Listed Building record MDR5636 - Church of St Laurence & St James, Long Eaton

The church at Long Eaton, which is dedicated to St Lawrence, 'now [in 1879] consists of a chancel, nave, aisles, south porch, and tower surmounted by a spire at the west end of the south aisle. The north aisle, nave and chancel are additions of 1868… the old nave and chancel being turned … into a south aisle and chancel chapel… The south doorway, under the porch, is a fine example of late Norman work, probably of the reign of Stephen … The semi-circular archway between the old nave and chancel … we have little or no hesitation in assigning … to Saxon times. The small south window of the (old) nave, deeply splayed and the embrasure finished with 'long and short' work, seems to be also of that period … In the Decorated period, c.1350 … the church was evidently restored throughout and the present tower and spire built … In the south wall of the nave is a … window of Perpendicular character …' (1) The Church of St Laurence is situated behind the Market Place in Long Eaton. The low and broad church, with its separate north aisle and nave roofs and its south-west tower, is a picture that belongs to Street's rebuilding of 1868. He made the old nave his south aisle, and thereby displaced the old west tower. The old nave has a Norman doorway. In the chancel there are also a few Norman fragments of a doorway. The windows area of the 14th century, straight-headed. The old church has been restored in 1831. In 1868 the old chancel became Street's organ chamber, connected with his new chancel by a two-bay arcade of interesting design. The organ is now over the new vestry of 1905. The chancel roof was decorated in 1936 by Wystan Widdows. (2) Long Eaton Church 'Dr Cox (Authority 1) describes the chancel arch of the old building as 'Saxon' but the voussoirs are not through-stones … and we see evidence of the same exposed rubble core round the intrados of the arch that we noticed at Sawley. Dr Cox also states that the embrasures of the round-headed window in the south wall displays 'long-and-short' work. It may have done so in his day, but since then it has been entirely rebuilt. If he was right on this point the fact would tend to class Long Eaton … as being in Baldwin Brown's Saxo-Norman overlap'. [Mr Fraser theorizes and infers that the chancel arch may have been built by Saxon Masons under Norman direction]. 'Part of a Norman arch and a fragment of the chevron enrichment are built into the new south wall of the original chancel …' (4) The Church of St Laurence and St James is a grade II* listed parish church. It dates to the 12th, 14th and 15th centuries, and was rebuilt in 1868 by G E Street. Street used the original nave and chancel as his new south aisle and chapel, and added a large nave, north aisle, chancel and north vestry. See list description for more details. (5) The church consists of chancel, nave, aisles, south porch and tower surmounted by a spire at the west end of the south aisle. The north aisle, nave and chancel are additions of 1868 by the architect G E Street, who turned the old nave and chancel into a south aisle and chancel chapel. The earliest fabric in the church is thought to be 12th century. Cox (authority 2) described the arch between the old nave and chancel as being Saxon, although this is now no longer thought to be the case. The church appears to have been damaged by the fire which destroyed part of Long Eaton in 1693. A tablet by the old chancel arch and a roof timber show the date 1696, while other timbers showing fire damage were found during re-roofing in 1868. Not all the damage appears to have been repaired immediately, as it was reported in 1714 that the chancel was 'altogether out of repaire…'. The church was re-pewed and repaired in 1731 with further alterations and repairs in 1832, followed by the extensive enlargement of 1868 referred to above. During repairs to the old chancel in 1921 a number of stones were found from an earlier phase of the church. These were rebuilt into the outside wall. (7)