#lechlade

Katherine of Aragon and Lechlade

Built in the 1470s, St Lawrence Church in Lechlade with its elegant spire has been described as one of the “six finest churches in Gloucestershire”. In 1501 the manor was given to Katherine of Aragon, who had come to England to marry Prince Arthur Tudor. 

Prior to 1502 it was known as the church of St Mary, but Katherine ordered that it be re-named St Lawrence, after a spanish saint born in Aragon. He were executed during the persecution of the Christians that the Roman Emperor Valerian ordered in 258. St Lawrence is the patron saint of the poor and of cooks. 

Prince Arthur died soon after their marriage, and eight years later Katherine married his brother, the recently crowned King Henry VIII. Queen Katherine supervised some additional work on the church after a roof fire in 1510. It was at this time that the spire was added. The exterior of the church is generously decorated with gargoyles and other sculptures, and the door leading from the chancel to the vestry is 400 year old: among the details in its carving is a pomegranate, the badge of Katherine of Aragon. Tudor roses are cut into the stonework.