The Church of St Laurence in

East Harptree East Harptree is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England. It is situated north of Wells and south of Bristol, on the northern slope of the Mendip Hills overlooking the Chew Valley. The parish has a population of 644. The parish include ...

, Somerset, England, was built in the late 12th century. It is a Grade II*

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

. The original 12th-century church was expanded in the 13th century and the tower added in the 15th. The three-stage west tower, which was built in the 15th century is supported by diagonal buttresses. The parapet was restored in 1633. The tower has a small polygonal turret in the north west corner and a parapet with gargoyles beneath it. It contains six bells. New seating was provided during repairs in the 1880s. The parish is now part of the benefice of East Harptree with

West Harptree West Harptree is a small village and civil parish in the Chew Valley, Somerset within the unitary district of Bath and North East Somerset. The parish has a population of 439. The village is south of Bristol, southwest of Bath and east of W ...

and

Hinton Blewett Hinton Blewett is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England, north of Wells and south of Bristol on the northern slope of the Mendip Hills, within the designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) and in the Chew Valley near the ...

, Litton with

Chewton Mendip Chewton Mendip is a village and civil parish in the Mendip district of Somerset, England. It is situated north of Wells, south of Bath and Bristol on the A39 very close to the A37. The village is in a valley on the Mendip Hills and is the ...

within the archdeaconry of

Wells Wells most commonly refers to: * Wells, Somerset, a cathedral city in Somerset, England * Well, an excavation or structure created in the ground * Wells (name) Wells may also refer to: Places Canada *Wells, British Columbia England * Wells ...

Interior

In a recess within the

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norm ...

porch of the church is the tomb of Sir John Newton who died in 1568. He is depicted in armour, lying beside his wife, Margaret, daughter of Sir

Anthony Poyntz Sir Anthony Poyntz (1480? – 1533/1535) was an English diplomat and naval commander. Life He was knighted in 1513, when he commanded a ship in Thomas Howard's expedition against France. In September 1518 he was sent on an embassy to the French ...

. The two panels in front of the tomb depict his eight sons and twelve daughters kneeling. It is covered by a canopy supported by six fluted Ionic columns. It was previously where the altar stands and was moved to the porch in 1883. In the nave is a Norman

font In metal typesetting, a font is a particular size, weight and style of a typeface. Each font is a matched set of type, with a piece (a "sort") for each glyph. A typeface consists of a range of such fonts that shared an overall design. In mod ...

and a Jacobean pulpit. St Laurence East Harptree 3

The church includes a stained glass window by

Karl Parsons Karl Bergemann Parsons (23 January 1884 – 30 September 1934) was a British stained glass artist associated with the Arts and Crafts movement. Early life, 1884 – 1898 Parsons was born in Peckham in south London on 23 January 1884, the 12t ...

which was installed as a War Memorial in 1919 to the eight men from the village who died in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. It is a three-light window with St George in the centre light, St Laurence in that to the left and St Agnes on the right. St Agnes holds a lamb. The organ, a two manual electrically blown organ, which was made by Vowles of Bristol, was refurbished in 2009.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:East Harptree, Saint Laurence Grade II* listed buildings in Bath and North East Somerset Church of England church buildings in Bath and North East Somerset 12th-century church buildings in England Grade II* listed churches in Somerset

Interior

See also

References