By Ray Butler
This Grade I listed building is believed to date from AD 1095. The original church was a small, simple structure built of flint and Reigate stone, comprising a rectangular nave and a chancel with an apse. There have been two main phases of alteration and rebuilding, first in the 13th and 14th centuries and again in the 18th and 19th centuries.
As you enter the churchyard through the gate on Church Road, you first approach the chancel at the east end of the church. The present square-ended chancel was built in the 13th century, but the east end was rebuilt between 1797 and 1810. Just past the small door on the south side you can see that the wall seems to curve inwards. This can most clearly be seen under the eaves of the roof. This is all that remains of the apse of the original chancel, dating from the 11th century.
Moving towards the porch, the outlines of two large arches can be seen in the south wall. These are the remains of an aisle and chapel that were added to the south side of the nave early in the 13th century. During the 14th century the south aisle and chapel were demolished. The arches formerly separating the aisle from the nave were blocked up to form a new wall incorporating a new main door and a large window. The present porch was built in 1832, replacing an earlier weather-boarded structure. The porch largely obscures a Norman window, another vestige of the original church.
Turning the corner of the church, the west wall dates from the 13th century, when the north aisle was added, but the stonework is obscured by cement rendering. The north-west corner of the church was extensively repaired during the 14th century, and the triangular buttress on the corner was added at this time. The window at the end of the north aisle was installed in 1992 to replace one damaged by storms. The present roof structure was probably erected in the 12th or 13th century. Two bells in the belfry date from 1664. The belfry was reconstructed and heightened in the late 18th or early 19th century.
On the north side of the church, the vestry was built in 1832. Repairs were carried out on the north wall of the aisle during the 18th and 19th centuries.
Recent History
Originally dedicated to St Leonard, by 1827 the church had been renamed in honour of St Lawrence. By 1857 it had been renamed again to St Mary’s, a name which it kept even after the new St Mary’s church opened across the road in 1866. Finally, in 1886, the ancient church became St Lawrence’s once more. With the opening of the new church, St Lawrence’s became somewhat neglected and run-down, although it was still used as a Sunday school. A programme of renovation began in 1925, and the church was re-consecrated two years later. The church has continued in use since then with occasional alterations and repairs. A Guild of Friends, formed in 1962, has provided money for works such as re-tiling the roof and re-shingling the spire.
The Churchyard
The churchyard contains a number of graves dating from the 18th to the 20th centuries, including three large vaults. Of particular interest on the west side of the church is a wooden ‘bedhead’ type memorial from 1847, a rare survivor of a once common type of grave marker.
The churchyard also has a WW1 memorial, a cross dedicated to those from Caterham who lost their lives. Sculpted by Thomas Mewburn Crook.
Interior of the Church
The interior of the church, like the exterior, reflects the many alterations that have taken place over the centuries. The chancel arch, built in the 13th century, incorporates elements of the original Norman one. There are traces of mediaeval wall paintings, notably an angel’s head and wing above the chancel arch. Two arches separate the north aisle from the nave; on the central pillar is a stone bracket carved in the form of a monster’s head. On the south side, part of the doorway to the former chapel can be seen. A wooden gallery at the west end of the nave, known to have existed in 1851, has since been removed. Around the walls of the church are a number of memorials. The most impressive is that of Elizabeth Legrew, whose husband James officiated at St Lawrence’s for more than 50 years from 1797. The white marble memorial, which features a kneeling figure of the deceased, was sculpted by one of their sons, also called James, in 1832.
Sources:
Beach, S, et al., 1995. St Lawrence’s Church, Caterham, Surrey, Caterham: The Guild of Friends of St Lawrence’s Church.
Historic England, 2021. ‘Church of St Lawrence’, National Heritage List for England, https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1377607, accessed 07/02/2021.
St Mary’s Caterham, 2021. ‘St Lawrence’s Ancient Church’, St Mary the Virgin, Caterham, https://www.stmaryscaterham.org/st-lawrences-ancient-church, accessed 07/02/2021.
