Saxon Church of St Laurence, Bradford on Avon
Saxon Church of St Laurence, Bradford on Avon
The Church of St Laurence on Church Street, Bradford-on-Avon, is a Grade I Anglo-Saxon church, one of the most complete surviving buildings of its kind in England, standing beside the later parish church of Holy Trinity.
- Location
- Bradford on Avon, Wiltshire
- Country
- England
- County
- Wiltshire
- City / town
- Bradford on Avon
- Address
- Church Street, Bradford on Avon, Wiltshire, BA15 1LN
- Postcode
- BA15 1LN
- Built
- Tenth century (some authorities suggest eighth); restored 1870–80
- Denomination
- Independent
- Dedication
- Laurence
- Grade
- I
- Style
- Anglo-Saxon
- Materials
- Coursed rubble with some ashlar; high-pitched stone-tiled roofs
- Grid reference
- ST 824 609
- Opening hours
- Open 10am to 6pm in summer and 10am to 4pm in winter.
- Access
- Level access to the main areas
Overview
Historic England dates the fabric to the tenth century (some authorities prefer the eighth) and notes its exceptional archaeological value. Until Canon William Jones recognised its ecclesiastical origin in 1856, the building had been used as a “skull house” and then as a free school. The plan is a nave about 25 feet by 13 feet, a chancel about 13 feet by 10 feet 6 inches, and a north porch, the whole remarkable for its height relative to its area. Walls are coursed rubble with some ashlar, under high-pitched stone-tiled roofs. External faces are divided by string courses, with pilaster strips and an arcading of pilasters supporting semi-circular arches. Narrow round-headed doorways and double-splay windows survive. Inside, the chancel floor is lower than the nave and the chancel arch is of typical Saxon type.
Documentary sources associate a foundation with St Aldhelm around 700. Wikipedia summarises later debate: much of the standing fabric is now usually placed in the tenth or eleventh century, possibly after 1001 when Æthelred the Unready gave the site to the nuns of Shaftesbury Abbey. Restoration took place between 1870 and 1880. The church is independently cared for and open to visitors.