<< Our Photo Pages >> St Laurence's Church (Bradford on Avon) - Early Christian Sculptured Stone in England in Wiltshire
Submitted by Anne T on Tuesday, 11 June 2019 Page Views: 1681
Early Medieval (Dark Age)Site Name: St Laurence's Church (Bradford on Avon)Country: England County: Wiltshire Type: Early Christian Sculptured Stone
Nearest Town: Bradford on Avon
Map Ref: ST8241960914
Latitude: 51.347031N Longitude: 2.253817W
Condition:
5 | Perfect |
4 | Almost Perfect |
3 | Reasonable but with some damage |
2 | Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site |
1 | Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks |
0 | No data. |
-1 | Completely destroyed |
5 | Superb |
4 | Good |
3 | Ordinary |
2 | Not Good |
1 | Awful |
0 | No data. |
5 | Can be driven to, probably with disabled access |
4 | Short walk on a footpath |
3 | Requiring a bit more of a walk |
2 | A long walk |
1 | In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find |
0 | No data. |
5 | co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates |
4 | co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map |
3 | co-ordinates scaled from a bad map |
2 | co-ordinates of the nearest village |
1 | co-ordinates of the nearest town |
0 | no data |
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Anne T visited on 17th May 2019 - their rating: Cond: 3 Amb: 5 Access: 4 St Laurence's Church, Bradford on Avon: From Wells, we had to decide which church was going to be the very last visit of our Dartmoor Expedition, as we were rapidly running out of time – Deerhurst or Bradford-On-Avon. In the end, the decision was down to knowing that St. Laurence’s Church would be open, although only until about 5pm or 5.30pm, so the race was on to battle the traffic to get here in time. Eventually we made it with about 45 minutes to spare, managing to park just round the corner from both St. Laurence’s and Holy Trinity.
What a treasure! I’d read that it was as complete as Escombe Saxon Church, but it felt so different – more doorways and very, very dark. The only spotlights were on the angels over the chancel archway, a small light in the sanctuary, then the rest through the narrow doorways and tiny windows.
The church was a real tourist magnet and I had to wait several times to get a shot without people in the photo. I’m sure I annoyed everyone with my flash, but that was the only way I could photograph the stone fragments.
I’m really pleased I’d printed of the Corpus of Anglo Saxon Stone Sculpture pages before we went, as I understood what I saw at the time. I put my papers down to take a photograph of the altar, coming out of the sanctuary to find someone had picked them up and was reading them. I had to ask nicely for them back and explain these were mine, but there was a leaflet in a box on the south wall of the nave.
I was really sad we couldn’t get this little church to ourselves for ten minutes or so. We ended up having 15 minutes to look into Holy Trinity Church opposite, only to almost get locked in, although we spent 10 minutes or so talking to the very knowledgeable church warden. Then we walked around the town after to avoid the queues of traffic that had built up.
This Saxon church is described by Pastscape as "one of the most important examples of Anglo-Saxon architecture extant in this country. It is considered to date mainly from" the latter part of the 10th c. but incorporating much of the church of a monastery founded by St. Aldhelm, c.705-10 … This building is of exceptional archaeological value and until the discovery, in 1856, of its ecclesiastical origin by Canon Jones of Bradford, had been in use as a "skull house" and then as a free School".
For detailed information about this church, see both Pastscape Monument No. 208138 and Historic England List ID 1036034.
Inside the church can be found fragments of early Christian carved stones, recorded by the Corpus of Anglo Saxon Stone Sculpture:
Bradford on Avon 1, part of a cross shaft, dated to the ninth century, built into a display above the altar in 1970;
Bradford on Avon 2, part of a ninth century cross head, but listed as having been stolen in 2002;
Bradford on Avon 3, fragment of a cross head, dated to the ninth century (listed as now being in the private possesion of the Trustees of St Laurence's Church);
Bradford on Avon 4a-b, two figures of angels, built into the western side of the chancel arch; and
Bradford on Avon 5a-c, an eighth century carved slab in three pieces, now built into the altar.
More information, with features to look for, can be found in the short guide to the church at Saxon Church: Guide; this includes contact details to find out when the church is open (we understand it is open most days until 5.30pm, but please check as regular services are still held here).
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