Details
WEYMOUTH
SY6685 CHURCH STREET, Upwey
873-1/5/550 (West side)
12/12/53 Church of St Laurence
GV II*
Anglican parish church. Late C15, S aisle and arcade rebuilt
1838, nave clerestorey 1841; major restoration 1891. Chancel
and vestry 1906-07. Coursed rubble or dressed stone, some
Portland, various roofings: slate to nave, stone slate to
porch, tile to chancel, and lead, to aisles and vestry.
PLAN: west tower, nave with N and S aisles, N porch, chancel
and vestry.
EXTERIOR: the tower is in 2 stages on a high plinth with
moulded weathering, plain chamfered weathering at mid height,
and crenellations, with gargoyles to each corner; the
crenellations are of a yellow colour similar to Ham stone. The
top stage has a small 2-light cusped opening with louvres to E
and W, a small 2-light to the S, and clock face to the N. The
lower stage has diagonal buttresses with 2 offsets. The W face
has a 3-light Perpendicular window with label, in the yellow
stone; to the S is a small recessed light, and a small slated
lean-to.
On the S side the churchyard level is above that of the tower
plinth. The S side of the nave has a roll-mould weathered
parapet coping and four 2-light windows, without cusps, set
flush; the E gable carries a decorative cross in Portland
stone. The aisle has bold crenellation above a weathered
string course, with three 3-light windows as above, with
diagonal buttress to the left, and 4 plain buttresses to
double offsets. The W end retains a 2-light Perpendicular
window, set deep. The vestry continues in the same plane as
the aisle, and has a door in a haunched opening, a lateral
stack, and diagonal buttress.
The E end, said (VCH) to be the relocated C14 chancel arch, is
in earlier masonry, and contains a 2-light Perpendicular
window under a coped parapet at a very low pitch. The chancel,
with diagonal buttresses and coped gable with terminal
Portland stone cross, has a 2-light window on the S side,
deep-set 3-light to the E, and 4-light square-headed window
set flush to the N. The N aisle and porch have C15 walls. The
nave clerestorey is as to the S, and the aisle has
crenellations over a 3-light Perpendicular window each side of
the porch. The ends have diagonal buttresses, and there are 2
straight buttresses; the E end has a 4-light flush window
similar to that to the chancel, and the W end a 2-light
Perpendicular opening.
The deep, plain gabled porch has diagonal buttresses, a
doorway to 4-centred head, and with wave and hollow mould,
containing C19 iron gates. Stone bench each side with wood
seat. The inner opening has a fine mediaeval studded wide
plank door, with diagonal planks inside, and on long strap
hinges, all within a flat pointed segmental arch on
hollow-mould jambs with stops. The C19 roof is carried on the
E side on a moulded plate, possibly of the C15.
INTERIOR: the nave and aisles are on stone slab floors, with
wood block, at the same level, under the pews. The 4-bay nave
has piers of 4 shafts and 4 hollows to leaf decoration
capitals and high bases, carrying arches with wave-and-hollow
mould. The walls are plastered, with 2 Tudor roses painted on
the N side, and the C19 roof, in 4 and a half bays, has
painted braced king-post trusses.
The N aisle has plastered walls with the remains of three C16
painted texts from St Matthew and Proverbs; that to the left
is partly covered by a monument. A deep squint in the SE
corner, and behind the altar position is a run of C17
panelling with guilloche frieze, c1.3m high, and 1.5m + 2.5m
long. The NE window has glass of 1889.
The S aisle has a roof identical with the N, glass of 1909 in
the centre window, and a painted Royal Coat of Arms
(Victoria). In the SW corner is an inserted low partition with
door, of the late C20. The C15 tower arch has stone panelling
to the intrados and jambs, on a high plinth, which returns
across the W wall of the nave. The moulded chancel arch is
carried on tapered brackets and plain impost blocks.
The hexagonal trussed rafter roof is on unplastered walls, and
Minton tile floors, raised one step from the nave, and 1 step
to the sanctuary plus a further step for the altar. To the S
is a wide pointed arch to the vestry, now also containing the
organ, by Sweetland of Bath, 1895. The E window is brightly
coloured, but incorporates several panels of C17 Flemish
glass, including a Crucifixion.
FITTINGS: plain late C19 pews, fine C17 seven-sided pulpit
with 2 tiers of panelling, and strapwork, on C19 stone base,
oak eagle lectern, with dedication to Frederick Broke Howell,
1889-1951, octagonal stone font, C15, recut. Flanking the
tower arch, and near the lectern are 3 hanging panels in oak,
approx 1m high, probably from a pulpit; they carry the figures
of St Philip, St Peter, and St Bartholomew.
In the sanctuary are 2 small C17 chairs, and a larger one, in
C17 style, made in 1907 from oak out of Winchester cathedral.
Near the porch, which has a C20 inner draught lobby, is a C17
alms chest.
MONUMENTS: there are several wall monuments, including a white
marble tablet at the W end of the N aisle, to Anna Floyer,
1774, and a fine baroque tablet at the E end of the same, to
Sarah Floyer, 1733. On the chancel S wall a large white marble
memorial to George Gould, 1841, of Fleetway House and Upway
(sic), by Hopper, Wigmore Street; his father (d.1797) and
mother (d.1824) are also commemorated.
(RCHME: Dorset, South-East: London: 1970-: 365; The Buildings
of England: Newman J & Pevsner N: Dorset: London: 1972-: 433).
Listing NGR: SY6605685241
