-stage west tower and a south-west porch, flanked by full-length north and south aisles with north and south chapels. A vestry stands at the north-west corner.

The church sits within a loop of the River Eden at the foot of the medieval street connecting it to the castle. All window and door openings feature hood moulds with label stops, and the glass is mostly leaded. The shallow-roofed chancel's east end has stepped buttresses, a chamfered plinth and string course, and a central three-light Perpendicular window set within a chamfered double-order pointed arch. A simple pointed-arched cinquefoil window pierces the south chapel's end, while a pointed-arched window with two cinquefoil lights lights the north chapel. The north and south aisles have plain parapets above a string course, with square-headed windows of paired trefoil lights alternating with stepped buttresses. A pointed-arched entrance serves the south chapel, and a pair of two-light pointed-arched windows light the north chapel. Above the aisles rises a clerestory with an embattled parapet containing segmental-headed windows of three trefoiled lights with pierced spandrels above the side lights, alternating with buttresses. One buttress on the north aisle retains a pinnacle, three on the south aisle retain stumps of others, and three carved gargoyles in animal form decorate the south aisle.

The three-stage west tower has thick 12th-century masonry in its lower and mid sections with a string course to the south and west elevations. The south elevation has a pair of loops lighting a staircase. The upper embattled stage is constructed of large ashlar blocks with paired square-headed belfry windows of two trefoiled lights to each face and the partial remains of a string course, with stubs of gargoyles at the corners. Late 17th-century clock faces appear on the south and east walls, a shoulder-arched 19th-century doorway is set in the south wall, and a 19th-century window occupies the west wall.

A substantial embattled south porch with a lean-to roof bears a sundial on its parapet. Its wide entrance displays three moulded orders in a two-centred arch with a truncated hood mould. The outer two orders are hollowed while the middle order is enriched with dog-tooth ornament; the arch rests on jambs of three orders, the central one continuing the dog-tooth decoration. Between the orders are the remains of moulded capitals with missing shafts.

The polygonal vestry, positioned between the north aisle and the tower, has a shoulder-arched doorway, moulded plinth, stepped buttresses, square-headed windows of three cinquefoil lights with a string course and parapet above, and an octagonal stone chimney stack.

Internally, the church has whitewashed walls and stone flagged floors throughout, with encaustic tiles on the raised sanctuary floor. The south arcade of the chancel and the chancel arch are double-chamfered pointed-arches with quatrefoil piers; the north arcade is later. The floor features renewed red sandstone flags and a set of late 19th-century choir stalls on either side, placed in front of an earlier set.

Half-arches on either side of the chancel arch define the north and south chapels, which display exposed roof timbers. A rafter in the south chapel bears the inscription "ANN CONNTESSE OF PEMBROKE IN ANO 1655 REPAIRED ALL THIS BVILDING", while a rafter in the north chapel records her initials and the date. Beneath the north chapel lies a vault accessed by stone steps, containing Lady Anne's lead coffin, shaped to her body.

The five-bay nave has early 14th-century north and south arcades which are double-chamfered and supported on quatrefoil piers with foils more than semi-circular and fitted with fillets. The nave features a flat plaster ceiling with Gothick panelling and roses, and a decorative cast-iron truss stands at the west end. The tower arch at the west end is off-centre and dates to the early 14th century, as does the west bay of the south aisle. The tower, not inspected, is understood to retain medieval fabric and six bells.

The south aisle has a lean-to timber roof supported on two sets of corbels dating from the 16th and 17th centuries. At its western end stands a heavy half-arch of two chamfered orders with filleted round shafts matching those of the nave and chancel arcades; the arch bases are buried beneath the raised 19th-century floor.

The south porch contains stone benches on each side and a 17th-century timber roof structure comprising three plain chamfered and cambered tie beams and short wall posts carried on stone corbels. The inner north arch doorway has shafted jambs and a high segmental pointed arch of two chamfered orders with moulded hood moulds.

Traceried screens with trefoiled ogee heads occupy the north and south chancel arcades. Those to the western arches are thought to be 18th century, while that to the eastern arch of the south arcade dates to at least the 16th century. This latter screen consists of four bays with an opening, above which are the heads of a further two bays, featuring large moulded mullions and a moulded and embattled middle rail and door head. A four-bay screen also occupies the half-arch of the south chapel.

An octagonal 19th-century font of Frosterly Marble stands in the church, alongside an octagonal 19th-century iron-worked pulpit and an oak-eagle lectern. The nave and aisles are filled with 19th-century box pews. At the front on the north side of the nave stand the "Corporation Pew" and the "Castle Pew", dating from about 1720, each bearing a carved panel with a coat of arms and its supporters. The Corporation Pews incorporate 18th-century timber details including a Foliate Man with dragon, possibly re-used from the original organ case.

Above the east chancel arch in the nave hangs a painted board of 17th or 18th-century date bearing the Royal Coat of Arms of Charles II. The organ, positioned within the tower arch at the west end, comprises three turrets with three cherubs' heads below the cornice, surmounted by the arms of three chief benefactors: Viscount Lonsdale, Colonel Graham and Sir Richard Sandford.

All stained glass dates from the 19th century except for two fragments of early stained glass in the north chancel aisle east wall. Three windows in the south aisle are by Heaton, Butler & Burne, while others are by William Wailes (including a depiction of St Lawrence) or Wailes & Sons.

Lady Anne Clifford's altar tomb and reredos in black and white marble occupy the north wall of the north chapel. It comprises a black marble slab with moulded edges and a panelled base with an inscription in black, set in a plain white frame; the reredos displays 24 shields of arms standing in relief. Beneath the north chapel lies a vault containing the lead coffin of Lady Anne Clifford, shaped to her body.

Also in the north chapel is the tomb of Margaret Countess of Cumberland, whose effigy rests on a base of black marble and alabaster bearing the coats of arms of her ancestors and inscriptions recording her virtues. Several 18th-century tablets decorate the south chapel walls and south porch.