Castle Rising - St Lawrence - This Old Church on Waymarking.com

This is one of the Sandringham estate villages. For many years it was the home of a branch of the Howard family, and they left their mark all over the place. with old-fashioned patronage, and the almshouses and the cottages .

Although St Lawrence is plainly a cruciform Norman church, there is no disguising that it is extremely heavily restored. This is not unusual in the Sandringham area, and you might think that this is yet another church that has benefited from the genorosity of Edward VII. In fact, this is not the case at all; the restorations here were very much earlier, and both the early work of architects who would go on to be considered among the finest of the century. First came Anthony Salvin in the 1840s, and then George Street in the 1850s. Salvin would be back later in the century to completely rebuild neighbouring North Wooton, but here the two architects gave their own versions of Norman to complement the original, which had been built in the 1150s by William d'Albini, at the same time as his castle. Now, much of the 'Norman' detailing that you see, including the tower above the roofline, the main porch, and most of the doorways, is the work of Salvin and Street; but the glorious west front is largely d'Albini's, echoing in smaller, simpler form the west front of Acre priory some ten miles away.

Also surviving from the 12th century is Castle Rising's magnificent font. Rugged and brooding, it is so imposing that in a smaller church it might be quite overwhelming. It is square, and the western face has three madly grinning cats' heads. There are smaller heads projecting from the angles, but some of the sides appear to be either erased or unfinished.

details supplied by Simon Knott

Date the Church was built, dedicated or cornerstone laid: 01/01/1150 Age of Church building determined by?: Church website If Church is open to the public, please indicate hours: From: 10:00 AM To: 4:00 PM If Church holds a weekly worship service and "all are welcome", please give the day of the week: Sunday Indicate the time that the primary worship service is held. List only one: 12:00 AM Street address of Church: Castle Rising Kings Lynn, Norfolk United Kingdom none Secondary Website for Church or Historic Church Building: [Web Link] If denomination of Church is not part of the name, please provide it here: Not listed Primary website for Church or Historic Church Building: Not listed

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Date Logged Log User Rating   06/02/2010 Big Fish visited it 06/02/2010 fishteers visited it

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