St Lawrence Church, Lechlade

The church is of dressed freestone from Taynton Quarry near Burford.^[5] It consists of a nave with clerestory, four-bay aisles, north porch, north and south chancel chapels and chancel with a vestry on the north side. The three-stage west tower is supported by diagonal buttresses and topped with angle pinnacles, embattled parapet and an eight-sided spire.^[1] The bells in the tower are of various ages; the oldest of which is from 1590. The peal was rehung in 1911 when a new treble added,^[3] and again in 1966.^[13]

Some of the fittings including the 13th-century piscina, font and the figure of St Agatha in the north aisle are from the earlier church on the site.^[5] St Agatha is sculpted with a sword through her naked breasts depicting the nature of her martyrdom.^[7] The brass chandelier hanging from the ceiling is from 1730,^[7] and is inscribed "the gift of Mr Richard Ainge".^[14] The pulpit was added in 1882, but the base on which it stands is much older and was found in the vicarage garden.^[3]

There are some medieval brasses and marble monuments.^[1] Under the stained glass east window is a wooden reredos with a carving of Agnus Dei.^[7]

The graveyard is now closed for burials, with modern burials taking place in the town cemetery,^[15] but it includes many gravestones dating back hundreds of years. Chest tombs include those to William Hobbs,^[16] Ann Lambert,^[17] William Giles,^[18] Sarah Pace,^[19] Henry Yeatman,^[20] Thomas and John Walker,^[21] William Gearing,^[22] Mary Sophia Matthews,^[23] Thomas Hipsley,^[24] Mary Anne Walker,^[25] John Raven,^[26] William and Elizabeth Hobbs,^[27] Thomas Andrews,^[28] John Taylor,^[29] William and Thomas Hall^[30] and multiple unidentified monuments.

• St Lawrence Church