St. Laurence's Church, Northfield is a parish church

Parish church

A parish church , in Christianity, is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish, the basic administrative unit of episcopal churches....

 in the Church of England

Church of England

The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...

 in Northfield, Birmingham.

History

The Grade I listed church dates from the 12th century and contains some of the finest Early English work in the county. It also has a rare 14th-century timber porch outside the south door.

The north aisle was added in 1900 by George Frederick Bodley

George Frederick Bodley

George Frederick Bodley was an English architect working in the Gothic revival style.-Personal life:Bodley was the youngest son of William Hulme Bodley, M.D. of Edinburgh, physician at Hull Royal Infirmary, Kingston upon Hull, who in 1838 retired to his wife's home town, Brighton, Sussex, England....

.

The gridiron associated with the martyrdom of St. Laurence

Saint Lawrence

Lawrence of Rome was one of the seven deacons of ancient Rome who were martyred during the persecution of Valerian in 258.- Holy Chalice :...

 can be seen in the stonework of the church tower.

Bells

The ring of eight bells was increased to ten on 20 November 1999. At the same time a new ground floor ringing chamber was created at the foot of the tower.

Stained Glass Windows

The beautiful depth of colour and ornate designs of the windows are masterpieces contributed to the work of Hardman & Co. They also designed and made stained glass windows for St. Andrew's Cathedral and St. Mary's Cathedrals in Sydney, Australia as well as for the Houses of Parliament in London, including a window in the House of Lords'. Almost all of the windows in this historic Church of St. Laurence are by Hardman, replicating 13th century stained glass designs accurately through expert techniques and attention to detail. Hardman's windows include the subjects of: The Passion of Christ, The Resurrection, The Adoration, The Nativity, The Presentation in the temple before Simeon, The Annunciation, The decent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles, Our Lord's appearance to St. Thomas, The Transfiguration, Walking on the waters of the Sea of Galilee, Raising of Lazarus, to name but a few. There is also a window by Pugin and Kempe.

The church tower and the Chancel date back to the 12th/13th century AD. There is a Lady Chapel dedicated in the South Aisle and a chapel dedicated to St. Laurence in the North Aisle. The site of this Norman church was probably the previous location of a Saxon church as a Priest was mentioned here in "Nordfeld" in the Domesday Book

Domesday Book

Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...

of 1086.