St Lawrence Church, Lechlade

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St Lawrence Church
St Lawrence, Lechlade - geograph.org.uk - 1690239.jpg
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St Lawrence Church
51°41′38″N1°41′26″W / 51.69387°N 1.69043°W / 51.69387; -1.69043
Location Lechlade, Gloucestershire
CountryEngland
Denomination Church of England
Website https://www.stlawrencelechlade.org.uk/
Architecture
Heritage designationGrade I listed building
Designated26 November 1958
Completed1476
Administration
Diocese Diocese of Gloucester
Archdeaconry Cheltenham
Deanery Cirencester
Benefice South Cotswold Team Ministry
Parish Lechlade
Clergy
Vicar(s) Dr Andrew Cinnamond
Laity
Organist/Director of music Vacant
Director of music Rachel Bath
Organist(s) Vacant
Churchwarden(s) Richard Bell and Susan Holmes

The Anglican St Lawrence Church, dedicated to St. Lawrence of Rome, is the Church of England parish church of Lechlade in Gloucestershire, England. The church building is Grade I listed [1] and is described with admiration in Simon Jenkins's England's Thousand Best Churches. [2]

Contents

The current church was built on the site of an earlier one and was completed in 1476. The roof and parts of the structure were replaced following a fire in the early 16th century. Various refurbishments have been undertaken since, including the installation of a gallery in 1740. Percy Bysshe Shelley composed a poem after visiting the churchyard in 1815.

The church is notable for its eight-sided spire above the tower. The internal fixtures and fittings include a brass chandelier, 13th-century piscina and carvings including the figure of the martyrdom of St Agatha.

History

A church is known inferentially to have existed in Lechlade since at least 1210 when a fair was granted on St. Lawrence's day. [3] It is known that this Church was one of the few in England that had the privilege of Sanctuary. [4]

The present wool church replaced an earlier structure in 1476. This was funded by local townspeople and the dissolution of the Lechlade Priory, which was dissolved due to a lack of funds and which also provided building materials to the new church. [5] The dedication of the church was originally to St Mary but changed in 1510 by Katherine of Aragon, who had come into possession of the manor of Lechlade in 1501. [6]

The nave roof and clerestory, the north porch, and the tower and spire may have been added in the early 16th century following a fire in 1510. [7] A west gallery for singers was installed in 1740 and there were further internal additions in the 1880s. [3]

Literature

The interior of the church Lechlade Church (Saint Lawrence) (29616714907).jpg
The interior of the church

In September 1815 Percy Bysshe Shelley visited Lechlade with his future wife Mary, her step-brother Charles Clairmont, and the novelist Thomas Love Peacock, and was moved to compose a poem, A Summer-Evening Churchyard, Lechlade, Gloucestershire, which was published the following year. [8] The path through the churchyard is now named “Shelley's Walk”, in a tribute to the famous atheist. [9]

Community

The Vicar is Dr Andrew Cinnamond. [10] The church has strong links with the nearby St Lawrence Church of England Primary School. [11]

The parish of Lechlade is part of the South Cotswold Team Ministry benefice within the Diocese of Gloucester. [12]

Architecture

St Agatha Lechlade Church (Saint Lawrence) (30684418298).jpg
St Agatha

The church is of dressed freestone from Taynton Quarry near Burford. [5] It consists of a nave with clerestorey, four-bay aisles, north porch, north and south chancel chapels and chancel with a vestry on the north side. The three-stage west tower is supported by diagonal buttresses and topped with angle pinnacles, embattled parapet and an eight-sided spire. [1] The bells in the tower are of various ages; the oldest of which is from 1590. The peal was rehung in 1911 when a new treble added, [3] and again in 1966. [13]

Fittings and fixtures

Some of the fittings including the 13th century piscina, font and the figure of St Agatha in the north aisle are from the earlier church on the site. [5] St Agatha is sculpted with a sword through her naked breasts depicting the nature of her martyrdom. [7] The brass chandelier hanging from the ceiling is from 1730, [7] and is inscribed "the gift of Mr Richard Ainge". [14] The pulpit was added in 1882 but the base on which it stands is much older and was found in the vicarage garden. [3]

There are some medieval brasses and marble monuments. [1] Under the stained glass east window is a wooden reredos with a carving of Agnus Dei. [7]

Graveyard

The graveyard is now closed for burials, with modern burials taking place in the town cemetery, [15] but it includes many gravestones dating back hundreds of years. Chest tombs include those to William Hobbs, [16] Ann Lambert, [17] William Giles, [18] Sarah Pace, [19] Henry Yeatman, [20] Thomas and John Walker, [21] William Gearing, [22] Mary Sophia Matthews, [23] Thomas Hipsley, [24] Mary Anne Walker, [25] John Raven, [26] William and Elizabeth Hobbs, [27] Thomas Andrews, [28] John Taylor, [29] William and Thomas Hall [30] and multiple unidentified monuments.

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References

  1. 1 2 3 "Church of St Lawrence". National Heritage List for England. Historic England. Archived from the original on 11 April 2019. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  2. ↑ Jenkins, Simon (1999). England's Thousand Best Churches. photog. Paul Barker. London: Allen Lane. ISBN   0-7139-9281-6.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Herbert, N.M. "Lechlade Pages 106-121 A History of the County of Gloucester: Volume 7". British History Online. Victoria County History. Archived from the original on 1 March 2020. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  4. ↑ "History". St Lawrence Church Lechlade. Retrieved 7 February 2024.
  5. 1 2 3 "History". St Lawrence Church. Archived from the original on 26 July 2017. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  6. ↑ "Town History – Lechlade on Thames". lechladeonthames.co.uk. Retrieved 7 February 2024.
  7. 1 2 3 4 "St Lawrence's Church, Lechlade, Gloucestershire". Wasleys. Archived from the original on 27 October 2019. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  8. ↑ Garrett, M. (2013). The Palgrave Literary Dictionary of Shelley. Palgrave. pp. 1–16. doi:10.1057/9781137328519_1. ISBN   978-1-137-32851-9. Archived from the original on 3 June 2018. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
  9. ↑ Wardle, Diane (1 May 2016). "A walk along the Thames from a Cotswold town to an ancient church". Landscape Magazine. Archived from the original on 25 August 2017. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  10. ↑ "Get to know us". St Lawrence Church. Archived from the original on 19 March 2018. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  11. ↑ "Church". St Lawrence School. Archived from the original on 22 June 2019. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  12. ↑ "St Lawrence Lechlade". A Church Near You. Church of England. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  13. ↑ "Bells". St Lawrence Church. Archived from the original on 18 August 2016. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  14. ↑ "The Parish Church". Lechlade on Thames. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  15. ↑ "Graveyard and burials". St Lawrence Church. Archived from the original on 26 July 2017. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  16. ↑ "Hobbs and Unidentified Monument, about 2.5m south of Gearing Monument in churchyard of Church of St. Lawrence". National Heritage List for England. Historic England. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  17. ↑ "Hobbs and Lambert Monument, about 5m south of seconds aisle window from east in churchyard of Church of St. Lawrence". National Heritage List for England. Historic England. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  18. ↑ "Giles Monument, about 50m east- south-east of Raven Monument in churchyard of Church of St. Lawrence". National Heritage List for England. Historic England. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  19. ↑ "Pace Monument, about lm north of Matthews Monument in churchyard of Church of St. Lawrence". National Heritage List for England. Historic England. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  20. ↑ "Yeatman Monument, about 21m north of north vestry in churchyard of Church of St. Lawrence". National Heritage List for England. Historic England. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  21. ↑ "Three Walker Monuments, about 2m north of single Walker Monument in churchyard of Church of St. Lawrence". National Heritage List for England. Historic England. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  22. ↑ "Gearing Monument, about 3.5m south- east of south door in churchyard of Church of St. Lawrence". National Heritage List for England. Historic England. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  23. ↑ "Matthews Monument, about 18m north-east of north vestry in churchyard of Church of St. Lawrence". National Heritage List for England. Historic England. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  24. ↑ "Hipsley Monument, about 3m west of Yeatman Monument in churchyard of Church of St. Lawrence". National Heritage List for England. Historic England. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  25. ↑ "Walker Monument, about 1.5m south- west of Andrews Monument in churchyard of Church of St. Lawrence". National Heritage List for England. Historic England. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  26. ↑ "Raven Monument, about 24m north- east of north vestry in churchyard of Church of St. Lawrence". National Heritage List for England. Historic England. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  27. ↑ "Pair of hobbs Monuments, about 2.5m south-east of Gearing Monument in churchyard of Church of St. Lawrence". National Heritage List for England. Historic England. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  28. ↑ "Andrews Monument, about 4m south of Hipsley Monument in churchyard of Church of st. Lawrence". National Heritage List for England. Historic England. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  29. ↑ "Taylor Monument, about 3m south of south-west tower buttress in churchyard of Church of St. Lawrence". National Heritage List for England. Historic England. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  30. ↑ "Pair of Hall Monuments, about 18m east of south-east chancel buttress in churchyard of Church of St. Lawrence". National Heritage List for England. Historic England. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
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