Church of St Lawrence, Warkworth
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The Church of St Lawrence is situated in the village of Warkworth in Northumberland. It is a grade I listed building within the
Diocese of Newcastle The Diocese of Newcastle is a Church of England diocese based in Newcastle upon Tyne, covering the historic county of Northumberland (and therefore including the part of Tyne and Wear north of the River Tyne), as well as the area of Alston Moo ...
and dedicated to Lawrence of Rome.


History


Early history

The present church dates from the 12th century, however a wooden
Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons were a Cultural identity, cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo- ...
church was mentioned as occupying the site in AD 737, when King Ceolwulf of Northumbria gave Wercewode (as Warkworth was then known) along with St Lawrence's church to the Abbot and monks of
Lindisfarne Lindisfarne, also called Holy Island, is a tidal island off the northeast coast of England, which constitutes the civil parish of Holy Island in Northumberland. Holy Island has a recorded history from the 6th century AD; it was an important ...
. The wooden church was almost certainly destroyed in the Danish raids of 875 when Halfdan Ragnarsson ''“pitched his camp by the
Tyne Tyne may refer to: __NOTOC__ Geography * River Tyne, England *Port of Tyne, the commercial docks in and around the River Tyne in Tyne and Wear, England *River Tyne, Scotland * River Tyne, a tributary of the South Esk River, Tasmania, Australia Peop ...
and wasted the land cruelly from sea to sea"''.''"History of England Before the Norman Conquest,"'', Charles Oman, Bracken Books, , Pages 450, Gives this quote. The church was rebuilt in stone during the 9th and 10th centuries; foundations of this church were discovered in 2008 beneath the present church when an investigative trench was dug. In 1120 Henry I gave St Lawrence's along with the churches at Corbridge, Rothbury and Whittingham to his chaplain Richard de Aurea Valle. Upon his death, all four churches were given to and became part of the newly formed Diocese of Carlisle and would remain so until Newcastle became a separate diocese in 1882.


Present day church

Building of the church as we see it today began in 1132; it was constructed not only as a holy place but also as a sanctuary for the villagers in dangerous times. It had very substantial walls, with very narrow, high windows to keep out the enemy. On Saturday 13 July 1174, the day of the Battle of Alnwick, Donnchad II, Earl of Fife, commanding a column of the Scottish King William the Lion’s army, entered Warkworth and set fire to the town, killing 300 of the inhabitants who had taken refuge in the church. Around the year 1200 a tower was built at the western end of the church although the belfry and the spire were not added until the 14th century. In the 15th century the south aisle and entrance porch were added; above the porch there is a parvise which is reached by a spiral staircase; prior to 1736 it served as a schoolroom. St Lawrence‘s Warkworth.
Gives details of architecture, history and work on north wall.
In October 1715 Warkworth was the first market town in England to proclaim
The Old Pretender James Francis Edward Stuart (10 June 16881 January 1766), nicknamed the Old Pretender by Whigs, was the son of King James II and VII of England, Scotland and Ireland, and his second wife, Mary of Modena. He was Prince of Wales fro ...
as King in the
Jacobite rising , war = , image = Prince James Francis Edward Stuart by Louis Gabriel Blanchet.jpg , image_size = 150px , caption = James Francis Edward Stuart, Jacobite claimant between 1701 and 1766 , active ...
; his Chaplain read morning prayers in the church on 9 October. On 16 May 1761
John Wesley John Wesley (; 2 March 1791) was an English people, English cleric, Christian theology, theologian, and Evangelism, evangelist who was a leader of a Christian revival, revival movement within the Church of England known as Methodism. The soci ...
visited the church to preach a sermon whilst on a visit to nearby
Alnwick Alnwick ( ) is a market town in Northumberland, England, of which it is the traditional county town. The population at the 2011 Census was 8,116. The town is on the south bank of the River Aln, south of Berwick-upon-Tweed and the Scottish bor ...
. In 1860 there were extensive restorations with a new roof being applied, which resulted in the loss of the
clerestory In architecture, a clerestory ( ; , also clearstory, clearstorey, or overstorey) is a high section of wall that contains windows above eye level. Its purpose is to admit light, fresh air, or both. Historically, ''clerestory'' denoted an upper l ...
windows on the south wall. At the same time plaster was removed from the interior walls and the box pews were replaced by bench pews.''"Church Guide - St Lawrence, Warkworth (leaflet)"'', No Author, Warkworth PCC, no ISBN, Gives general history of church and details of interior.


Post war developments

Changes to the church since World War II have seen pews removed from the south aisle and the floor relaid in
Caithness Caithness ( gd, Gallaibh ; sco, Caitnes; non, Katanes) is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. Caithness has a land boundary with the historic county of Sutherland to the west and is otherwise bounded by ...
stone in 1947. The churchyard has had a new drainage system installed, trees removed and headstones placed around the perimeter walls. The electrical, heating and sound system have been upgraded, while in 1983 the church organ was overhauled.


Work on the north wall

Movement in the north wall had been known since the 13th century when the tower was erected and buttresses were built to prevent lateral movement in the wall. The wall was built on shallow medieval foundations on alluvial sand and clay close to the tidal River Coquet. Investigations in 2006 showed that the wall was 19 inches out of line and in a dangerous condition; this resulted in the church being placed on English Heritage’s Buildings at Risk Register. In March 2009 work started to secure and stabilise the wall, repair any ensuing damage to the interior of the church and prevent further deterioration. Two new buttresses were built resting on 22-metre
piles Hemorrhoids (or haemorrhoids), also known as piles, are vascular structures in the anal canal. In their normal state, they are cushions that help with stool control. They become a disease when swollen or inflamed; the unqualified term ''hemo ...
which went down to the bedrock. The work cost £300,000 with the money coming from grant aid from English Heritage and from a successful fund-raising campaign by the Parochial Church Council. The church was removed from the Buildings at Risk Register on completion of the work. Journal Live - Work starts to save Warkworth church.
Gives details of work on north wall.
euVue – Regional News - Work underway to stabalise Warkworth.
Gives details of work on north wall.


Church features


Exterior

The church is constructed from squared stone with a graduated Lakeland slate roof to the nave and chancel and a leaded roof to the rest of the church. The present church clock has a slate face with gilded numerals and dates from 1875. It was supplied and fitted by Mr Joyce Whitchurch at a cost of £154.12s. Near the old priests' door into the chancel are three medieval stone coffins which were found under the church floor. British Listed Buildings.
Gives details of architecture.
Near the main gate is a distinctive tomb which is the final resting place of Edward Dodsworth of East Chevington, huntsman to King James, who died on 30 May 1630. Dodsworth hunted deer in Scotland with
Cuthbert Rayne Cuthbert Rayne or Reyne or Raine was an English huntsman who served James VI of Scotland. James VI employed several English hunters and kennelmen who organised his field sports and looked after his dogs, including "Robert the English hunter", Cuth ...
for King James in the 1590s.
Annie Cameron Annie Isabella Cameron (1897-1973) was a Scottish historian. Biography She was the daughter of Mary Sinclair, and James Cameron, a Glasgow engineer. She studied history at the University of Glasgow and the University of St Andrews. She wrote a doc ...
, ''Calendar State Papers Scotland'', vol. 11 (Edinburgh, 1936), p. 415 no. 327.


Interior

The nave at 27.6 metres (90 feet) is the longest Norman nave in Northumberland; it has a 19th-century scissor-braced roof and was restored in 1860 by John Dobson. The south aisle was built by the Percy family in the 15th century; its east window has the only surviving pieces of medieval glass in the church. The
pulpit A pulpit is a raised stand for preachers in a Christian church. The origin of the word is the Latin ''pulpitum'' (platform or staging). The traditional pulpit is raised well above the surrounding floor for audibility and visibility, access ...
has five panels each featuring a work of art by Alfred Southwick, including St Lawrence blessing the poor and St Hilda of Whitby. On the right of the main door is the Knight's Tomb in the chantry; it features an image of a cross-legged knight from the 14th century, with a shield bearing the arms of the de Abulyn family of Durham.''"Church Guide - St Lawrence, Warkworth"'', no author, Warkworth PCC, no ISBN, leaflet giving general history of church and details of interior.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Warkworth, Saint Laurence Grade I listed churches in Northumberland Church of England church buildings in Northumberland 12th-century church buildings in England Lawrence, Warkworth