Appleby – St Lawrence’s Church
The church is at the lower end of Boroughgate beyond the cloisters which were designed by Sir Robert Smirke in 1811. The oldest part of the church (the lower part of the tower) dates from the 12th Century. Following the destruction during the Border Wars came 14th Century rebuilding, and restoration in the 17th, 18th and 19th Centuries. Work from all these periods can be seen.
The porch was built about 1300, but the arch with its dog-tooth moulding is about 100 years older. In the Baptistry, the font is of Frosterly marble from Weardale, dating from the 19th Century. There are some chained books dating from 1631, three volumes of Foxes Acts and Monuments of the Martyrs’.
The organ, a gift to Appleby from Carlisle Cathedral in 1683, contains parts dating from the 16th Century, and is the oldest working English organ in the country. It was restored in 1976.
The church was badly damaged twice during Scottish raids,but was restored by Lady Anne Clifford in 1654. There is a black marble monument to her in the North aisle. Her lead coffin is in a vault nearby. Next to her Monument is an Alabaster Figure as a memorial by Lady Anne to her mother Margaret, Countess of Cumberland.
Leaflets are available describing the history of the Church.
In the Lady Chapel is a rafter with the inscription ‘ANN CONNTESSE OF PEMBROKE IN ANO 1655 REPAIRED ALL THIS BUILDING’.
Aerial photo by Simon Ledingham.
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