St Lawrence's Church, Bourton-on-the-Water

St Lawrence's is the parish church of Bourton-on-the-Water, on the High Street a short walk from the river. It is a church of three periods: a fourteenth-century chancel, said to be of 1328, a Georgian tower of 1784 with a lead dome, and a nave remodelled in the Gothic style in 1891. It is listed Grade II*, open daily and step-free.

History

St Lawrence's was built in three campaigns over almost six hundred years, each of which left a part standing.

The medieval chancel

The chancel is the oldest part. The parish dates it to 1328 and names its builder as Walter de Burhton, and the listing gives it as fourteenth century, "said to be 1328". It survived both later rebuildings.

William Marshall's Georgian church

In 1784 William Marshall rebuilt the rest of the church in the classical style of the day, keeping the old chancel. His tower survives: three stages of ashlar, rusticated at the base, with giant Ionic pilaster quoins at the corners above, a balustrade with vase finials and a lead-covered dome. The lozenge-shaped clock on its south face is dated 1785, with a large round clock above it.

T. G. Jackson's nave

The north aisle was added in 1875, the south porch in 1890, and the architect T. G. Jackson remodelled the nave back into the Decorated Gothic style, finishing in 1891, while keeping Marshall's tower and the medieval chancel. The chancel roof of 1890 was painted by F. Howard in 1928.

What to see

From the High Street, look up at the tower: its Georgian dome makes St Lawrence's easy to spot over the roofs. Then compare it with the nave's Gothic windows, and the walls of the older chancel at the east end.

Inside, the five-bay nave has round piers and a king-post roof, and the chancel roof keeps Howard's painting of 1928. The tower holds a ring of eight bells, the oldest cast by Rudhall in 1650; the bells were recast and rehung in 1957, and the parish describes a clock and a carillon as well. A list of rectors going back to 1291 hangs just inside the west door. High on the north wall are the parish's war memorials: a brass plaque in a marble frame naming the men who served in the First World War, and beneath it a carved wooden board to the men of the parish who fell in both world wars.

Visiting

St Lawrence's is open every day from about 10am to 4pm as a place of quiet and prayer, and entry is free. A Church Near You lists a ramp and step-free access, accessible parking, an accessible toilet, baby changing and a hearing loop, and says dogs are welcome and that guidebooks are on hand. The main Sunday service is at 11am, with refreshments after; there is also an 8am said Communion on the 2nd and 4th Sundays, and a Communion at 10am on Wednesdays in term time, so come at other times to look round. It is a calm place to step out of the crowds on the riverbank on a busy afternoon.

Getting there

The church is on the High Street, a few minutes' walk from the river. There is accessible parking at the church; otherwise park at the council's Rissington Road car park, GL54 2BN, about 400m east, which is free before 10am and has public toilets. The Pulhams 801 bus from Cheltenham, Stow and Moreton-in-Marsh station stops in the village, every day.

The Wardens' Way to the Slaughters leaves Bourton through the churchyard gates, and our 10-mile walk Bourton-on-the-Water, the Slaughters and Naunton sets off that way. Bourton, Upper Slaughter and Lower Slaughter and Bourton-on-the-Water and Wyck Rissington both pass close by on their way into the village.

Nearby

The war memorial and Narrow Bridge are on the river just below. The Willow, a pub on the High Street, is a few steps away, and the Croft and the Old New Inn are a few minutes away. Up the Wardens' Way, St Mary's at Lower Slaughter and St Peter's at Upper Slaughter are the next churches, and St Laurence's at Wyck Rissington, where Gustav Holst was organist, is across the fields to the east.