St_Lawrence's_Church,_Longridge

St Lawrence's Church, Longridge

St Lawrence's Church, Longridge

Anglican church in Lancashire, England

St Lawrence's Church, located on Chapel Hill in Longridge, Lancashire, England, is an active Anglican parish church in the diocese of Blackburn. Built as a chapel of ease of St Wilfrid, Ribchester in the early 16th century, it was made a parish church in 1868, a role it now shares, jointly, with the nearby St Paul's Church.

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History

The earliest documented reference to a 'Chapel of Longridge' is made in 1522. Rebuilding work took place in 1716 and again in 1784, when the chapel was repaired and enlarged; the tower was added in 1841, and in 1926 a north porch was built at the west end of the nave. In 2005, at the request of Longridge Town Council, a conservation area appraisal and boundary review was conducted. The report recommended the creation of a new zone, and in 2008 the church and its surrounds were designated the St Lawrence's Church Conservation Area. The nearby St Paul's was built as a chapel of ease for St Lawrence.

Architecture

Stained glass

The stained glass of the north and south sides of the ground floor of the church dates from 1938–40, and is by glassmakers James Powell and Sons. The west window, a memorial to the fallen of the First World War, was designed by the Lancastrian firm Shrigley & Hunt. In 1975, the artist Brian Clarke was commissioned to designed ten pairs of stained glass windows for the north and south mezzanine galleries.[1][2][3] The sequence of windows, considered the first works of the artist's maturity, reflect the influence of Japanese screen painting on Clarke's work,[4] depicting local scenes including the River Ribble, Pendle Hill, Longridge Fell and Fairsnape Fell, and the local reservoirs and quarries, designed in a semi-abstract way.

Exterior

Interior

Inside the church are two war memorials commemorating fallen servicemen and officers who had been inhabitants of Longridge. A marble tablet notes the casualties of the First World War, and a brass plaque below it lists those who died in the Second World War.[5] The inscription on the tablet reads:

To the Glory of God & to the memory of Longridge officers and men who died for their country in the Great War 1914-1918. This tablet is reverently presented by Parishioners and friends 1939 - 1945.[5]

Present day

St Lawrence's is an active Anglican parish church in the deanery of Preston, the archdeaconry of Lancaster, and the diocese of Blackburn.[6] The church works in association with St Paul's Church, with which it is, jointly and equally, the parish church of Longridge.

See also

References

  1. [1]
    Angus, Mark (1984). Modern Stained Glass in British Churches. United Kingdom: Mowbray. p. 58. ISBN 9780264669861.
  2. [2]
    Coleman, Marigold (May 1977). "Glass from the North". Crafts Magazine. 28. Crafts Council of Great Britain: 17–20.
  3. [3]
    Harrison, Martin; Reyntiens, Patrick (1979). Clarke, Brian (ed.). Architectural Stained Glass. USA: McGraw-Hill. p. 162. ISBN 071953657X.
  4. [4]
    Reyntiens, Patrick (1979). "Elements of Architecture: The Window". In Schofield, Maria (ed.). Decorative Art and Modern Interiors: Themes in Nature. Vol. 68. London: Studio Vista, Cassell Ltd. p. 152. ISBN 0289708605.
  5. [5]
    "War Memorials Register: St. Lawrence's Church". Imperial War Museums. IWM. Retrieved 15 October 2021.
  6. [6]
    "St Lawrence, Longridge", A Church Near You, Archbishops' Council, retrieved 15 October 2021

Further reading

  • Till, J. M., Till, M. R. (1990). The History of St. Lawrence with St. Paul's, Longridge. United Kingdom: St. Lawrence and St. Paul's Churches.
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