St Lawrence, Stratford-sub-Castle

St Lawrence’s Church stands north of Salisbury on the edge of the abandoned settlement of Old Sarum, beside the River Avon. Built in the 13th century, it is a Grade I listed parish church with a flint-and-stone exterior that shows traces of earlier masonry from Old Sarum Cathedral. The chancel dates from the early 13th century, the nave from the 15th, and the west tower was rebuilt in 1711 by Thomas Pitt after earlier medieval work. Inside, the wagon roofs carry carved bosses and corbel busts, while the pulpit and panelling belong to the early 18th century. The church also holds a barrel organ converted to keyboard use in 1876 and a ring of six bells, five of which were added in 1998. The interior is recognised in Pevsner’s Buildings of England for its fine woodwork. The chancel screen combines 15th- or 16th-century elements with a round-headed arch from 1711, and the altar panelling is praised as worthy of a London church. Above the altar hangs an elaborate royal arms dated 1713, and the east window of 1894 is by Lavers and Westlake. The only other stained glass is plain, allowing the 16th-century roof and 17th-century fittings to dominate. The churchyard contains a Cross of Sacrifice over graves of 52 service personnel from the two world wars, most of them Australian patients from local hospitals. The churchyard also holds the parish war memorial, a 5-metre limestone shaft topped by a gabled crucifix erected in 1922. The church has served as a separate parish since at least the late 14th century, with its own graveyard and registers dating from 1654. Though now linked in a united benefice with St Francis’s, it remains a quiet place beside the river, its medieval fabric and later furnishings telling the story of Stratford-sub-Castle across the centuries.