St Lawrence's Church is an

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Chris ...

in the village of

Weston Patrick Weston Patrick is a small village and civil parish in Hampshire. It lies four miles (6 km) southeast from Basingstoke and covers an area of . Weston Patrick is divided from the neighbouring parish of Weston Corbett by the road leading to t ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

, England. 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 ...

and stands on the eastern side of the village near its highest point.

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses. The charity states that i ...

calls it a "small-scale gem of English Gothic".

History

Norman church

The only remaining part of the church that dates from 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 ...

period is the north doorway from the end of the 12th century, which has a rounded arch with a rolled edge and label with double-champfering. This is now topped with a timber gabled frame. A drawing dated c. 1810 shows that the east window was topped by a rounded Norman arch, where today it is a pointed Gothic arch.

19th-century rebuilding

The church was rebuilt on the site of the Norman church in the

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

style by

Thomas Henry Wyatt Thomas Henry Wyatt (9 May 1807 – 5 August 1880) was an Anglo-Irish architect. He had a prolific and distinguished career, being elected President of the Royal Institute of British Architects 1870–73 and being awarded its Royal Gold Medal for A ...

, who is buried in the churchyard, and whose family still live in the village. When the family came to live in the village in the 1850s the original church, although still in use and officiated by Revd T. B. Round, was in a run-down state. Wyatt decided to appoint a rector in 1866 and build a parsonage for him, before the rebuilding of the church started in 1867–68. The builder was John Wilkes of

North Waltham North Waltham is a village and civil parish in the borough of Basingstoke and Deane in Hampshire, England. It is located around southwest of Basingstoke and just north of the M3 motorway. In the 2011 Census it had a population of 870. The vill ...

, and the cost was £1,692; of this, a subscription raised £691, and the Wyatt family paid the remainder. Revd Terry was the first rector of the church, which was consecrated in June 1868. The exterior is flint and dressed in stone. The roof is red tiled, with a shingled broach spire on the west end, which

Pevsner Pevsner or Pevzner is a Jewish surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Aihud Pevsner (1925–2018), American physicist * Antoine Pevsner (1886–1962), Russian sculptor, brother of Naum Gabo * David Pevsner, American actor, singer, dan ...

calls a "funny pagoda bell tower". The nave and chancel are the same width, and the ceiling of the chancel is painted dark blue, with gold stars; the floor is paved with encaustic tiles. The organ, a Willis "Scudamore" model built by

Henry Willis & Sons Henry Willis & Sons is a British firm of pipe organ builders founded in 1845. Although most of their installations have been in the UK, examples can be found in other countries. Five generations of the Willis family served as principals of th ...

, is in a southern recess besides the chancel; it has Bourdon pipes and until 1965 was blown by hand. The bell turret with a single bell is at the western end. Pevsner notes there is "some rich foliage carving" inside the church. The east window was a gift from Thomas Henry Wyatt, and the three west windows, including the rose "Nativity" window, were made by Lavers and Barraud. On the church walls is a fragment of an embroidered altar cloth bearing the initials GG George Green, of Western Corbett House and IR, and the date 1682.

Gallery

File:St Lawrence, Weston Patrick c. 1810.JPG, The old church, c. 1810 File:St Lawrence, Weston Patrick 1868.JPG, The new church in 1868,
the year it was completed File:St Lawrence, Weston Patrick altar cloth.JPG, Altar cloth fragment, dated 1682 File:St Lawrence, Weston Patrick chancel ceiling.JPG, Chancel ceiling File:St Lawrence, Weston Patrick from north.JPG, From north File:St Lawrence, Weston Patrick north doorway.JPG, Norman north doorway,
late 12th century File:St Lawrence, Weston Patrick west window.JPG, West "Nativity" window

External links

Official website

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Weston Patrick, St Lawrence's Church 19th-century Church of England church buildings Church of England church buildings in Hampshire English Gothic architecture in Hampshire Grade II* listed churches in Hampshire English churches with Norman architecture Tourist attractions in Hampshire