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St Lawrence's Church,
High Street, DE12 7HZ,
Measham, Derbyshire.

Cemeteries

This Church has (or had) a graveyard.

Note: any church within an urban environment may have had its graveyard closed after the Burial Act of 1853. Any new church built after that is unlikely to have had a graveyard at all.

Church History

This Place of Worship was founded before 1300, and we understand it is still open.

Kelly's Directory of 1895 describes St Lawrence's Church as "a building of stone, consisting of clerestoried nave of five bays, aisles, south porch and an embattled western tower with pinnacles, containing a clock and 4 bells, the first three dated respectively 1606, 1618, and 1714, and the fourth bearing an invocation in Lombardic capitals". The church was evidently rebuilt throughout during the Decorated period, c.1300, and has a remarkable porch with semi-circular stone ribs, and in the north aisle a small circular window of exceptional character.

The nave was new-roofed, the arcade wall raised and a clerestory formed during the Perpendicular period. The church was renovated c.1843, when all that was left of the ancient glass was worked up into new and glaring designs. The font is an octagon, panelled and carved with quatrefoils. The brass eagle lectern was given by the parishioners in 1894, as a memorial to the Rev. John Hewetson M.A. vicar 1852-93. There are 606 sittings, 300 being free. The register dates from the year 1681 for all entries and is in good condition. The living had then been held by the Rev. Joseph Hewetson M.A. of Worcester College, Oxford since 1893.

The Ashby-de-la-Zouch canal passes through the village and the parish is bounded on the east and south by the river Mease. Originally it included parts of the townships of Donisthorpe and Oakthorpe, though there is no mention of this by Kelly. It was transferred to Leicestershire in 1897, and is now in the diocese of Leicester. Derbyshire Record Office's catalogue of Church of England Registers includes microfiche of baptisms 1751-1812, marriages 1754-1812, and burials 1751-1812. The dedication is sometimes spelled "St Laurence".

Denomination

Now or formerly Church of England.

If more than one congregation has worshipped here, or its congregation has united with others, in most cases this will record its original dedication.

Maps

This Church is located at OS grid reference SK3352812214. You can see this on various mapping systems. Note all links open in a new window:

• St Lawrence's Church, Measham shown on a Google Map.
• Places of Worship in Measham shown on a Google Map.
• Streetmap.co.uk (arrow on map shows the Place of Worship's location) (verified 2018-10-15)
• Bing (Ordnance Survey option) (verified 2018-10-13)
• Bing Maps ('Bird's Eye' View) (verified 2018-10-15)
• Ordnance Survey "getamap" (NB some of the 'Change Map' options may require a subscription) (verified 2018-10-15)
• OpenStreetMap (Maps © OpenStreetMap contributors, CC-BY-SA) (verified 2018-10-15)
• A Vision of Britain Through Time - useful for Boundary Changes (verified 2018-10-15)
• www.magic.gov.uk (Modern Maps with various overlays) (verified 2018-10-15)