St Laurence’s Church, Bradford on Avon, Wiltshire
St Laurence's in Bradford on Avon used to be the parish church until a bigger one was built across the road, and it’s seen many guises since – as a house and a school, and it was used as a warehouse until in 1856, someone realised what it was; an Anglo-Saxon church. No one really knows quite when or why it was built but there are several theories; it was built in 700, it was built in the 10th or 11th century, it was constructed as a crypt for St Adhelm, or as a mortuary chapel to a monastery that stood on the site. Anyhow, it’s the most complete Anglo-Saxon church in the country, so if you like your history, it’s well worth a look.
It’s tiny but very tall and narrow with small windows; inside it’s amazing and it feels so ancient, so sacred. You stand there and think how old it is; it’s incredible. If you look up above the chancel arch you’ll see two carved angels on the wall.
Go and see it, it won’t take you long at all, and it’s free, though you might be kind enough to pop a donation in the box in the wall. Ignore the buttresses outside, they were put there in Victorian times to keep the church up