The church of St Laurence, Upminster, is the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

parish church in Upminster, England. It is a Grade I listed building. It is the historic minster or church from which Upminster derives its name, meaning 'upper church', probably signifying 'church on higher ground'. The place-name is first attested as 'Upmynster' in 1062, and appears as 'Upmunstra' in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book ( ; the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book") is a manuscript record of the Great Survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

of 1086.

History

Alice Perrers, mistress of King Edward III, was buried in the church or churchyard in 1400. However, there is no memorial to mark her grave. She had three illegitimate children with the king and later lived and died in the Gaynes manor in Upminster. The tower of St Laurence's played a crucial role in Rev. William Derham's first accurate measurement of the speed of sound. Derham was also buried in the church or churchyard, and in accordance with his wishes, there is no memorial for him.

Description

The church exemplifies 13th-century construction. The tower, dating from this period, features rubble walls, buttresses at its base, and a leaded, shingled spire characteristic of Essex architecture. The church underwent significant rebuilding in 1862–1863 by W. Gibbs Bartleet. Further rebuilding took place in 1928, when the original

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the Choir (architecture), choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may termi ...

became part of the

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

, and the new choir and sanctuary were built, by Sir Charles Nicholson. Nicholson also built the current south chapel and Lady Chapel, on the north side. 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, accesse ...

is by Violet Pinwill of Devon. The baptismal font is 15th-century, and came from Upminster Hill Chapel. The monuments include those of the Branfills of Upminster Hall, and the Esdailes of Gaynes. The churchyard contains war graves of six service personnel of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

References

Upminster Church of England church buildings in the London Borough of Havering 13th-century church buildings in England Grade I listed churches in London History of the London Borough of Havering {{Coord, 51.555, 0.248, display=title, region:GB_scale:5000