St Lawrence’s Church, Appleby: An Anglican Parish Church
Site at a Glance
- Country
- United Kingdom
- Primary era
- Medieval
- Eras represented
- Medieval, Early Modern, Modern
- Civilizations
- British, English
- Site type
- Religious
- Remains
- Church
On this page10 sections
History
St Lawrence’s Church, Appleby, is an active Anglican parish church in Appleby-in-Westmorland, United Kingdom, dated to 1150. Its history includes medieval construction, a major rebuilding under Lady Anne Clifford and later restoration.
Medieval construction
The church is dated to 1150, as is approximately the lower part of its tower. The south porch was added in the 13th century, while the main body of the church took shape in the 14th and 15th centuries.
Restoration and later history
In 1655, Lady Anne Clifford, an English noblewoman and patron, restored the church and rebuilt its north chapel and chancel. Christopher Hodgson added ceilings in 1830–31. Further restoration followed in 1861–62 and 1960. In December 2015, the River Eden overflowed and caused severe flooding at the church.
The church belongs to Appleby Deanery, Carlisle Archdeaconry and the Diocese of Carlisle. Its ecclesiastical parish covers Appleby and the surrounding civil parishes of Hoff, Colby, Crackenthorpe and Murton. It is one of ten parishes in the Heart of Eden benefice, an ecclesiastical unit served by clergy. The church was designated a Grade I listed building on 6 June 1951.
Remains
Plan and architecture
On Boroughgate, the church is built of stone and has lead roofs. Its plan comprises a nave with a clerestory, a high section of wall with windows above the main roofline, north and south aisles, a chancel, a northeast chapel, a southwest porch and a west tower. The tower and clerestory are finished with battlements. The tower base is Norman, an English form of Romanesque architecture associated with the period after the Norman Conquest. The remaining exterior is Perpendicular, while the interior is Decorated, both styles of English Gothic architecture.
Interior monuments and furnishings
Clifford family monuments
The northeast chapel contains monuments to Lady Margaret Clifford and her daughter, Lady Anne Clifford. Lady Margaret, who died in 1616, has a free-standing black marble monument with an alabaster effigy, attributed to Maximilian Colt, who held the royal office of Master Carver. Lady Anne’s monument, made during her lifetime around 1655–57, is of black-and-white marble and has no effigy. Its panel behind the altar, or reredos, includes a family tree represented by shields.
Effigy and stained glass
A female effigy from the 14th century is also preserved in the church. Three windows in the south aisle contain stained glass by Heaton, Butler and Bayne. Other windows are attributed to William Wailes or to Wailes and Strang.
Screens, font and corporation pew
The nave arcades have five bays, and the screens date to about 1500. The octagonal font is made of 19th-century black Frosterley Marble, a dark decorative limestone despite its name. The church also contains a corporation pew, a seat associated with a municipal corporation.
Organ and bells
The two-manual pipe organ stands at the west end beneath the tower arch. Robert Preston built it in 1661 for Carlisle Cathedral, whose dean gave it, with its original case, to St Lawrence’s in 1683. The case has three turrets topped by heraldic emblems and three small childlike heads beneath the cornice. The church’s six bells were cast in 1833 by Thomas Mears II at the Whitechapel Bell Foundry.
