St Laurence, Slough
St Laurence, Slough
St Laurence is a Grade I parish church on Upton Court Road, Upton, Slough, in the Diocese of Oxford and the parish of Upton-cum-Chalvey. It is the oldest building in the borough of Slough.
- Location
- Slough, Berkshire
- Country
- England
- County
- Berkshire
- City / town
- Slough
- Address
- St Laurence, Upton Court Road, Slough, Berkshire, SL3 7LS
- Postcode
- SL3 7LS
- Built
- Early C12 tower; late C12 nave and chancel; restored 1850-51
- Consecrated
- Rededicated 2 December 1851
- Architect
- Benjamin Ferrey (1850-51 restoration)
- Denomination
- Church of England
- Dedication
- Laurence
- Diocese
- Oxford
- Parish
- Upton-cum-Chalvey
- Grade
- I
- Style
- Norman; Gothic Revival south aisle
- Materials
- Uncoursed rubblestone and puddingstone (ferricrete) with chalk and Bath stone ashlar dressings; old tile roofs
- Opening hours
- Open by arrangement. Open at 10.30am Thursdays or 12noon Sundays (after services) or any time by contacting us.
- Access
- Ramp or level access available on request. Non-accessible toilets in church. Level access to the main areas
Overview
Historic England records an early twelfth-century tower, the rest of the late twelfth century, with restoration and a south aisle and vestry of 1850-51 by Benjamin Ferrey; the tower was altered in 1906 and a vestry added in 1910. The fabric is uncoursed rubblestone and puddingstone (ferricrete) with chalk and Bath stone ashlar dressings and old tile roofs, separately over nave and aisle, with a timber bellcote at the east end of the aisle. The two-stage central tower has a cornice and coped parapet to a low pyramidal cap. The nave north wall has four round-arched windows, a fifteenth-century two-light window, and a round-arched doorway with chevron decoration and one order of shafts. The west front has two three-light windows and a round-arched window in the gable. The two-bay chancel has strip buttresses and paired round-arched east windows with a blocked circular window above.
Wikipedia states that a Norman font and piscina survive, that the church fell into disrepair and was saved from demolition when St Mary's was built in the town centre, and that Ferrey's restoration was rededicated on 2 December 1851. Sir William Herschel is buried in the churchyard.