Water Lane URC
Bishop’s Stortford, Hertfordshire
Finished in 1860 to replace at least two earlier buildings, this United Reformed church, built in the Italianate style is one of the most significant buildings in Bishop’s Stortford.
The distinctive and rather elegant brick belfry, which contains a ring of 10 bells, was added in 1812 but most of the rest of the church is 15th century and has preserved its original fittings inside, such as the beautifully carved screen and choir stalls, complete with their misericords.
There is an excellent range of stone corbels, with their representations of a whole cast of characters from the customary angels to a cook and a gardener.
The hexagonal pulpit, fitted with a foldaway false floor that can be raised up to give shorter preachers a 'higher profile', dates from 1658.
The square Purbeck marble font is the sole survivor from a Norman church on this site, and was discovered buried in 1868.