St Lawrence Church, Isle of Wight

St Lawrence Church

The coastal community of St Lawrence, near Ventnor, is served by not one, but two Anglican churches. The first is Old Church, built in 1191 and for many years the smallest parish church in England. The second is the current parish church, dedicated, as you might expect, to St Lawrence.

The second church was built in 1876-78 to replace the earlier and much smaller building, and boasts a stunning collection of Pre-Raphaelite stained glass.

History

The new parish church of St Lawrence was designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott, one of the great architects of the Victorian age, and the church interior has remained almost unaltered since. The church is simple in plan, with a nave, chancel, north aisle, south porch, and western bellcote holding 8 bells.

The church interior

The only feature pre-dating the church is the medieval (some sources say Saxon) font, brought here from the Old Church and recut by Gilbert Scott.

Pre-Raphaelite stained-glass windows

St Lawrence Church is justly renowned for its superb collection of Pre-Raphaelite stained glass. Much of the glass came from the Royal National Hospital for Diseases of the Chest in Ventnor. When the hospital closed in 1969, the glass was carefully removed and transferred to the church.

The windows had been installed in the hospital chapel and included panels by the Pre-Raphaelite artists Ford Madox Brown, Edward Burne-Jones, William Morris, and William Reynolds-Stephens. They were installed in the west window, three south windows, and in an illuminated panel on the north wall.

The west window, by Reynolds-Stephens

The west window was designed by Reynolds-Stephens (1862-1943). The central panel was so highly-regarded that it was exhibited in a special exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum in 1971. The window features a row of angels watching over a little boy and girl. On the bottom row is a young man being fed while a doctor takes the pulse of a young woman.

St John the Evangelist by Edward Burne-Jones

The three windows in the south wall each depict a solitary apostle. These were installed in the hospital chapel in memory of three brothers of the Hamilton family. To one side is the figure of St John the Evangelist originally designed by Burne-Jones for the Savoy Chapel in Westminster. In the central window is St Luke, by Madox Brown, while to the other side is St Peter, designed by Burne-Jones for Peterhouse, Cambridge.

The Raising of Lazarus by William Morris

The illuminated light box on the north wall holds glass depicting scenes of healing from the New Testament. From the left to right these scenes are The Raising of Jairus's Daughter, Jesus Healing the Woman with an Issue of Blood, and The Raising of Lazarus. The central panel is by Madox Brown and the other two by William Morris.

It is worth mentioning the superb McDougall Window in the chancel. The panels depict the four Doctors of the Latin church, the Four Evangelists, the Four Prophets, and St Stephen.

St Lawrence Church is worth visiting for the outstanding 19th-century stained glass, and I highly suggest you also explore the Old Church, only a short stroll to the north-west.

The McDougall memorial window

Visiting

St Lawrence Church stands on Undercliffe Drive. There is no dedicated parking that we could find, but there is limited parking on nearby village lanes. As of this writing, the church is normally open to visitors during daylight hours and it was open when we visited.