St Lawrence
Alton, Hampshire
A project to repair gutters.
St Mary the Virgin was built in it’s present form in the 13th century but quite obviously sits on the site of a much earlier Anglo Saxon building. It’s position is no accident. An ancient forest track on the road to Alton meets another at a crossroads here and next to the church runs an old Roman road on route to Silchester. There has therefore quite possibly been a place of worship on the site since Pagan times.
The pretty wooden belfry looks out across miles of Hampshire and Surrey countryside and you do feel as if you are on top of the world.
Inside, a delightful 14th century female effigy allows for some historical conjecturing. Who was this lady with her fine clothes and how might she relate to this ancient manor?