Why is our church named after St Lawrence?
St Lawrence church is named after the parish of St Lawrence on the Isle of
Wight - it was there that the 6-year old daughter of
Mr and Mrs Wilkinson of Frankfield (the house you can see across
the field to the north of our church) had died in 1866 while on holiday.
In Mary
Rachel's memory, the Wilkinsons built our St Lawrence's Church in 1867/8, and once
completed, Mary Rachel's remains were exhumed and re-buried in our churchyard as
the first entry in St Lawrence's Burials Register.
(You can see a picture of Mary Rachel here
as depicted in the top window in our chancel. File size is 1MB!)
Indeed, the original building was modelled on Old St Lawrence Church, Isle of
Wight
(a tiny 12th Century church - see the pictures on the windowsill at the west end of
the church.)
Like most churches, St Lawrence's has adapted
to the on-going needs of its community and congregation. Some of the highlights are:-
| 1867 |
Foundation stone laid on 8th October 1867
St Lawrence District was established (4 November, out of the chaplaincy
of Seal, originally part of the large parish of Kemsing) by an Order of
Her Majesty in Council, and the Revd B P Thompson, M A, was appointed
Incumbent on the nomination of Horace Wilkinson, Esq. |
| 1868 |
Church built from Kentish Ragstone from the local Foxbury
Quarry, and lined with soft yellow Speldhurst stone.
The Pulpit is also of Speldhurst stone; The white roof of the porch is
made of blocks of Otford chalk.
Nave, chancel and open belfry. ( The architect was C H Howell of London)
Church consecrated on 20 June 1868 - our annual Dedication
Festival is held on a Sunday on or near this date.. |
| 1876 |
Two transepts added in memory of the Wilkinsons' third daughter,
Annie Clare, who had died that year, aged 14 |
| 1877 |
St Lawrence's established as a separate parish
2-manual pipe organ, built by A Gern of London, hand-pumped! |
| 1888 |
Nave lengthened, and addition of the tower and peal of 6
bells (Tenor 10 cwt) in memory of Sarah Wilkinson (sister to Horace and
Conrad Wilkinson)
The previous porch was removed and now forms the lychgate |
| 1909 |
Lectern provided (donated by Joseph Matthews) |
| 1912 |
Enlargement of vestry; Addition of dormer windows to the
nave |
| 1918/19 |
Addition of dormer windows to the chancel, dedicated on 15
January 1919 (the anniversary of the day the commemorated son fell at the
Somme) |
| 1959 |
Church Council discusses electrification of the church |
| 1960 |
Removal of the front transept pews (to widen the available
space; one of the pews is now the one in the porch) |
| 1960s |
Electricity arrives! |
| 1967 |
Complete rebuild (most recent rebuild) of organ, which was converted to
electric pump |
| 1988 |
Radiant (infra-red) heating installed |
| 1998 |
Removal of two pews from the back of the nave (to create a
more open meeting area) |
| 2000 |
Removal of one pew from the North transept to allow space
for an electric piano |
| 2002 |
Toilet provided (with disabled facilities; it's actually
located at the church end of the adjacent school building) |
| 2005 |
Church struck by lightning (select
here for details of the fire, and of the restoration work)
November: worship resumes in the nave |
| 2006 |
Fire damage completed, and chancel reordered (removal of
inner pews) - celebrated at a re-opening service on 10th December |
| 2009 |
Plans for a second Garden of Remembrance (space for the
burial of Ashes) in our churchyard |
The above is, of course, just a very small sample of entries from the full
inventory!
Select www.stainedglassrecords.org/ch.asp?ChId=9978
for a description of our stained glass windows
|
.jpg)
, a disabled toilet 
