Facilities and features
Accessibility
Parking in front of the church
Parking for accessible worshipers can be secured immediately outside the Church entrance path (advance notice recommended)
Located outside the village hall in the bus shelter 100m from the church
Ramps can be provided for worshipers who require wheelchair access
Dogs are welcome
Refreshments are provided at the end of services (subject to current COVID restrictions)
Our Building
Open every day for private prayer - doors are opens and at early morning and locked in the evening
St Lawrence's is a modern church dating from 1860 replacing an earlier building on the site. There was a church on the site back in C13 which originally consisted of a nave, chancel, tower and north and south porches. Over time various repairs and restorations took place with the chancel being rebuilt in brick and rendered in C19. Overall the church was very small and dark.
Problems appeared in 1850 when the east wall of the chancel began to subside. Attempts were made to repair it but in 1858 it collapsed. A new church was funded by the Duke of Bedford and work began in December of 1858 and completed in 1860. Further problems occurred with subsidence and more works were necessary in 1868-9 on the tower and more general underpinning in 1876-7 and again in 1912.
The church consists of a chancel, nave, north aisle, south porch and west tower. The chancel is around 26 feet by 15 feet with the nave adding some 40 feet by 19 feet. The north aisle is around 10 feet wide and the tower some 10 feet square and around 50 feet high. The church is built from ironstone quarried in Maulden.
Our church is serviced by an old but reliable sustainable oil fired boiler. Our church is a warm and welcoming place during worship in colder weather.
We are working towards our ECO Church Bronze award, we have an acute awareness of our obligation to nature and our eco infrastructure
Music and Worship
There is an active bellringing group for the church, the bells and the bell chamber were recently refurbished early 2020.
We have a very old but wonderful pipe organ in our church,
Available for all services
Groups, Courses and Activities
Currently hosted on Thursday mornings 10:30 - 12:30 coffee, cakes and a chat - all welcome including dogs with well behaved owners :-)
Help for Visitors
Church is open most days from dawn till dusk
Other Features
Worshippers are encouraged to support the local food bank
The church is in a green belt area.