St Lawrence's Church is a

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

church in the parish of

West Wycombe West Wycombe is a small village famed for its manor houses and its hills. It is three miles west of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England. The historic village is largely a National Trust property and receives a large annual influx of touri ...

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-ea ...

, England. It sits on top of West Wycombe Hill in a prominent position overlooking the West Wycombe Road, and surrounding villages. West Wycombe Hill is managed by the

National Trust The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...

, although the church and graveyard are owned by the

. The church resides in the Chilterns

Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty An Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB; , AHNE) is an area of countryside in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, that has been designated for conservation due to its significant landscape value. Areas are designated in recognition of thei ...

. St Lawrence Church and the mausoleum both occupy similar positions on top of West Wycombe Hill, and the Church tower is visible for many miles around. The top of the tower is the highest point in the Southern Chilterns and on a clear day, it is possible to see West London.

History

The medieval church served the lost medieval village of Haveringdon, and of this building, the 14th-century chancel and tower remain, though heavily remodeled. The Grade I listed church was gradually rebuilt in its current form by Sir Francis Dashwood, 1st Baronet and Baron Le Despenser. In the 1750s the medieval west tower was raised to make it an eye-catcher from West Wycombe Estate, West Wycombe House, and also from the West Wycombe road as one exits towards the West. It was topped by a great golden ball, possibly inspired by the

Dogana Dogana is a town and a civil parish (''curazia''), whose name means "Customs House"; it is located in the north-eastern corner of San Marino in the Serravalle municipality ("castello"). The town is the most populated settlement in the republic. ...

, Venice. The ball was reputed to be a meeting place for the Hellfire Club – it could seat 10, and was described by the author

John Wilkes John Wilkes (17 October 1725 – 26 December 1797) was an English radical journalist and politician, as well as a magistrate, essayist and soldier. He was first elected a Member of Parliament in 1757. In the Middlesex election dispute, he fo ...

as “the best globe tavern I was ever in.” It has been suggested that Sir Francis Dashwood used a

heliograph A heliograph () is a semaphore system that signals by flashes of sunlight (generally using Morse code) reflected by a mirror. The flashes are produced by momentarily pivoting the mirror, or by interrupting the beam with a shutter. The heliograp ...

to signal through a porthole in the golden ball to his friend,

John Norris (1721–1786) John Norris (1721 – 29 June 1786) was an English merchant and a member of the landed gentry. He was High Sheriff of Buckinghamshire in 1775. Biography Norris' father, Robert Norris (d. 1751) was a prosperous merchant in London, but through mi ...

, who had erected a tower, now known as the

Camberley Obelisk Camberley Obelisk (also known as Norris's Obelisk or Norris's Whim) is a brick tower at the top of a hill in Camberley, Surrey, England. The tower was built by John Norris (1721–1786) in about 1765–1770. The top section of the tower was d ...

, near his home at

Hawley, Hampshire Hawley is a small village in the Hart district of northeastern Hampshire, England. The village is contiguous with the small town of Blackwater. It is on the western edge of the Blackwater Valley conurbation, about northwest of central Farnbor ...

, 21 miles to the south. Between 1761 and 1763 the nave was rebuilt and the medieval chancel was remodeled. The nave as remodeled by Dashwood has the appearance of a “very superb Egyptian hall” in a Vitruvian sense and is derived from

Robert Wood Robert Wood may refer to: Art * Robert E. Wood (painter, born 1971), Canadian landscape artist * Robert William Wood (1889–1979), American landscape artist * Robert Wood (artist), accused and acquitted of the Camden Town murder Military * R ...

’s prints of the ancient Temple of the Sun,

Palmyra Palmyra (; Palmyrene: () ''Tadmor''; ar, تَدْمُر ''Tadmur'') is an ancient city in present-day Homs Governorate, Syria. Archaeological finds date back to the Neolithic period, and documents first mention the city in the early second ...

. It has five bays five and is lined with engaged Corinthian columns under a continuous entablature, the pillars decorated to emulate porphrey. The design of the

Trompe-l'œil ''Trompe-l'œil'' ( , ; ) is an artistic term for the highly realistic optical illusion of three-dimensional space and objects on a two-dimensional surface. ''Trompe l'oeil'', which is most often associated with painting, tricks the viewer into ...

ceiling in the nave is taken directly from one of Wood's engravings. There is more Trompe-l'œil painting on the walls of the remodeled medieval chancel and in the center of the chancel ceiling is a painting of the Last Supper after Rembrandt. All the painting is by Giovanni Borgnis. Throughout there is spectacular

Rococo Rococo (, also ), less commonly Roccoco or Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and theatrical style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpted moulding, ...

plasterwork and Dashwood provided fine new woodwork for the church, including Mahogany stalls for the clergy. The architect of all this work is likely to have been John Donowell who was working for Sir Francis Dashwood at West Wycombe Park.

Bells

There are eight bells in the tower: the treble and second by Mears & Stainbank, 1923; the third by Lester and Pack, 1756; the fourth by Henry Knight, 1621; the fifth by Joseph Carter, 1581; the sixth by Henry Knight, 1620; the seventh by Lester and Pack, 1762; and the tenor by Thomas Mears, 1828.

Golden ball

The golden ball can be seen for miles around and is a recognised symbol of

village. It is made from a wooden frame covered in gold leaf, 8 feet in diameter, and contains seating for up to six people. There were rumours that the

Hellfire Club Hellfire Club was a name for several exclusive clubs for high-society rakes established in Britain and Ireland in the 18th century. The name most commonly refers to Francis Dashwood's Order of the Friars of St. Francis of Wycombe. Such clubs, ...

, founded by

Sir Francis Dashwood Francis Dashwood, 11th Baron le Despencer, PC, FRS (December 1708 – 11 December 1781) was an English politician and rake, Chancellor of the Exchequer (1762–1763) and founder of the Hellfire Club. Life and career Early life Dashwood was ...

(1708–1781), met inside the golden ball, but there is no evidence for that. It is no longer possible for the public to enter the ball.

Churchyard

The churchyard contains eleven

Commonwealth war graves The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) is an intergovernmental organisation of six independent member states whose principal function is to mark, record and maintain the graves and places of commemoration of Commonwealth of Nations mi ...

, six from

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 ...

and five from

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Also interred there is the artist and playwright Constance Smedley (died 1941).

Popular culture

St Lawrence Church has been used as a backdrop and as part of important scenery elements in various popular TV shows and films such as ''

Downton Abbey ''Downton Abbey'' is a British historical drama television series set in the early 20th century, created and co-written by Julian Fellowes. The series first aired in the United Kingdom on ITV on 26 September 2010 and in the United States on P ...

'' and major blockbusters. St Lawrence Church can be seen in the film ''

Bridget Jones's Baby ''Bridget Jones's Baby'' is a 2016 romantic comedy film directed by Sharon Maguire and written by Helen Fielding, Dan Mazer and Emma Thompson, based on the fictional columns by Fielding. It is the third film in the franchise and a sequel to the ...

'', which came out in the UK in 2016. It forms part of the opening scene in the 23 March trailer release. It is also featured throughout the music video by

Paloma Faith Paloma Faith Blomfield (born 21 July 1981) is an English singer and actress. Her debut studio album, ''Do You Want the Truth or Something Beautiful?,'' was released in 2009 and was certified double platinum in the UK. The album spawned the sing ...

for her song " Picking Up the Pieces" which has over 12,000,000 views on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

References

External links

Church page
on

A Church Near You The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

{{Authority control 1763 establishments in England Grade I listed churches in Buckinghamshire High Wycombe

Churches in Buckinghamshire Medieval architecture Neoclassical church buildings in England