Church of St Laurence

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

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

467384

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Books and journals
Inventory of Dorset II South East, (1970), 365
Pevsner, N, Newman, J, The Buildings of England: Dorset, (1972), 433

End of official list entry

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