Description

BOURTON-ON-THE-HILL MAIN STREET
SP 1732
(south side)
10/60 Church of St. Lawrence
25.8.60
GV I
Anglican parish church. C12 nave, C14 chancel and north aisle. C15
south aisle, nave clerestory and three stage tower. C19 porch.
Coursed squared and dressed limestone. Roof not visible. Plan:
west tower; nave with north and south aisles; porch from west end
of north aisle; south porch opposite north porch, from south aisle;
chancel. Exterior: plinth with moulded top around tower and
chancel; nave with clerestory parapet with roll moulded coping with
string below as on north and south aisles and porch. 5 gargoyles
from string on north side of nave. Clerestory: 4-windowed; 3-light
stone-mullioned casements with cusped heads and carved spandrels.
North aisle: 2 tall 3-light windows with trefoil heads. String
forms hood to windows with the addition of diamond stops to either
side. 2-light Perpendicular window with stopped hood at west
end; 3-light stone-mullioned casement with Perpendicular style
tracery and hood with diamond stops at east end. North porch with
studded door within moulded pointed arch with stopped hood. Small
statue of St. Lawrence in niche with decorative canopy above door.
South aisle same as north aisle but with diagonal buttress at east
end and traces of 3 scratch sundials between windows of south wall.
3-light stone-mullioned window with Perpendicular tracery at east
end. South porch with flat coped gable and upright cross finial
over double studded plank door within moulded pointed archway with
flat-chamfered imposts and stopped hood. West tower: diagonal
buttresses with embattlemented parapet. Studded plank west door
with angular pointed head and flat-chamfered surround. Restored 2-
light window with reticulated tracery and stopped hood over door.
Numerous single lights some with ogee heads in all faces of tower.
2-light belfry windows with vesicas and limestone slate louvres
with stopped hoods.
Internal stair up south west corner with pointed stone spirelet
with weather-cock projecting above parapet level at top. Chancel:
diagonal buttresses; parapet with cusped diaper in panels and
crocketed finials at corners. 3-light east window with reticulated
tracery. South wall: C19 two-light window with tracery and stopped
hood. Blocked ogee arched doorway lower left. North wall: 2-
windowed; 3-light stone mullioned window with trefoil headed lights
and stopped hood. 2-light stone-mullioned casement with ogee
cusping and stopped hood right.
Interior: C19 panelled door in moulded arch from north porch into
north aisle with 3-bay arcade of pointed flat-chamfered arches on
hexagonal piers. Similar arches to chancel and tower. Wooden
gallery erected c1827 by the Rev. Samuel Warneford (q.v. The
Retreat and tomb in churchyard) at west end of north aisle. C19
panelled double door within C15, 4-centred arched doorway from
south porch into south aisle within moulded surround with dragon
and leopard in relief in left and right spandrels respectively;
primitive carved bearded face on right jamb. South aisle: C12
arcade of 3-bays comprising 3 circular piers with scalloped
capitals and pointed arches, the latter probably rebuilt late C12.
Reputed remnants of upper part of C14 stone screen from Moreton-in-
Marsh, at east end of south aisle, comprising the upper portion of
6 trefoiled lights in 3 pairs with blind ogee cusped quatrefoils
above each pair. C20 mullions, except where omitted to form
entrance far right. Step up to chancel. C14 piscina with trefoil
arch, crocketed gable and pinnacles reset in jamb of rebuilt south
window. Nave fittings: C15 octagonal font with tracery panels at
rear of church. Standard Winchester bushel and beck dated 1816 at
east end; C20 pews and pulpit. North aisle: painted wooden
triptych of 1928 at east end. Chancel fittings: English style
altar with dossal and riddel posts with carved and gilded angels
by Edward Bateman 1928. C19 stained glass in east window.
Monuments: C18 ledger to Ann Gibbs and highly decorated but eroded
ledger to the wife of Alexander Popham (q.v. Bourton House) with
date 1688 in floor of south porch. Monuments on south wall of
south aisle: White on black decorated marble tablet with urn to
William Bateson died 1819 over south door. Similar undated tablet
without urn to William Gibb (q.v. chest tomb in churchyard) right
of the former. White on purple/grey marble decorative tablet with
urn to Robert Bateson died 1763, left. White on black decorative
marble tablet with urn and heraldic shield to Susannah Bateson died
1768, left. Grey marble decorative tablet with heraldic shield and
cupids to Robert Bateson died 1736, left. Grey marble tablet with
open segmental pediment, heraldic shield and cupids to Kemp Harward
'Doctor in Physick' died 1743. Wood plaque, dated March 1831
recording the endowment of 'The Retreat for the Aged' above pier
opposite the Kemp Harward memorial.
(David Verey, The Buildings of England: The Cotswolds, (1979).

Listing NGR: SP1753132517

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Church of St Lawrence at Wikipedia
• Wikidata Q17525774

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Berkshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  [(Shropshire)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1958)
• 
  Sussex: West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Listed Buildings: The Law and Practice of History Buildings, Ancient Monuments and Conservation Areas
• 
  [(Cumberland and Westmorland)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1967)
• 
  Maintaining and Repairing Old Houses: A Guide to Conservation, Sustainability and Economy