St Lawrence Church is a

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, ...

church in the parish of

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

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (, abbreviated ''Bucks'') is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-east, Hertfordshir ...

, 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 () is a heritage and nature conservation charity and membership organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The Trust was founded in 1895 by Octavia Hill, Sir Robert Hunter and Hardwicke Rawnsley to "promote the ...

, 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 one of 46 areas of countryside in England, Wales, or Northern Ireland that has been designated for conservation due to its significant landscape value. Since 2023, the areas in England an ...

. 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 (; Romagnol: ''Dughena'') is a '' curazia'' of San Marino. It belongs to the municipality of Serravalle. The town is the most populated settlement in San Marino, with a population of around 7,000. Geography The town is situated at t ...

, 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 Radicalism (historical), radical journalist and politician, as well as a magistrate, essayist and soldier. He was first elected a Member of Parliament in 1757. In the Middlese ...

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

heliograph A heliograph () is a solar telegraph system that signals by flashes of sunlight (generally using Morse code from the 1840s) reflected by a mirror. The flashes are produced by momentarily pivoting the mirror, or by interrupting the beam with a s ...

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 ...

, who had erected a tower, now known as the Camberley Obelisk, near his home at

Hawley, Hampshire Hawley is a small village in the civil parish of Blackwater and Hawley, 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 ...

, 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’s prints of the ancient Temple of the Sun,

Palmyra Palmyra ( ; Palmyrene dialect, Palmyrene: (), romanized: ''Tadmor''; ) is an ancient city in central Syria. It is located in the eastern part of the Levant, and archaeological finds date back to the Neolithic period, and documents first menti ...

. 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 ; ; ) is an artistic term for the highly realistic optical illusion of three-dimensional space and objects on a Two-dimensional space, two-dimensional surface. , which is most often associated with painting, tricks the viewer into perceiving p ...

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, less commonly Roccoco ( , ; or ), also known as Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and dramatic style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpte ...

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 term used to describe several exclusive Club (organization), clubs for high-society Rake (character), rakes established in Great Britain and Ireland in the 18th Century. The name most commonly refers to Francis Dashwood, 11t ...

, 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, six from

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and five from

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 ...

. Also interred there is the artist and playwright

Constance Smedley Anne Constance Smedley (20 June 1876 – 9 March 1941) was a British artist, playwright, author and founder of the International Association of Lyceum Clubs. Life Smedley was born in Handsworth near Birmingham in 1876. Her well-off and educat ...

(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. It first aired in the United Kingdom on ITV (TV network), ITV on 26 September 2010 and in the United St ...

'' 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 from a screenplay by Helen Fielding, Dan Mazer and Emma Thompson, based on a story by Fielding. It is the sequel to '' Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason'' (2004) ...

'', 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, songwriter, and actress. After signing with Epic Records in 2008, Faith released her debut album, '' Do You Want the Truth or Something Beautiful?'' (2009), which produced the UK ...

for her song " Picking Up the Pieces".

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 Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglican tradition, with foundational doctrines being contained in the '' Thirty-nine Articles'' and ''Th ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Lawrence Church, West Wycombe 1763 establishments in England Grade I listed churches in Buckinghamshire High Wycombe

Churches in Buckinghamshire Medieval British architecture Neoclassical church buildings in England