St Laurence and All Saints is a Grade I listed medieval church in the parish of Eastwood, Essex, England, near to Southend-on-Sea. Its location adjacent to the perimeter of London Southend Airport has led to the church being threatened by proposals to expand the airport.
The church has been described as "one of the finest and most important small medieval churches in South Essex, and of exceptional architectural, archaeological and historical significance". Notable features include the complex plan form and development, Norman font and doors with original fittings and the medieval woodwork including a priest's room. The site is also of "considerable, possibly exceptional, archaeological significance".
Location The church is situated to the east of Eastwood which is now a suburb of Southend-on-Sea, a large urban conurbation on the Thames estuary, which is part of the Thames Gateway regeneration project. The church stands in Eastwoodbury Lane, close to its junction with Aviation Way; Eastwoodbury Lane once crossed directly under the flight path into the main runway of Southend Airport until the runway was extended when a new road named St Laurence Way was built to allow cars to pass the end of the newly extended runway. To the east, the churchyard borders on the wire fence at the boundary of the airport with aircraft regularly landing close to the church.
History
Eastwood Eastwood took its name from its situation on the eastern side of the woods and parkland of Rayleigh and Thundersley which were part of the Great Forest of Essex. The village is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 as "Estwa", and was held by Suen of Essex, whose father Robert had held it during the reign of Edward the Confessor. Suen's son, Robert of Essex, founded Prittlewell Priory in the year 1100, but his grandson, Henry of Essex, forfeited all his estates to the Crown in 1163, after being charged with treason and cowardice in battle. After this date the manor was generally held by the Crown.
In the 13th century, the English Kings would often visit the district for hunting, making Hadleigh Castle their residence. Henry VIII was the last king known to have hunted here and Eastwood Lodge was the centre of the last reserved portion of hunting land. In 1536, during the Reformation, the Manor was given by Edward VI to Lord Rich whose descendants became Earls of Warwick, then by marriage it passed to the Earl of Nottingham.
The Bristow family purchased the estate and held it until 1866 when it was sold in lots: "Eastwoodbury", the large house which stood immediately to the east of the Church, was on the site of the original Manor house. It was demolished in 1954.
In the course of the centuries this parish of 3,000 acres, with its scattered population, changed from woodland to an agricultural parish and today to a largely built-up area.
History of the church The first known record of the church is in 1100 A.D. when Robert Fitz Suen (Robert d'Essex) gave the chapels of Eastwood, Sutton and Prittlewell to the Prior of Prittlewell. It is evident that there was a church at Eastwood before that date; this was probably the present Norman nave with a small apsidal chancel. The antiquity of the site is borne out by the presence of a sarsen stone built into the walls. There are claims that this is the remains from when the site was used for pagan worship.
The early development of the church is still not completely understood. The nave is 12th-century in origin, with Norman window openings in the north wall. The south aisle was added in the 13th century and the north aisle in the 14th. The chancel is 13th-century, with a 14th-century roof. The nave roof is 15th-century.
The brick south porch was added in the 16th century. There were extensive works within the church in the 1870s when it was thoroughly restored by William White, including new seating. The broach spire was restored in the late 20th century.
The church exterior The church is built of ragstone rubble with some flint and has limestone dressings; there is also some Roman and Tudor brickwork. The south wall of the south aisle shows the original rubble with red Tudor brickwork on the top, three to four feet in depth and above the windows. In the south-east corner, the stone has given way and been replaced by Tudor brick, reinforced by a Tudor brick buttress. At some time, the east wall of the north aisle had cracked badly and been repaired very roughly by Tudor brickwork above the window.
The exterior was covered with cement rendering which was completely removed in 1971. The plaster can be seen in a drawing of the church from 1849. The records show that in the early 17th century the church was in a ruinous state; this was borne out when the old exterior plastering was stripped off.
The church stands within a large churchyard containing monuments including chest tombs dating back to the 18th century, with 20th-century extensions to the north containing several war graves. The churchyard is a pleasant area of trees, grass and wild flowers, carefully managed for its wildlife value.
The church was popular with gypsies and other members of the travelling community who used it for christenings, marriages and funerals. The so-called "King of the Gypsies", Louis Boswell, was buried at Eastwood church in 1835. In the Burial Register he is described as a "Traveller aged 42" – "This man known as the King of the Gypsies was interred in the presence of a vast concourse of spectators".
There is a large modern brick vestry off the north aisle.
The tower The small tower, which is square, has a timber-framed and shingled upper part, with a broach spire, which was restored in the 20th century. Unusually, it is positioned at the west end of the south aisle. The lower stage is early-13th-century but the upper stage is modern. The presence of Tudor brick buttresses outside suggest that the upper portion became unsafe and was taken down.
The spire was repaired by the Canadian Government after the Second World War as a lasting memorial to airmen who had flown from Southend during the war.
Bells There are three original bells, two 14th-century and one 17th-century; there was a fourth bell which had disappeared. For many years the ancient wooden bell frame had been unsafe for ringing, although the tenor bell could be tolled. In 1984 the tower was strengthened to hold a new metal bell frame and the three old bells were re-hung and augmented to a ring of six by the addition of three lighter bells. During this work, one of the old bells (now the 5th) which was cracked was repaired by welding.
The inscriptions on the bells are:
Tenor: Sancta Gregori ora pro nobis (St. Gregory pray for us) (Cast 1380) No. 5: Sancta Katerina ora pro nobis (St. Katherine pray for us) (Cast 1380) No. 4: Charles Newman made me (Cast 1693) No. 3: We praise thee O God (in memory of Ethel & Gladys Fowler of Cockethurst Farm) (Cast 1985) No. 2: O come let us sing unto the Lord (in memory of Ranie & May Fowler of Cockethurst Farm) (Cast 1985) Treble: Unto thee O Lord do we give thanks (The gift of Mable Free) (Cast 1985)
The three new bells were cast at the Whitechapel Bell Foundry.
The church interior Tradition has it that St Laurence (to whom the church was dedicated) was martyred on a gridiron (in 258) and the church layout is said to take the form of a gridiron, with the chancel representing the handle and the nave and two side aisles the bars.
The interior is thickly plastered and whitewashed, with traces of medieval painted decoration. The nave is fully pewed, with plain benches and choir stalls from the White restoration.
The porch The porch dates from the 16th century, pre-reformation, and is built in brick. The roof timber was old timber reused. There is a pre-Reformation niche over the door and a holy water stoup on the east side of the doorway.
The chancel The chancel, measuring by , dates from the 13th century with a 14th-century roof. The chancel arch is 14th-century, plain with no mouldings and traces of an earlier roof gable above it, and preserving two sawn-off ends of the rood beam. The roof has braced collar beams and the two tie beams are moulded.
The east window has been restored with glass from 1887. There are two windows in the north wall of the chancel; the eastern is mid-14th-century but the western is earlier, from the 13th century. The south wall has two windows, the eastern corresponding to the window in the north wall. The other is a low side window of the late 13th century or early 14th century with one pointed light, set in a wide 14th-century recess. This window was probably unglazed with a wooden shutter and may have been used as a sanctus window through which the sanctus bell was rung at the Elevation of the host.
To the east of this is a priest's door, recently replaced. There are traces of a piscina behind the panelling on the north wall. Before the altar are 18th-century tombs of the Vassal family, former owners of Cockethurst Farm, and a brass effigy of Thomas Burroughs dated 1600.
The nave The nave measures by and dates from the 12th century and is the oldest part of the church. The nave roof is 15th-century with massive tie beams. Four of the trusses have octagonal crown posts of unusual workmanship for a village Church. When the roof was re-tiled in 1935, the beams were found to be as sound as when originally installed.
The original Norman windows can be seen in the north wall with traces of two others also visible. There were probably three windows in each wall of the original Norman Church.
In the 13th century, the first alteration to the original church was the piercing of the south wall by three Early English bays and the building of the south aisle. The octagonal columns have moulded capitals and bases and brick plinths. The angles of two columns have been flattened to give a view of the altar to the ringer in the tower and the easternmost arch has a curiously chamfered portion, the purpose of which is uncertain.
At the junction of this arcade with the chancel are two 13th-century recesses, one having been cut away and afterwards filled up, and the other pierced to allow access to the south aisle. A hagioscope or squint has been cut in a very simple manner through the angle of the chancel wall giving a view of the high altar from the south aisle.
The best alteration was the piercing of the north wall by two wide 14th-century arches. These arches have no supporting columns but spring from the wall direct and the easternmost arch shows some of 13th-century capping, probably of a former recess cut away when the arcade was made.
The south aisle The south aisle is wide was added in the 13th century and altered in the 15th century when the roof was raised to incorporate a clerestory which was never completed. The roof comprises two plastered gables.
The addition to the height can be seen on the interior wall. The east window is of uncertain date and has been modernised. There are two windows in the south wall. The eastern one is 14th-century with two trefoil lights and is square-headed, with modern glass. The sill is a stone slab with a moulded edge, probably from a tomb or altar. The other window is one, wide pointed, 13th-century light (probably a lancet window reduced) with modern glass showing St Laurence with gridiron.
This aisle was formerly used as a side chapel as the 14th-century piscina and aumbry indicate and may have been a Lady Chapel. There are slight traces of colouring on the pillar below the eastern end of the arcade and holes which may indicate support for a statue. It has now been restored to use as a side chapel.
On the stonework level with the pews, are two scratched figures or graffiti, one of a knight in armour and the other a curious serpent-like figure. The ancient chest is situated in this aisle.
The font