St Lawrence Church, Lechlade

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Coordinates: 51°41′38″N 1°41′26″W / 51.69387°N 1.69043°W / 51.69387; -1.69043
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St Lawrence Church
St Lawrence Church is located in Gloucestershire
St Lawrence Church
St Lawrence Church
51°41′38″N 1°41′26″W / 51.69387°N 1.69043°W / 51.69387; -1.69043
LocationLechlade, Gloucestershire
CountryEngland
DenominationChurch of England
Websitehttps://www.stlawrencelechlade.org.uk/
Architecture
Heritage designationGrade I listed building
Designated26 November 1958
Completed1476
Administration
DioceseDiocese of Gloucester
ArchdeaconryCheltenham
DeaneryCirencester
BeneficeSouth Cotswold Team Ministry
ParishLechlade
Clergy
Vicar(s)Dr Andrew Cinnamond
Laity
Organist/Director of musicVacant
Director of musicRachel Bath
Organist(s)Vacant
Churchwarden(s)Richard Bell and Susan Holmes

The

Grade I listed[1] and is described with admiration in Simon Jenkins's England's Thousand Best Churches.[2]

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

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

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

The church is of dressed freestone from Taynton Quarry near Burford.[5] It consists of a nave with clerestory, 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.

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to St Lawrence's church, Lechlade.
  1. ^ a b c "Church of St Lawrence". National Heritage List for England. Historic England. Archived from the original on 11 April 2019. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  2. ISBN 0-7139-9281-6
    .
  3. ^ a b c d 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. ^ a b c "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. ^ a b c d "St Lawrence's Church, Lechlade, Gloucestershire". Wasleys. Archived from the original on 27 October 2019. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  8. 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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