St. Lawrence's Church, Toot Baldon
St. Lawrence's Church in Toot Baldon is a good example of a small early-13th-century building. It is oblong in plan with chancel and nave of the same width, two narrow aisles and a western double bellgable of a very early character. The chancel had two lancet windows on the north side before the restoration of 1865, when one was removed on the addition of a vestry and organ chamber. There is another lancet window on the south side of the chancel and a 19th-century decorated window. The latter replaced an original window which was considered 'clumsy'. The 13th-century east window was replaced in 1800 by an 'ugly' wooden one, which was in turn replaced in 1865 by a three-light one of stone in the style of the 14th century. The nave has four 13th-century arches on each side; the pillars of the north side have caps sculptured with stiff-leaf ornament, which is considered good work of early date. They are similar to the sculptured caps at Benson, another of the Abbey's churches, and may have been done by the same craftsman. The mouldings of the caps on the south side are equally early. There are also two 13thcentury buttresses at the west end of the nave. The north door is round-headed and apparently dates from the 12th century. A small chapel has been thrown out on the south side of the nave. With its plain interlacing mullions it is thought to be not later than 1260 in date. It is dedicated to St. Peter and St. Paul, like the mother church, Dorchester Abbey, and is traditionally but erroneously connected with Bishop Audley of Salisbury (1502–25). The roof, an open timber one which was opened up in 1865, spans both nave and aisles. The south door, which formerly had a segmental head of 14thcentury character, was rebuilt at the same time. The architect in charge of the restoration work was Henry Woodyer. The cost of restoration was £1,600. The font is a plain stone one of 13th-century date; it stands on two round steps in the centre of the west end. Woodyer designed the present oak screen. Further repairs and improvements were carried out between 1873 and 1889. Windows of stained glass by Messrs. Horwood of Frome Selwood were inserted in the east and other windows. One is in memory of the Revd. Thomas Fry, benefactor of the church. The head of the medieval churchyard cross was restored, a lych-gate and a sunk fence to the churchyard were added. New heating apparatus was installed and new bells were hung. The church is now lit by electric light. There is a memorial to those who fell in the two World Wars. In 1548 the church had a light endowed with certain lands given by a forgotten donor. A service book with a medieval binding, belonging to Toot Baldon in the 16th century, has survived. It is a manual of about 1400 and contains a reference to another of the church's possessions, 'our old great masse boke'. In 1552 there were two little 'belles trussede', but the hand bell had been lost. During the Civil War one of the remaining bells was said to be lost and the other thrown into a pond and recovered later. Now both bells are 19th-century and bear the initials (C.E.F.) of the wife of G. F. Forbes, vicar 1888–94. The church has an Elizabethan chalice with paten cover, with the hall-mark 1575; a silver plate-paten of 1683, inscribed on the rim 'T.A.: I.C. 1684, Taut Baldon Church'; a pewter tankard flagon, inscribed with the name of Edward Wise, churchwarden in 1714. The chalice of the 1552 inventory has disappeared. The registers date from 1599 and are complete, except for a gap, 1732–46, in the marriage registers. There are a few entries for 1579–99 in the baptism register; there are briefs for 1716–19 and certificates of burial in woollen, 1679–1733. Historical information about St.Lawrence's Church is provided by 'Parishes: Toot Baldon', in A History of the County of Oxford: Volume 5, Bullingdon Hundred, ed. Mary D Lobel (London, 1957), pp. 47-56. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/oxon/vol5/pp47-56 [accessed 23 March 2023]. St. Lawrence's Church is a Grade II* listed building. For more information about the listing see CHURCH OF ST LAWRENCE, Toot Baldon - 1193957 | Historic England. For more information about St. Lawrence's Church see Parishes: Toot Baldon | British History Online (british-history.ac.uk). |
