Marston St Lawrence
A bit of Archeology - A Palaeolithic hand axe has been found southwest of the village. Late Neolithic or Bronze Age finds in the parish include stone scrapers, 27 flint arrowheads, three stone axes and fragments of three polished hand-axes. Traces of an Iron Age and Roman-era settlement south of the village have been found. Artefacts recovered include fragments of possibly Iron Age pottery, Roman tiles and pottery, and five 2nd- or 3rd-century urns, including one containing bones. Traces of other Roman-era settlements have been found in other parts of the parish.
A Saxon cemetery 1 mile (1.6 km) north of the village was found in the 1840s. One skeleton was found in 1842, leading to an excavation in 1843 that found 32 skeletons of humans and one of a horse. There were also four urns, three of which contained cremations. Artefacts found include six pairs of saucer brooches, one larg brooch and a bronze clasp. The cemetery has been tentatively dated to the 6th century AD.
St Lawrence church
Much of the Church of England parish church of St. Lawrence is Decorated Gothic, including the chancel arch and the arcades to both the north and south aisles. The north arcade is of four bays and was built in the 13th century. The Perpendicular Gothic east window of the chancel was added in the second half of the 14th century. One of the aisles was also rebuilt in Perpendicular Gothic, and the bell tower was added late in the Perpendicular period (15th or early 16th century). There are two carved wooden screens: a Perpendicular one to the north chapel and a very well-carved Jacobean one of about 1610 to the tower.
The tower has a ring of five bells. William Rufford of Toddington, Bedfordshire cast the second and third bells in about 1399. Ellis I Knight of Reading, Berkshire cast the treble and fourth bells in 1627. Henry I Bagley of Chacombe cast the tenor bell in 1639.
The church is a Grade I listed building. The parish is a member of the Chenderit Benefice, which includes the parishes of Chacombe, Greatworth, Middleton Cheney, Thenford and Warkworth.
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