St. Lawrence, Evesham, Worcestershire

Description

The church of St. Lawrence, standing together in the parochial churchyard with that of All Saints, was erected by the inmates of the monastery for the inhabitants of the town. St. Lawrence's church, an edifice of stone, is first noticed in the institutes of the abbey, compiled by Abbot Randolph in 1223, and it was consecrated by the Bishop of St. Asaph in 1295: it appears to have been originally built in the Early English style, but rebuilt in the 16th century, and is almost entirely Perpendicular of a late type: it consists of chancel, nave, aisles, Abbot Lichfield's chapel or St. Clement's chantry, on the south side, and a western tower of three stages, with a turret at the south-west angle, and a plain parapet with pinnacles, from within which rises a short spire: the tower, the lower stage of which serves as a porch, contains one bell, and has on the outside a rude carving of the Crucifixion: Abbot Lichfield's chapel is a very fine example of Late Perpendicular work, and opens to the aisle by a depressed panelled arch, inclosed by a low stone screen; it is lighted on the south and east by large Perpendicular windows; beneath the east window are traces of an altar, and on each side an elaborately canopied niche: the roof is enriched with elegant fan-tracery, springing from slender columns at three angles, and in the centre is a massive carved pendant: at the end of the south aisle there was formerly a vaulted Early English crypt, but the vaulting was destroyed during the restorations, and the crypt appropriated as a private burial place: there are six stained windows, including the east window, erected as a memorial to Hannah, wife of Thomas Appelbee, d. 11 March, 1872: the church was restored in 1837, under the direction of Mr. Harvey Eginton, at a cost of £2,514, and an organ erected at an expense of £283: the church was reopened 16th November, 1837, by Dr. Robert James Carr, Bishop of Worcester: in 1892 the church was reseated, the chancel being furnished with richly carved oak choir stalls, at a cost of about £1,300, and it now affords 833 sittings, 701 being free.

Church Records

The St. Lawrence's register of baptisms and burials dates from 1556; marriages, 1569, but no marriages were solemnized in this church from 1745 to 1831.