St Laurence, Alvechurch
St Laurence, Alvechurch
St Laurence is a Grade II* parish church on School Lane / Bear Hill, Alvechurch, Worcestershire. The village name records an earlier church of Ælfgyth. William Butterfield rebuilt nave, south aisle and chancel in 1859–61 around a 1676 west tower and a fourteenth-century north aisle.
- Location
- Alvechurch, Worcestershire
- Country
- England
- County
- Worcestershire
- City / town
- Alvechurch
- Address
- School Lane, Alvechurch, Worcestershire, B48 7SB
- Postcode
- B48 7SB
- Built
- 12th-century fragments; 14th-century north aisle; tower 1676; nave, south aisle and chancel rebuilt 1859–61
- Consecrated
- 1861 (Butterfield rebuild dedicated)
- Architect
- William Butterfield (1859–61); tower by Samuel and Thomas Richards, 1676
- Denomination
- Church of England
- Dedication
- Laurence
- Diocese
- Worcester
- Parish
- Alvechurch
- Grade
- II*
- Style
- Gothic Revival
- Materials
- Sandstone ashlar with machine-tile roof
- Opening hours
- The church and The Ark are open from 9am to 2pm every weekday, and at other times by arrangement.
- Access
- Level access to the main areas. Accessible toilets in church
Overview
Historic England lists sandstone ashlar with a machine-tile roof. The three-stage west tower, rebuilt in 1676 by Samuel and Thomas Richards, incorporates some fifteenth-century features, a balustrade with crocketed pinnacles, and a datestone with addorsed dragons. Butterfield took down and rebuilt the chancel, nave and south porch, added a south aisle, re-roofed the north aisle, raised the nave with a clerestory, and used red and white patterned brickwork. A reset restored twelfth-century south door has a roll-moulded head and billeted label. The parish records the dedication to St Laurence from at least 1239, when the fair was held on his feast. The restored church was dedicated in 1861.
Bishops of Worcester kept a palace at Alvechurch. A parish extension known as The Ark was built in 2005. The tower has a peal of eight bells, the oldest dating from 1711.