St Lawrence Church is an eighteenth-century, neoclassical church in

Ayot St Lawrence Ayot St Lawrence is a small English village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Hertfordshire, west of Welwyn. There are several other ''Ayots'' in the area, including Ayot Green and Ayot St Peter, where the census population of Ayot ...

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and one of the home counties. It borders Bedfordshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Greater London to the ...

, England. It is also known as New St Lawrence Church to distinguish it from the ruined Old St Lawrence Church.

History

The church was commissioned by Sir Lionel Lyde, a merchant who had a country estate at Ayot St Lawrence. According to

Historic England Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked with prot ...

, construction was financed with profits from the

slave trade Slave trade may refer to: * History of slavery - overview of slavery It may also refer to slave trades in specific countries, areas: * Al-Andalus slave trade * Atlantic slave trade ** Brazilian slave trade ** Bristol slave trade ** Danish sl ...

. He intended this to replace the 'Old Church' which he had partly demolished because the latter obstructed the view from his Ayot House, his mansion. The architect was

Nicholas Revett Nicholas Revett (1720–1804) was a British architect. Revett is best known for his work with James "Athenian" Stuart documenting the ruins of ancient Athens. He is sometimes described as an amateur architect, but he played an important role in ...

, the co-author of ''The Antiquities of Athens and Other Monuments of Greece'', a multi-volume publication which appeared from 1762. Revett had visited Greece to study its architectural heritage. One of the sources of inspiration for the church may have been a temple on the island of

Delos Delos (; ; ''Dêlos'', ''Dâlos''), is a small Greek island near Mykonos, close to the centre of the Cyclades archipelago. Though only in area, it is one of the most important mythological, historical, and archaeological sites in Greece. ...

Architecture and conservation

The style of the church has been described as

Palladian Palladian architecture is a European architectural style derived from the work of the Venetian architect Andrea Palladio (1508–1580). What is today recognised as Palladian architecture evolved from his concepts of symmetry, perspective and ...

, although this is something of a misnomer as, in contrast to Revett, Palladio never visited Greece. Palladio was an expert on Roman architecture, and the Palladian style was derived only indirectly from Greek architecture. There is some debate as to how Revett's neoclassicism should be categorised.

Greek Revival Greek Revival architecture is a architectural style, style that began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe, the United States, and Canada, ...

is arguably not the ideal term, and some scholars prefer "Grecian revival". The front of the church with its

portico A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cu ...

and screens of columns is designed to be viewed from Ayot House, across a parkland setting.

Interior

The interior of the building has a

Greek cross The Christian cross, with or without a figure of Jesus, Christ included, is the main religious symbol of Christianity. A cross with a figure of Christ affixed to it is termed a crucifix and the figure is often referred to as the ''corpus'' (La ...

plan. Because of the orientation of the building to face Ayot House,

liturgical east and west Liturgical east and west is a concept in the orientation of churches. It refers to the fact that the end of a Church (building), church which has the altar, for symbolic religious reasons, is traditionally on the east side of the church (to the ...

do not coincide with geography. The

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 ...

and altar are at the west end of the church. Despite the eye-catching facade, the church's interior is relatively small, having a capacity of about 120, which reflects the population of the

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

Conservation

The building has been

Grade I listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

since the 1960s.

Mausolea

On either side of the church is a mausoleum for Lionel Lyde and his wife Rachel. Lyde is alleged to have said of this arrangement that ‘since the Church united us in life, she can make amends by separating us in death’. The urns are raised on tall plinths and sheltered by

aedicule In ancient Roman religion, an ''aedicula'' (: ''aediculae'') is a small shrine, and in classical architecture refers to a niche covered by a pediment or entablature supported by a pair of columns and typically framing a statue,"aedicula, n." ''O ...

References

External links

Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ayot St L, New 18th-century Church of England church buildings Ayot Grade I listed churches in Hertfordshire Neoclassical architecture in Hertfordshire Mausoleums in England Buildings and structures in Ayot St Lawrence Neoclassical church buildings in England