Date/Time
Date(s) - 30/06/2023
10:30 am - 4:00 pm
Location
Market Place Lechlade
Categories
Provisional tour:
Meet at Market Place in Lechlade at 10:30am
St Lawrence, Lechlade
A fine ‘wool’ church, its whole structure dating from c. 1470 in the Perpendicular style, with a prominent spire and a beautifully light, arcaded interior; the chancel roof has carved and coloured stone bosses; the churchyard is the subject of a poem by Shelley. Parking in the Market Square.
St John the Baptist, Inglesham
A humble building, almost on its own, in the care of The Churches Conservation Trust. A fortunate instance of a church avoiding a Victorian make-over, remarkably conserved instead, ‘through the energy and with the help of William Morris, who loved it’. Features include Early English arcades and chancel; 15th century wooden screens and 17th century box pews; remains of several layers of fragmentary mediaeval and later wall-paintings; a Saxon stone carving of the Virgin and Child, rescued from the churchyard. Marked turning down a lane off the main road, just S of Lechlade. Parking limited and tight.
Lunch: pubs and cafes in Lechlade (look up online and book in advance); picnic spots by R Thames in Lechlade and R Leach in Eastleach.
St Michael and St Martin, Eastleach Martin and St Andrew, Eastleach Turville
The two churches face each other in a pretty situation across the River Leach. Eastleach Martin is in the care of The Churches Conservation Trust: Norman S door; 13th c. chancel; 14th century windows in N transept; mediaeval and 17th c. pews. Eastleach Turville, a short walk away, has an early saddleback tower; a fine Norman S door; 13th c. chancel; 17th c. pulpit, reader’s desk, chest and communion table.
St Mary the Virgin, Fairford (see pictures below)
A magnificent ‘wool’ church, rebuilt c 1500 in late Perpendicular style around an earlier Perpendicular central tower. We shall concentrate especially on the beautiful, almost complete set of mediaeval stained glass throughout the church – a rare, pre-Reformation survival. Also, double-storied porch; spacious interior with arcades and aisles; fine tombs and brasses of the founder and his descendants; choir stalls with misericords and fascinating carvings.
Second tour on 7th July 2023
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- St Mary, Fairford