Church Of St Lawrence

The Church of St Lawrence is an Anglican parish church largely dating to the 13th, 14th, and 15th centuries, with significant restoration work carried out between 1881 and 1888. It is constructed of coursed and squared rubble stone with freestone dressings, features coped verges with cruciform finials, and has lead sheeting roofs. The church comprises a nave, chancel, north aisle, north and south transepts, a south porch, north and south chancel chapels, and a west tower, all executed in a Perpendicular style.

The three-stage west tower has diagonal buttresses with offsets, a pierced parapet, bold corner pinnacles, and intermediate pinnacles all renewed in 1705. It contains simple two-light bell chamber windows with louvres, the south side featuring plate tracery; a two-light west window; and a west door. The south porch has a parapet and coping, gargoyles, a shafted outer door opening, benched interior on a flagstone floor, niches for former statuary, and a shafted stoup. Similar parapets and copings extend over the transepts and chapels. The main body of the church has two and three-light windows in a variety of Perpendicular styles, some with square heads and labels. Early 14th-century lancet windows are present in the chancel. A priest’s door is located in the south chapel.

Internally, the church is plastered over flagstone flooring, with wood block and tile flooring elsewhere. The roofs are largely 19th century, with a wagon roof to the nave and chancel, and panelled lean-to roofs to the aisle and chapels. The north aisle has stone benches built into the wall. The north aisle arcade is of two bays, with piers to the west featuring four clustered shafts; the eastern pier is broad and chamfered. Simple archways connect the aisle to the north chapel. Broad archways lead to the north and south chancel chapels, the former being panelled and the latter shafted. The south transept features a broad shafted archway and stone benches. A triple chamfered tower arch is present without capitals, alongside a broad panelled chancel arch. A Norman tub font stands within the church, covered by a 19th-century cover in a medieval style. Several 14th-century corbels carved as heads are found on the nave and aisle. There are also good 15th-century rood and parclose screens. A 13th-century grave cover with a foliated cross has been re-used to form the rere-arch in the chancel. A niche remains adjacent to the east window. An unusual 15th-century stone pulpit likely incorporates remnants of the rood stair. Jacobean furniture includes an altar table, pulpit, and chest. The church also houses 19th-century pews, a screen, choir stalls, altar rails, a lectern, and an organ. Memorial tablets from the 18th and 19th centuries are located in the aisle. Incised Commandments are positioned adjacent to the east window. Underneath the tower, a plaque commemorates the 1705 restoration. A framed 15th-century altar frontal is also present.