Church Of St Lawrence

The Church of St Lawrence is a building of group value, dating back to the 12th century, with significant additions and alterations in the 13th, 18th, and 19th centuries. It is located in Kirby Sigston, off Chester Lane. The church is constructed of ashlar and coursed squared stone, with a graduated stone slate roof. The plan comprises a west tower, a three-bay nave with a south porch and north aisle, and a three-bay chancel.

The west tower has three stages, with a plinth and bands dividing the stages. It features plain rectangular belfry windows with latticed openings, an eaves band, and an embattled parapet with obelisk pinnacles at each corner. The gabled south porch has a chamfered pointed arch and stone coping. The inner south door is flat-headed, featuring a 17th-century board door. The nave has a clasping pilaster buttress on the left and an offset setback buttress on the right. The left-hand bay contains a thin 13th-century lancet window, followed by the south porch, and then two 19th-century two-light pointed arched cusped windows with hoodmoulds. The north aisle has offset angle buttresses at each end, with a three-light 19th-century window on the left and a pointed two-light west window. The chancel’s south side has offset angle buttresses and a small pointed arched opening to the left of the central bay. This central bay reuses a Norman round arch for its head. The right-hand bay features a 17th-century flat-headed mullion window, extending for two bays with a continuous sill band and a moulded cornice. A plain parapet tops the gable, featuring a cross. The 19th-century east window is of Perpendicular style, with three lights and a pointed arch with hoodmould, showing the remains of 13th-century lancets on either side. A small offset angle buttress is located below the east window. The north side of the chancel has a blocked two-bay arcade with octagonal columns and chamfered pointed arches; the capitals are decorated with salamanders.

Inside, a four-bay north arcade exists, with the three eastern bays containing round columns, waterleaf capitals, round arches moulded with dogtooth decoration. The west arch is smaller and pointed. A similar chancel arch also exists. The blocked north chancel arcade, as seen externally, has a hoodmould internally. The central stop of the hoodmould features a head, while the stops at each end bear squatting griffins. A font dates to 1662, set on a fluted octagonal plinth with a round moulded shaft and an octagonal bowl decorated with the date and geometrical and flower patterns. A well-preserved baroque wall tablet commemorates Thomas Lascelles (1728), featuring a cartouche with putti heads, a skull, and a convex inscription plate. An effigy of a lady from the early 14th century is also present.