Church Of St Laurence, Upton-Cum-Chalvey

Saint Laurence's Church is one of three Church of England parish churches in the benefice of Upton-cum-Chalvey, and is the oldest building in the borough of Slough, in Berkshire, England. In the 12th century the wooden parish church of Upton was replaced with a flint building. The tower and outside walls of the Norman building form part of the present church. Several of the walls are built of pudding stone. Two other Norman features survive: the ancient baptismal font and a piscina. In the English Reformation many of the ancient decorations were mutilated. A 13th-century Italian allegorical image of the Trinity – God Father, Son and Holy Spirit – survived and was reassembled in the restoration of the church. Dereliction and restorationBy the early 19th century St Laurence's had fallen into such disrepair that it was decided to build a new church, St Mary’s, in the town centre. The Norman building was saved from demolition by a local farmer who secured the outside walls and tower. Saint Laurence’s was restored in 1850–51 by Benjamin Ferrey and rededicated on 2 December 1851. Notable associations with the churchThe churchyard may have inspired the 1751 Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard by local poet Thomas Gray (1716–71). St Laurence’s "ivy-mantled tow’r" was a well-known landmark housing a curfew bell that "tolls the knell of parting day" across the fields of Eton College.

Saint Laurence's Church is one of three Church of England parish churches in the benefice of Upton-cum-Chalvey, and is the oldest building in the borough of Slough, in Berkshire, England. In the 12th century the wooden parish church of Upton was replaced with a flint building. The tower and outside walls of the Norman building form part of the present church. Several of the walls are built of pudding stone. Two other Norman features survive: the ancient baptismal font and a piscina. In the English Reformation many of the ancient decorations were mutilated. A 13th-century Italian allegorical image of the Trinity – God Father, Son and Holy Spirit – survived and was reassembled in the restoration of the church. Dereliction and restorationBy the early 19th century St Laurence's had fallen into such disrepair that it was decided to build a new church, St Mary’s, in the town centre. The Norman building was saved from demolition by a local farmer who secured the outside walls and tower. Saint Laurence’s was restored in 1850–51 by Benjamin Ferrey and rededicated on 2 December 1851. Notable associations with the churchThe churchyard may have inspired the 1751 Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard by local poet Thomas Gray (1716–71). St Laurence’s "ivy-mantled tow’r" was a well-known landmark housing a curfew bell that "tolls the knell of parting day" across the fields of Eton College.