Bourton-on-the-Water, St Lawrence Church

St Lawrence Church, Bourton-on-the-Water

The church of St Lawrence is tucked away behind a row of shops at the western end of Bourton-on-the-Water's busy High Street, ignored by the throngs of visitors to this attractive Cotswold village on the River Windrush. Though the church we see today dates to the 14th century, the most impressive part of the building is the domed cupola that surmounts the 18th-century west tower.

History

Sometime around AD 708 Coenred, King of Mercia, gave lands to the newly-formed Abbey of Evesham. In exchange, the abbot agreed to provide monks for, among other places, Bourton-on-the-Water.

It seems likely that a timber church was erected here in AD 709. Documents show that a church stood here in the 10th century and the Domesday Book of 1086 records a priest and a church.

The church interior

From 1325 there was a chantry chapel dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary. This later became an aisle set aside for worshippers from Clapton-on-the-Hill when their church fell into disrepair.

The medieval church was restored in 1784 and again in 1874, sweeping away the medieval furnishings. The 1784 restoration replaced the Norman building with a new church in neoclassical style and created a new tower topped with a cupola.

The 19th-century reredos

What to See

The oldest part of the present building is the chancel, built by Walter de Burhton in 1328 to replace the earlier church. Several features remain from this 14th-century church, including a sedilia set beneath the easternmost window on the south side of the chancel. A piscina from the same time is set beside the sedilia.

The sanctuary is raised on two stone steps to make room for a crypt beneath. This chamber is thought to be a combination chapel and reliquary crypt dating to around 1120.

Tradition says that there was an underground tunnel between the crypt and the manor house, which served as a summer home for the Abbot of Evesham.

The chancel ceiling and coats of arms

Coats of Arms

The ornate reredos dates to 1924 and was a gift of Miss AB Moore, who was also responsible for the beautiful chancel ceiling, decorated with coats of arms linked to the history of Bourton-on-the-Water.

There are ten coats of arms:

• 1. St Lawrence, the Deacon - the church is dedicated to him
• 2. Diocese of Worcester - to which Bourton belonged prior to 1540
• 3. De Clare, Earl of Gloucester
• 4. Queen Elizabeth I - onetime patron of the living
• 5. Province of Canterbury - to which the diocese belongs
• 6. The Diocese of Gloucester - in which Bourton parish has been since 1540
• 7. Wadham College, Oxford - the present church patron
• 8. Evesham Abbey - the abbot was lord of the manor of Bourton until the Dissolution of the Monasteries
• 9. Lord Chandos - lord of the manor
• 10. Sir Thomas Edmunds - onetime lord of the manor

The wooden pulpit dates to 1888 and was given in memory of the Reverend JS Hulme, Rector from 1872-1884 and a onetime Fellow of Wadham College.

The nave roof is late Victorian and an outstanding example of king-post design and the octagonal stone font dates to 1875.

Canon White memorial window

Perhaps the most impressive feature is the collection of stained-glass windows, most of them designed by the famous CE Kempe firm. All of these windows are memorials to local families. The window to the right of the door on entering is in memory of Canon WE White, rector of Bourton for 34 year and father of the actor Wilfred Hyde White.

Another stained-glass window was installed by Major-General James Willoughby, Indian Army, in memory of his wife, Mary Ann, who died in November 1915, and their son, Captain James Gerald Willoughby, who served with Queen Victoria's Own Light Cavalry and was killed in action at Shaiba, Mesopotamia, in March 1915, just eight months after his mother's death.

George Vernon memorial (d. 1720)

Memorable Memorials

There are very few memorials inside the church; the most impressive is an ornate monument on the north wall of the chancel, remembering members of the Vernon family, including Reverend George Vernon (d. 1720) and his wife Elizabeth (d. 1724) as well as their infant son, Thomas, who died in 1670.

On the north sanctuary wall is a tablet in memory of Reverend John Croome, rector of Bourton for 18 years (d. 1834) and his wife, Anne Matilda (d. 1824). The epitaph also remembers their infant daughter, Mary, who died in 1817.

Set into the chancel floor is a grave slab to Dorothy Vernon, who died in 1764 'in the 78th year of her age' and on the south wall of the nave is a tablet to Anthony Collett, Gent., (d. 1719) whose 'charity and zeal for his religion survives in a donation of ten pounds yearly for the instruction of twelve poor boys in the principles of the Church of England'.

Anthony Collett memorial (d. 1719)

At the eastern end of the north aisle are memorials to those who died in the two world wars.

Visiting

The church is open daily for visitors. The real problem, if you arrive by car, is finding a place to park, for Bourton can be overrun by visitors, especially in the spring and summer months. There is public parking on Station Road and a second car park on Rissington Road, as well as limited parking along the High Street (if you are lucky).