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St Lawrence's Church,
B4035,
Weston Subedge, Gloucestershire.

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 in the 14th century, and we understand it is still open.

Weston-sub-Edge was described in 1923 as a village and parish, on the road from [Chipping] Campden to Evesham, with a station on the Cheltenham and Honeybourne branch of the Great Western Railway, 5 miles south-east from Evesham, and 29 north-east from Gloucester. The church of St Lawrence is "a large and handsome building of stone, of the 14th century, consisting of chancel, nave, south porch and an embattled western tower, with pinnacles, containing a clock and one bell". There are twelve memorial windows to the Molyneaux, Moss and Bourne families, an inscribed brass to Colonel Thomas Bourne, 1879, and a monument with recumbent figure to Captain Francis Hole Bourne, 43rd Light Infantry (1880). There is also a good brass to William Hodges, dated 1590, and a mural tablet recording the gift by Thomas Beman, of this parish, of a dole of bread at Christmas.

The church was restored in 1861, under the direction of Mr. [Frederick] Preedy, architect, and again during the period 1879-88. The parish records date from 1612. The living was said to be a rectory, held since 1916 by the Rev. Francis James Thompson, of Lichfield Theological College. An old Roman Road ("Buckle Street") borders the west side of the parish.

There are 4 medieval stone coffin lids in the churchyard, entered by an attractive Lych Gate. It was designed by F.L. Griggs about 1920, and commemorates the dead of 2 World Wars.

The return to the Religious Census of 1851 (HO 129/389/2/12/13) records the church as dedicated to St John the Baptist. On March 30th, there were an estimated 81 attendees at morning services, and 116 in the afternoon (including Sunday Scholars). The return was completed by G.D. Bourne, Rector, who lived at "C. Campden, Gloucestershire".

Three of the many settlements known by the name "Norton" lie in the parish. Norton Hall, to the north, was in 1922 unoccupied, but described as "a large modern mansion, standing in grounds of 500 acres, part of which are in the parish of Mickleton". "Burnt Norton" Manor House, the older of the two, was in 1741 owned by Sir William Keyte, bart. and M.P. for Warwick. "After encumbering his estate by a long course of dissipation, in a fit of remorse set the house on fire and perished in the flames September 9, 1741". Another account says he was deranged at the time. His remains were buried in a vault in Ebrington church. Finally, "Middle Norton" lies a short distance from Burnt Norton.

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 SP1283040582. You can see this on various mapping systems. Note all links open in a new window:

• St Lawrence's Church, Weston Subedge shown on a Google Map.
• Places of Worship in Weston Subedge 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)