Lapley

Lapley is a small English village situated in Staffordshire some 3.5 miles WSW of Penkridge, 1.5 miles east of Wheaton Aston, 0.5 miles northeast of the Shropshire Union Canal, 1.5 miles north of Watling Street, and 6 miles SSW of Stafford. The civil parish is called Lapley, Stretton and Wheaton Aston.

Lapley

Lapley village sign, June 2008
Lapley
Location within Staffordshire
OS grid referenceSJ875129
Civil parish
Shire county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townStafford
Postcode districtST19
PoliceStaffordshire
FireStaffordshire
AmbulanceWest Midlands
UK Parliament

Lapley Priory

Lapley Priory was a community of Black Monks (Benedictines), endowed c.1061, in the time of Edward the Confessor, by Ælfgar, Lord of Mercia and Chester, in memory of his third son Burgheard who died in Reims while returning from a pilgrimage to Rome with Aldred Archbishop of York. It had been Burchard's dying wish to be buried at the Abbey of Saint-Remi and for his father to donate land in return. Accordingly, Alfgar bestowed land at Lapley and elsewhere in Staffordshire and Shropshire on Rheims Abbey, which established a satellite house at Lapley, probably in the mid-12th century. In due course, it was suppressed by Henry V, who suppressed all alien priories in 1415 during the wars with France, before the general monastic Dissolution of 1537-8. Its estates became the property of the college of Tong, in Shropshire. In the English civil wars, the Priory House was fortified and garrisoned, but in 1645 it was dismantled under a parliamentary order. Some remains of the abbey are still visible in the walls of an old house near the church.[1][2][3]

All Saints church
All Saints church, Lapley.

The church of All Saints at Lapley probably dates from the late 11th or early 12th century.[4] The nave and chancel are clearly Norman in age, along with the lower part of the tower, but the upper portions appear to be 15th century. The church possesses many ancient and unusual features and has been radically altered several times in its history. "An ancient map shows the Chapel of Ease was situated here before 1577. The present church was dedicated by Bishop Lonsdale of Lichfield in 1857."[5]

Of special interest is the Dutch carved 11th century font depicting seven scenes from the life of Christ,[6] which was discovered discarded in a local farm in the 19th century and then reinstated into the church.[7] "The font is unusual and consists of a base and pedestal supporting a wide octagonal bowl lined with lead. Carved scenes tell the story of the birth of Christ. The font is of early Dutch origin, no one knows how it came to Lapley."[8]

Notable people

See also

References
  1. G T Hartley, Some Notes on the Parish of Lapley-cum-Wheaton-Aston in the County of Stafford, Lapley Priory, 1912
  2. "All Saints Church, Lapley,". Archived from the original on 15 May 2008. Retrieved 11 June 2008.
  3. The Corpus of Romanesque Sculpture in Britain and Ireland, All Saints, Lapley, Staffordshire
  4. N Pevsner, The Buildings of England, Staffordshire, Harmonsworth/Penguin, 1974, p. 167
  5. The Historic Churches Trail of South Staffordshire
  6. "Image of Lapley Font". Archived from the original on 13 August 2011. Retrieved 11 June 2008.
  7. Rev. W D Eynon-Williams, The ancient church of All Saints (formerly St Peter's) at Lapley, 1949
  8. All Saints Church, Lapley Archived 2008-09-07 at the Wayback Machine

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