St Lawrence, Stratford-sub-Castle
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St Lawrence's Church at Stratford-sub-Castle is a 13th-century Grade I listed
Church of England parish church A parish church in the Church of England is the church which acts as the religious centre for the people within each Church of England parish (the smallest and most basic Church of England administrative unit; since the 19th century sometimes ...
, to the north of
Salisbury Salisbury ( , ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers River Avon, Hampshire, Avon, River Nadder, Nadder and River Bourne, Wi ...
, Wiltshire, England. It stands close to the abandoned settlement of
Old Sarum Old Sarum, in Wiltshire, South West England, is the ruined and deserted site of the earliest settlement of Salisbury. Situated on a hill about north of modern Salisbury near the A345 road, the settlement appears in some of the earliest recor ...
and the River Avon, and is about north of Salisbury Cathedral.


Construction and architecture

The church stands at the north end of Stratford-sub-Castle village, but was formerly surrounded by a medieval settlement. A chapel at Stratford is first mentioned in 1228, dependent on St Martin's church. The presence of an earlier building is known from evidence of walls and floors of a 12th or 13th-century building, found in 2008 in the churchyard. The present church has an early 13th-century chancel, indicated by the chancel arch and a blocked
lancet window A lancet window is a tall, narrow window with a sharp pointed arch at its top. This arch may or may not be a steep lancet arch (in which the compass centres for drawing the arch fall outside the opening). It acquired the "lancet" name from its rese ...
in the north wall. There was a
consecration Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual respect or devotion; or inspires awe or reverence among believers. The property is often ascribed to objects ( ...
in 1326, for reasons that are unclear. The west tower was erected in the 13th or 14th century and rebuilt in 1711 by
Thomas Pitt Thomas Pitt (5 July 1653 – 28 April 1726) was an English merchant, colonial administrator and politician who served as the president of Fort St. George from 1698 to 1709. Born in Blandford Forum, Dorset, he eventually went to the Indian ...
, a wealthy merchant who had bought Old Sarum manor. The nave was built in the 15th century. Alterations and repairs in the next two centuries and around 1711 included renewal of windows; the wagon roof, with carved bosses, is from the 16th century. The building is in flint and stone, in places chequered, and may incorporate masonry from
Old Sarum Cathedral Old Sarum Cathedral was a Catholic and Norman cathedral at old Salisbury, now known as Old Sarum, between 1092 and 1220. Only its foundations remain, in the north-west quadrant of the circular outer bailey of the site, about north of the centre ...
: two pieces of stone have lozenge decoration in Norman style. The church was designated as
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 ...
in 1972.


Interior

The Purbeck marble font is probably from the late 12th century, but may have been brought from elsewhere. The bowl was originally square but the corners were removed to make it octagonal, thus there are four faces with carving and four that are plain. The shaft and base are modern. The interior is called "attractive" by Julian Orbach in his update of
Nikolaus Pevsner Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner (30 January 1902 – 18 August 1983) was a German-British art historian and architectural historian best known for his monumental 46-volume series of county-by-county guides, ''The Buildings of England'' (195 ...
's '' Buildings of England'' volume. The wagon roofs of the nave and chancel are from the later 16th century, and have carved wooden heads at the bosses and various busts at the
corbels In architecture, a corbel is a structural piece of stone, wood or metal keyed into and projecting from a wall to carry a bearing weight, a type of bracket. A corbel is a solid piece of material in the wall, whereas a console is a piece applie ...
. The pulpit with tester is from the early 17th century. Orbach considers the
chancel screen 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 ...
to be perhaps an assemblage made as part of the 1711 work, with a round-headed arch of that period inserted into a structure from the 15th or 16th century. Also of c.1711 is the full-height panelling above the altar, which Orbach calls "remarkable" and "good enough for a City of London church". The window is flanked by Commandment panels, and the
reredos A reredos ( , , ) is a large altarpiece, a screen, or decoration placed behind the altar in a Church (building), church. It often includes religious images. The term ''reredos'' may also be used for similar structures, if elaborate, in secular a ...
has fine foliage carving,
pilasters In architecture, a pilaster is both a load-bearing section of thickened wall or column integrated into a wall, and a purely decorative element in classical architecture which gives the appearance of a supporting column and articulates an ext ...
and a
broken pediment Pediments are a form of gable in classical architecture, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the cornice (an elaborated lintel), or entablature if supported by columns.Summerson, 130 In ancient ...
. The altar rail has turned
balusters A baluster () is an upright support, often a vertical moulded shaft, square, or lathe-turned form found in stairways, parapets, and other architectural features. In furniture construction it is known as a spindle. Common materials used in its c ...
and there is dado panelling and panel-fronted pews. The elaborate royal arms is from 1713. The west gallery is c.1800 and carries the organ, which was built in 1852 by J. W. Walker as a
barrel organ A barrel organ (also called roller organ or crank organ) is a France, French mechanical musical instrument consisting of bellows and one or more ranks of organ pipe, pipes housed in a case, usually of wood, and often highly decorated. The basic ...
and converted to keyboard action in 1876. The only stained glass of note is the east window of 1894, by Lavers and Westlake. The interior was carefully restored in 1905 by W. D. Caröe. In 1553 there were three bells, but one was sold in 1584. In 1998, another of the original bells was sold and five new bells hung, retaining the last original bell (dated 1594) as the treble, making a ring of six.


Churchyard

A section of the churchyard contains graves of 52 service personnel of
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
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 ...
that are looked after by the
Commonwealth War Graves Commission 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 mil ...
. Most from the former war (47) were from local war hospitals, and around half of those are Australian soldiers. Standing over the graves is a
Cross of Sacrifice The Cross of Sacrifice is a Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth war memorial designed in 1918 by Sir Reginald Blomfield for the Imperial War Graves Commission (now the Commonwealth War Graves Commission). It is present in Commonwealth War grave ...
. Between the church and the road stands the parish
war memorial A war memorial is a building, monument, statue, or other edifice to celebrate a war or victory, or (predominating in modern times) to commemorate those who died or were injured in a war. Symbolism Historical usage It has ...
, erected in 1922. The tapering limestone shaft carries a gabled depiction of the crucifixion, in all about tall.


Parish

Although technically a
chapelry A chapelry was a subdivision of an ecclesiastical parish in England and parts of Lowland Scotland up to the mid 19th century. Status A chapelry had a similar status to a Township (England), township, but was so named as it had a chapel of ease ...
of St Martin's until at least 1701, St Lawrence was regarded as a parish church from 1394 or earlier, having its own graveyard and
baptistry In Christian architecture the baptistery or baptistry (Old French ''baptisterie''; -4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ... ''baptisterie''; Latin ''baptist ...
. In 1937, part of the parish was transferred to create a new parish for St Francis's Church in the expanding northern suburbs of the city. The
Old Sarum Old Sarum, in Wiltshire, South West England, is the ruined and deserted site of the earliest settlement of Salisbury. Situated on a hill about north of modern Salisbury near the A345 road, the settlement appears in some of the earliest recor ...
area was added to Stratford-sub-Castle parish in 1953, and there were further boundary changes affecting St Lawrence and St Francis in 1968. Today, there is a united
benefice A benefice () or living is a reward received in exchange for services rendered and as a retainer for future services. The Roman Empire used the Latin term as a benefit to an individual from the Empire for services rendered. Its use was adopted by ...
named 'Salisbury St Francis and Stratford sub Castle', although the two parishes remain distinct. The parish registers date from 1654, and those not in current use are held in the
Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre Wiltshire (; abbreviated to Wilts) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It borders Gloucestershire to the north, Oxfordshire to the north-east, Berkshire to the east, Hampshire to the south-east, Dorse ...
at
Chippenham Chippenham is a market town in north-west Wiltshire, England. It lies north-east of Bath, Somerset, Bath, west of London and is near the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The town was established on a crossing of the River Avon, ...
. File:St Lawrence 2 web.jpg, Interior: west end File:St Lawrence 3 web.jpg, Interior: east File:St Lawrence 4 web.jpg, East window File:St Lawrence 5 web.jpg, Altar


References


Further reading


St Lawrence Church
at Stratford-sub-Castle community site. Accessed March 2023.


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Stratford-sub-Castle, Saint Lawrence 13th-century church buildings in England Church of England church buildings in Wiltshire Churches in Salisbury Grade I listed churches in Wiltshire