St Mary & St Lawrence's Church, Stratford Tony

The Church of St Mary & St Lawrence in the village of Stratford Tony, Wiltshire, England, was built in the 13th century.

St Mary & St Lawrence's Church
LocationStratford Tony, Wiltshire, England
Coordinates51°02′13″N 1°52′14″W
Built13th century
Listed Building – Grade I
Official nameChurch of St. Mary and St. Lawrence
Designated23 March 1960[1]
Reference no.1181901
Location of St Mary & St Lawrence's Church in Wiltshire
Looking east

It is situated on the south bank of the River Ebble, accessed from the North down a lane, across the river and up a bank.[2]

It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade I listed building,[1] and is now a redundant church in the care of the Churches Conservation Trust.[2]

It was declared redundant on 1 October 1984, and was vested in the Trust on 26 March 1986.[3]


History

The chancel dates from the 14th century, and was built on the site of an earlier church.[1][4]

The walls are constructed of stone and flint and the 15th century west tower is of square cross-section with a pyramid-shaped tiled roof supported by diagonal buttresses.

The nave was rebuilt in the 18th century.[1]

Around the church walls are a collection of gargoyles.[1]

Inside the Church
Small box pews at the east end of the nave

The interior of the church includes a 14th-century font and box pews with colonnaded tops.[5]

The stalls and pews are from the 17th century.[6]

Memorials include a marble plaque to George Taunton and a wall tablet to Elizabeth Hill who died in 1715.[1]

The stained glass in the east window was installed by the studio of Charles Eamer Kempe in 1884.[2]

In 2012 Loyd Grossman, who is the chairman of the Churches Conservation Trust, visited the church and presented certificates to local school children who had researched the history of the church.[7]

The Churchyard

There is a large Yew tree in the churchyard with a girth of over 11 feet (3.4 m).[8][9]

Among the graves and tombs in the churchyard is a chest tomb to Anthony Bradbury who died in 1845.[10]

See also

References
  1. Historic England. "Church of St. Mary and St. Lawrence, Stratford Tony (1181901)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 13 June 2014.
  2. Church of St Mary & St Lawrence, Stratford Tony, Wiltshire. Churches Conservation Trust. Retrieved 1 April 2011.
  3. Diocese of Salisbury: All Schemes (PDF). Church Commissioners/Statistics. Church of England. 2011. p. 10. Retrieved 1 April 2011.
  4. "Stratford Tony Church". The Bishopstone Village Website. Retrieved 4 September 2016.
  5. "Church of St Mary and St Lawrence, Stratford Tony". Visit Wiltshire. Retrieved 4 September 2016.
  6. "Through the Nadder and Chalke Valleys". Wiltshire Historic Churches Trust. Retrieved 4 September 2016.
  7. Blake, Morwena (28 May 2012). "Pupils meet Loyd Grossman". Salisbury Journal. Retrieved 4 September 2016.
  8. "Stratford Tony". Discover Chalke Valley. Retrieved 4 September 2016.
  9. Norton, Peter. "Wiltshire Yews An Inventory of Churchyard Yews Along the Ebble Valley" (PDF). Retrieved 14 October 2010.
  10. "Bradbury monument, in the Churchyard, about 1 metre north of nave of Church of St Mary and St Lawrence". National Heritage List for England. Historic England. Retrieved 4 September 2016.

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