Lathbury, Buckinghamshire

All Saints (parish church)

The church of All Saints is a stone building of the Saxon, Norman and later periods, consisting of chancel, nave, aisles, south porch and a low western tower, in part of Norman date, erected about A.D. 1120, with battlements added at a later period, and containing a clock and 5 bells, rehung in 1900, when the 5th bell was added: the tower was new-roofed in 1894: on the north wall of the church is a large marble tablet, 10 feet by 4 feet, erected in memory of Henry Uthwatt esq. of Great Lynford, and his wife: the south aisle is of the time of Henry II. and the rest of the church belongs to the reign of Edward III.; one of the pillars on the south side of the nave exhibits a curious carving of an Oriental character, the design for which was perhaps brought home by some crusading knight, and represents grotesque figures of dragons: a flat carved slab, representing an attack made by the serpent or evil spirit upon some animal, was found in 1869, embedded in one of the square piers of the nave: the steps to the rood-loft are in good preservation and on the south side is a remarkable piscina: at the foot of the steps is a stone slab which must have been originally the Tympanum of the Norman porch or some other door: the subject is the Tree of Spiritual Life and Knowledge, with a lion on one side and a horse and dog on the other: the chancel windows are Decorated: there are sedilia and a piscina in the chancel, which is paved with black and white marble throughout, and has an interesting inscription to the donor, Margaret Andrewes, ob. 1680, to which ancient family the church contains many memorials: in the nave and aisles are remains of mural paintings or frescoes of the 14th and later centuries to the 17th century: there are two masons' marks on the northwest exterior of the tower; the church contains a picture representing Cain: there is an alabaster monument to a lady of the Chandfiower family, 1604: brasses are recorded here to Richard Davies, of Kynant, Montgomery, gent. ob. 1661, and to Mrs. Mary Davies, ob. 1686, wife of Isaiah Davies, rector of this parish and son of Richard Davies above-named: there is also a brass tablet to six men of the parish who lost their lives in the Great War, 1914-18: the church was thoroughly restored in 1869: there are 140 sittings. In the churchyard are the foundations of an old school.