 |
The Church of St Lawrence, Longridge |
|
|
|
The Church of St Lawrence, Longridge |
|
The Church of St Lawrence, Longridge
 | |
 | |
Photograph supplied by and © of Brian Young |
This church was established in the early 16th century as a chapel of ease of St Wilfrid, Ribchester to serve the residents of Dilworth and Alston. In the 16th and 17th centuries there were periods when the church had no minister possibly due to lack of money. In 1735 land was bought in Preston and Goosnargh to provide the funds to support the chapel and its minister and in 1868 it was made into a parish church.
 | |
Photograph supplied by and © of Brian Young |
 | |
Photograph supplied by and © of Brian Young |
There has been rebuilding and additions throughout its life with the main ones being in 1716, 1784, 1822, 1841 and a major rebuild in 1900. Although the tower dates from 1841 the clock is from the 1830s and came from a Welsh church via Alston College. The south porch is now blocked up and serves as a chapel, in 1926 a north porch was built at the west end of the nave.
 | |
The glass of the north and south sides of the church dates from 1938-40, and is by Powell. The west window is a memorial, by Shrigley & Hunt of Lancaster, to the fallen of the First World War. It records the Allies, and shows Christ flanked by St George and St Michael, with armour-clad soldiers below. It is of their usual high quality. In 1976, Brian Clarke designed ten pairs of stained glass windows that depict local scenes such as the River Ribble, Pendle Hill, Longridge Fell and Fairsnape Fell, and the local reservoirs and quarries, designed in a semi-abstract way.
The tower of St Lawrence holds a 1979 electrically-operated chime of bells alongside one that is probably C14. The lettering on the side of the bell reads ‘Jesu Nazarenus Crwcifexw’.
 | |
Photograph supplied by and © of Brian Young |
| Longridge Home & Contents | ©Lancashire OnLine Parish Clerks | Lancashire Home |