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
Location	Stratford Tony, Wiltshire, England
Coordinates	51°02′13″N 1°52′14″W
Built	13th century
Listed Building – Grade I
Official name	Church of St. Mary and St. Lawrence
Designated	23 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

• List of churches preserved by the Churches Conservation Trust in South West England

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.