St Lawrence Church, Lechlade

The interior of the church

In September 1815 Percy Bysshe Shelley visited Lechlade with his future wife Mary, her step-brother Charles Clairmont, and the novelist Thomas Love Peacock, and was moved to compose a poem, A Summer-Evening Churchyard, Lechlade, Gloucestershire, which was published the following year.[7] The path through the churchyard is now named “Shelley’s Walk”, in a tribute to the famous atheist.[5]

The Vicar is Dr Andrew Cinnamond.[8] The church has strong links with the nearby St Lawrence Church of England Primary School.[9]

The parish of Lechlade is part of the South Cotswold Team Ministry benefice within the Diocese of Gloucester.[10]

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.[4] St Agatha is sculpted with a sword through her naked breasts depictng the nature of her martyrdom.[6] The brass chandelier hanging from the ceiling is from 1730,[6] and is inscribed "the gift of Mr Richard Ainge".[12] 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.[6]

The graveyard is now closed for burials, with modern burials taking place in the town cemetery,[13] but it includes many gravestones dating back hundreds of years. Chest tombs include those to William Hobbs,[14] Ann Lambert,[15] William Giles,[16] Sarah Pace,[17] Henry Yeatman,[18] Thomas and John Walker,[19] William Gearing,[20] Mary Sophia Matthews,[21] Thomas Hipsley,[22] Mary Anne Walker,[23] John Raven,[24] William and Elizabeth Hobbs,[25] Thomas Andrews,[26] John Taylor,[27] William and Thomas Hall[28] and multiple unidentified monuments.