St Laurence Church, a brief history & guide

This brief History and Guide is largely taken from Robin Harcourt William’s work that was originally produced in 1973 and has been revised and reprinted several times since then.  The original typeset was by Robin Dyke and the Warborough & Shillingford Society covered the printing costs.

Re-edited for the W&S Society by Lynda Raynor – Photographs by Ray Thackrah – May 2024

There is no mention of a church in Warborough before the 12th century, which is probably because Warborough was overshadowed by its two neighbouring villages, Dorchester and Benson, which were of great importance in Anglo-Saxon times. Although the name of the village is Anglo- Saxon, meaning ‘watch hill’, the settlement did not perhaps grow large enough to support its own church until after the Norman Conquest of 1066.

Dorchester was one of the earliest centres of Christianity in the country, for the missionary St. Birinus baptised King Cynegils of Wessex there in 635 and established the seat of a bishopric which was, after York, still the largest in England at the time of the Norman Conquest. Benson, on the other hand, was the centre of a large royal manor, or estate, which included much of south Oxfordshire from the River Thames up to the Chilterns. It remained in the hands of the King throughout the Anglo-Saxon period and until the 13th century.Warborough does not have a separate entry in the Domesday Book because it is included in that of Benson.

The first reference we have to Warborough church, which was then a dependent chapel of Benson, is contained in a charter dated approximately 1140, whereby the church of Benson and its chapels of Nettlebed and Warborough were granted to Dorchester Abbey by the Empress Matilda, who was disputing the English throne with King Stephen. As a result of this grant the monks collected the tithes and other ecclesiastical dues of Warborough and came over from Dorchester to hold services in the church, without appointing a Vicar to live in the village.

When Dorchester Abbey was dissolved by King Henry VIII the living of Warborough was acquired by Corpus Christi College, Oxford, which still holds it. A house for a resident curate was built in the churchyard, but during the early 17th century special provision was made for two preachers of Corpus Christi to ride over from Oxford to give thirty sermons a year. For this service they shared 20 marks (£6.66) and it was laid down that ‘riding thither to preach, they shall have the use of one of the college geldings for that season only’.

Warborough did not become a separate parish until after the Civil War. Documents written before about 1660 invariably describe the church as ‘the chappell of Warborow within the parishe of Dorchester’ and a part of the graveyard at Dorchester Abbey was reserved for the inhabitants of Warborough and Shillingford. This was still in use in 1669, when Richard Biesley of Warborough directed in his will that he should be buried there, although it is clear from the parish registers that burials had also been taking place at Warborough from at least 1538.

The church’s connection with Dorchester Abbey survived long after the Reformation, because Warborough was within the jurisdiction of the ‘peculiar’ court belonging to the Abbey. In former centuries ecclesiastical courts dealt with many matters, not only concerning the administration of the church and the regularity of the parishioners in their worship, but also covering a wide range of more general cases in the field of morality, involving drunkenness, slander or licentiousness, for example, or directly affecting personal property, as with the probate of wills, which was the church’s responsibility. Such courts constituted a source of influence for those who had the right to hold them, and they were also profitable on account of the fees and fines which could be levied. The privilege of holding the courts usually belonged to archdeacons and bishops, but at an early date certain monasteries and parishes acquired the right to remain outside the jurisdiction of the bishop and to have local courts of their own. Such courts were called ‘peculiars’ and continued to be held until the 19th century, finally being made obsolete by a long process of legal reform which resulted in the transfer of most of their functions to the civil courts. The Dorchester court survived until at least 1836, which is the last year when the annual attendance of the Warborough parish clerk is recorded. Warborough parish was called upon to contribute to the repair of Dorchester churchyard walls until as late as 1817.

The ancient link with Dorchester was revived in 1977, when Her Majesty in Council confirmed the creation of the Dorchester Team Ministry. The livings of Warborough and Dorchester are now held in plurality by one person and Warborough is a constituent parish of the Team Ministry.

Nothing remains of the church which was granted to Dorchester Abbey in about 1140 and it may have stood on a different site. The oldest part of the present church, except perhaps for the font, is the Chancel, which has walls of the early 13th century (Early English style) but which was much altered in the 14th century. Flowing tracery in the Decorated style was inserted in the east window, which was probably a double lancet originally, but the outside pillars of the earlier window were left in place. Two pillars in a similar style are to be seen on the south wall of the chancel: they were probably the outside pillars of a lancet window with three lights. The present windows in the north and south walls of the chancel date from the 14th and 15th centuries.

The organ was gifted by Summerfields School, Oxford who bought it in 1899 from Henry Willis & Sons. It was installed in St Laurence Church by a team of volunteers in 2016. Henry ‘Father’ Willis was the pre-eminent  organ builder of the 19^th century having burst upon the scene with the Great Exhibition organ. In the words of the expert Bruce Buchanan ‘There are no bad Father Willis organs – to possess one is to possess a piece of Heaven’.

The Nave walls are of the early 14th century, with 15th century windows in the Perpendicular style. The two dormer windows high up at the west end formally gave light to a singers’ gallery, which was erected in 1638 and taken down this century. The remains of a painting on the north wall were uncovered in 1902 and were thought to show St. George slaying the dragon. Unfortunately the mural deteriorated so much that it was recently covered over again. Other paintings are said to have been found on the north wall and on the wall of the Memorial Chapel, but being much defaced they were never exposed.

The interior of the church was restored in 1912-14 and most of the fittings, such as the pews and the screen, date from that time. The partition between the nave and the chancel above the screen is, however, of an earlier period, and is decorated with an early 17th century representation of the plume of the Prince of Wales and the initials C.P. (for Carolus Princeps).

Although royal arms are quite common in churches, a painting of the Prince of Wales’ emblem is extremely unusual and the reason for it being there is not certain. It may commemorate the fact the Princes of Wales, as Dukes of Cornwall, held land in the parish and were lords of the manor until 1628, and it has been suggested that the Duchy of Cornwall may have contributed to repairs to the church. In strict accuracy the initials could only refer to Charles I, who was Prince of Wales between 1616 and 1625. His eldest son, later King Charles II, was occasionally (incorrectly) referred to as Prince of Wales between 1630, when he was born, and 1649, but he was never officially granted the title.

The opposite or nave side of the partition once bore traces of a painting, including the Tudor rose and the thistle, the badges of the Kingdoms of England and Scotland. Perhaps the King’s arms or a patriotic motto appeared between them.

The Memorial Chapel, on the south side of the nave, is built in the Decorated style of the early 14th century. It has a piscina and a single seat, but has not been used as a separate chapel for several centuries. The east window was long ago blocked up and the wall now bears a plaque commemorating those who died in the two world wars. On display is a book of remembrance given in memory of N.M.Belcher (1890-1978) a former Churchwarden, Chairman of the Parish Council and a local farmer.

The Font is one of the most interesting features of the church and probably the oldest. It is difficult to assign an exact date to it, but it appears to have been made in about 1200: the date of the earlier work in the chancel. It is, however, possible that it is slightly older than that and was retained from Warborough’s earlier church, which was not an uncommon practice when churches were rebuilt. It is unusual in that the bowl is of lead, cast in one piece. Only a small group of lead fonts remain in England, but two others are to be found in this neighbourhood. A very similar one is across the Thames at Long Wittenham, while a remarkably fine and earlier one may be seen at Dorchester.

The decoration round the bowl consists of a pattern, repeated 18 times, showing the figure of a bishop, or mitred abbot, holding a crozier and in the act of blessing. There are also two ornamental devices of geometrical design, one perhaps symbolic of the sun. The pedestal was made in the 15th century.

The Stained Glass is all of the late 19th and 20th centuries, except for a few remains of mediaeval glass in the window of the north wall of the chancel. These were skilfully reglazed by M.C.Farrar Bell of Haddenham, Bucks., for the Worshipful Company of Glaziers in 1983.

The war memorial east window is by A.J.Davies (1878-1953) of the Bromsgrove Guild of Applied Arts. At the top is the heavenly city of Jerusalem, as described by St. John in the Book of Revelation. In the centre we see the glory of the risen Christ, with St. Laurence on the right hand and the figure of a soldier kneeling in prayer on the left. Below them are representations of the pillars of cloud and fire which led the Israelites through the wilderness, and a French church and cemetery shattered by the bombardment of the First World War.

A window in the south wall of the Chancel, illustrating the parable of the Good Samaritan and commemorating the life of Theo King, for many years Churchwarden, Postmaster and Scouter, was also designed by M.C.Farrar Bell in 1989.

The Roof is supported by mediaeval oak beams and is of trussed rafter construction. Each pair of beams is made from a single tree split down the middle. They were formerly hidden by plaster, but were uncovered during the restoration of the church in 1912-14.

The older Monuments in the chancel are those of 18th century Vicars. One of them commemorates the Rev. Francis Randolph, who was Principal of St. Alban Hall in Oxford (since incorporated into Merton College) and Vicar of Warborough for 41 years. He died in 1797 and is described on his monument as being particularly interested in natural history and the country life. The church records dating from his time are meticulously kept in scholarly handwriting. It is tempting to think of him as a parson and naturalist like Gilbert White of Selborne, whose great-nephew Herbert White was Vicar of Warborough in the 19th century. He was brought up in Selborne and wrote of his fondness for the Common there during his successful campaign for the preservation of Warborough Green in 1847, when it was threatened with being enclosed as an arable field.

Although there are some relatively modem memorial brasses, Warborough lacks the interesting old family monuments possessed by some churches because from the 16th century until recent years, St. John’s College, Oxford was the principal landowner and no family of squires ever lived in the parish. The village never had a true manor house and although St. John’s held a manor court, part of the parish remained within the jurisdiction of Benson Manor until such courts became obsolete, reflecting the ancient development of the village out of the royal estate of Benson.

Many of the church’s interior fittings have been given by generous parishioners in memory of their relatives. Such gifts include attractive old brass oil lamps now used around the church on special occasions. One of these was placed in memory of Hedley W. Forty, who was drowned in the Tasman Sea off Australia at the age of 32.

The rebuilding of the tower came at the end of the Civil War period and after Cromwell’s rule, when there was considerable religious controversy in England. These differences affected Warborough closely, for the village had one of the earliest Quaker meetings in the country, while at the same time having a high proportion of Roman Catholics at the other end of the scale of religious opinion. Many of the dissenting parishioners refused to help in the rebuilding of the tower, and some years passed before the bells were finally re-hung.

A letter written by theVicar, the Rev. Robert Coppock, in 1673 is interesting for its despairing account of the progress of the restoration of the church. Part of it reads as follows:

‘I am much ashamed to see our Church lye in such desolatly neglected and ruinous condition. It lyes more like a barne; than a church. There hath beene nothing considerable done to it save the building of the Tower, for which we may thank our neighbours more than ourselves, who now repent their charitie, and crye out shame of us, for letting it lye so, but besides the Tower built (almost all upon our neighbours charges) there hath beene nothing done these 10 yeares and upward. We have 5 good bells lying here and

there in the Church, but not so much as a Sanctus Bell in ye Tower, so that wee have noe notice when to goe to prayers, . . . and hereupon it often comes to passe that prayers are done, when many well-wishers to them thought to have been at the beginning, and others upon the same account miss both prayers and sermon, and this putts them many times upon goeing to the Barne at Overy and makes us to be laughed at and jeered at by the Phanatick brood.’

The ‘Phanatick brood’ mentioned by the Vicar were the Quakers, who met for a time at Overy, near Dorchester, when they were prevented from meeting in Warborough and Shillingford. The Roman Catholics also worshipped at Overy.

Probably the bells were eventually placed in the tower in 1675, the date of two of them. There was a ring of six bells until 1955, when they were re-hung and two new ones by Mears and Stainbank were added. One of the older bells, originally made in 1618, was recast in 1871, but the other five are products of the Knight family foundry in Reading, varying in date between 1618 and 1701. They bear the following inscriptions:

Treble           ELLIS AND HENRY KNIGHT MADE MEE 1675

Second         HENRX KNXGHT MADE MEE ANO X6X8

Fourth          + SANCTA LAVRENTXE ORA PRO NOBXS. XH.WH. HK X6X8

Fifth              WILLIAM WALLIS. IOHN EMBREE. C.W. SK. 1701

Tenor            WILLIAM HARFORD.WALTER PORTER W.K. EH. 1675

A number of names are to be seen carved on the outside of the tower, and it is curious that some of them are members of the ‘Phanatick brood’ who had refused to help with the rebuilding. Two of them, for example, Thomas Hambledon and John Janes alias Phelp, were excommunicated by Dorchester peculiar court for not receiving Communion and for keeping ‘conventicles’ (Quaker meetings).

Another of the tower inscriptions is clearly intended to be a palindrome (which may read backwards or forwards) but unfortunately the carver put one of his Is in the wrong order:

LEWD DID I LIVE EVIL DID I DWEL ROBERT 1666 COX

The tower clock was given in memory of Sidney Beisley in 1871.

A major restoration of the tower was carried out in 1978-80. It was re- roofed in lead and the stonework was replaced where it had been eroded: this involved rebuilding the battlements. Parishioners supported the work more enthusiastically than they had done in 1666 and succeeded in matching generous grants from the Department of the Environment and various charitable bodies.

Outside in the churchyard stands the restored Village Cross, which still retains its mediaeval shaft with iron hooks to hold wreaths on important feast days. A map of 1606 shows that it occupies its original position, although an additional cross used to stand where the War Memorial now is.

Not far from the churchyard cross is situated an exceptionally large ‘table-top’ tomb. It marks the grave of Thomas Blackhall of Court Farm, who died in 1779. According to the parish register he weighed 32½ stone. His coffin was too heavy to carry and was transported on rollers from his house to the churchyard.

The Lychgate, in memory of Margaret Caldicott, wife of Rev’d Arthur Caldicott was erected in 1933

A wood engraving – Charles Flower

EXTRACTS FROM ORIGINAL RECORDS

From the record of ‘presentments’ (accusations) made at Dorchester Peculiar Court      

1621 May 21
We present Raph Norton of Shillingford causing the bel to be tould
in mockage for one that was not sicke.

For Common Drunkards. John Martin ye younger, John Hill, Richard Wallis, Thomas Bullie.

1623
We doe present John Norton both for his unreverent behaviour in time of divine service, as also for his unreverent speeches against our minister after.

We doe present Walter Martin for refusing to pay his taxacons towards the repairinge of the church.

1626 May 7
We present John Hill for brooling in Curch and Caling the Churchwardens and other Ofesers Canting Officers.

1626 May 14
Wee present William Hobbs and Agnes his wife and allsoe Walter Batholomew alias Martin and John Beeslye for Popish Recusants.

1674 May 18
We present Thomas Gilpin for not comeing to Church to hear Divine Service and for keepeing a Conventicle of Quakers every Sunday in his house, he himselfe being theire Speaker.

1690 July 15
The Churchwardens are warned to take the keys from the poor man that lives in the Church Porch & turne him out within 4 days time.

From the register of baptisms, marriages and burials

1727 May 14
A child lately dropp’d here was baptized by ye Name of Moses.

1760
Anne Bryant alias Tanner, Widow was buried Jan. 29 aged 110.
She was bom May 31st 1649. Her son Mr. Minors by her 2nd Husband died at London in Aug. 1759 bom 1692. She retain’d her Memory and senses to the last.

1776 October 10
John West of Philadelphia in the West Indies Quaker was buried in the Quaker Burial Ground. Aged 80.
[He was the father of Benjamin West (1738-1820) a successful painter of historical scenes who became the President of the Royal Academy.]

1803 June 28.
Richard Morris, Cow keeper, kill’d by ye Parish Bull, buried.

From the register of gifts made from church collections

1742 February 15
To a Decay’d Farmer                                                                                1s.

To a poor man return’d from Slavery                                                 6d.

To a poor man who had his tongue cut off by ye Algereens        6d.

To a decay’d Apothecary    Is.

To 2 sailors taken by ye Spaniards                                                      6d.

To an Unfortunate Tradesman                                                              1s.

Given to 21 poor Persons to keep a little Xmas                           7s. 2d.

To a poor lame Woman from Wallingford                                          1s.

From the Churchwardens’ accounts and Vestry book

1765 September 25
To Silas Bisley the Elder for Building the Church Yard Wall by measure 108 ft. long 6 feet high, 39 Perches at 18d. per Perch         £2 18s 10½d.

1823 April 4
A complaint having been made to the Vestry this day held by James Tubb that the Stocks are a great nuisance to him it was agreed that they be moved to a suitable situation which is considered to be about half way between B. Tubb’s Rickyard and the Widow Arnold’s garden.

1836 March 25
To Thos. Mullis for 1 years salary looking after the Engine                      £1 0s 0d.

1889 March 25
A discussion was also raised upon the condition of the Parish Fire Engine, and Mr John Whichelo, who came to the Vestry on being sent for, stated that it was in a thorough state of repair and had been taken out upon the Green last Summer. Eventually it was proposed by Mr Tubb, and seconded by Mr. J. Bailey that Mr. Whichelo’s stipend should be raised from this day to £1 5. 0., and that for this sum he should be required to take the Engine out, and test its condition by the use of Water twice a year.

Proposal agreed to. Mr. Jonas Green then called attention to the way in which carts etc. freely trespassed on the Green, and it was decided that Notice Boards should be erected giving warning against the practice, and it was also noted that it was within the right of the yearly Tenant to forbid Carts being driven over the Turf.

It was also resolved that Wagons etc. should not be allowed, as of late had been the case, to come upon the Green before 6 p.m. on the Sunday of Warborough Feast, and that the old rule should be maintained, nor should they be allowed to remain after 9 a.m. of the following Wednesday, in accordance again with the old custom, and that the aid of the Police should be called in to carry out these Resolutions.

A forced marriage
recorded in the accounts of the Overseers of the Poor, 1778

[The intention of forcing Richard Ralph to marry Maria Haycraft, whom he had made pregnant, was to ensure that the future child’s upkeep did not have to be paid for out of the parish poor rates.]

To Willm. Butler for the Ring, and Charges in Marrying Maria Haycraft 13s. 6d.
To Thos. Bond for Eating, Drinking and Guarding Richd. Ralph                                                  7s. 9d.
Paid Willm. Bannister for Beer on Richd. Ralph wedding Day                                                             Is. 6d. Paid Humphries Tytheyman, his work for guarding Ralph                                                               9s. 6d.
To Daniel White’s Bill of Charges and Expence he was at with
Mary Vaughan and Maria Haycraft                               £1 6s. 8d.
Paid for the Licence to Marry Richd. Ralph and Maria Haycraft £1 12s. 6d.
Paid the Clerks fees for marrying Richd. Ralph                                                                       2s. 6d.
Gave Richard Ralph senr. on Agreement for Loss of time 2 days                                                    Is. 6d.
To Thos. Wallis for going to Harwell after Ralph                                                                            4s. 0d.

A similar case arose in 1790
and was evidently dealt with somewhat brutally by the Overseers

1790 Feb. 2
Elizabeth Bartlett is to go the said day (before a JP) to sware who she is Breeding by.

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