Church of St Lawrence

This is a small but fascinating church and well worth a visit. It is medieval, with reconstructions in the nineteenth century. It is grade II listed due to work by leading craftsmen. One the most significant items is the memorial window to Gertrude Bell.

Probably dating from the 13th century, this small church was completely rebuilt in 1885. Its modest size probably reflects the fact that it was originally built as a “chapel of ease” which is a church building, other than the Parish Church, that is specifically built within the bounds of a parish to facilitate worship for those who can’t travel very far. A sort of “convenience church” if you like.

Although students of architecture would likely be fascinated by the incorporation of some of the original stone in the current building, most interest for the visitor is undoubtedly the stained glass window on the north side that was designed in tribute to the remarkable Gertrude Bell, granddaughter of Sir Isaac Lowthian Bell, a renowned Victorian industrialist who had constructed the model village of East Rounton estate in 1865, and lived in the newly constructed Rounton Grange.

The 2015 film “Queen of the Desert” is a biopic in which Nicole Kidman plays the role of this remarkable woman who, among other things;
was the first woman to be awarded a First Class Honours degree in Modern History in 1888.
She was also an accomplished mountain climber.
And perhaps most notably, she played a central role in the founding of modern Iraq, advising King Faisal and British intelligence in the process.

And in between her expeditions and adventures, Gertrude spent time at Rounton Grange helping to lay out the formal gardens. Following her unexpected and rather tragic death in 1926, everyone connected with her family and the local community wanted to memorialise her life's work; hence the marvellous window in the church, which has a representation of a female figure in exotic Arab dress.

Among the many obituaries from across the world, this one from the archaeologist and scholar D.G. Hogarth sums Gertrude up perfectly:

'No woman in recent time has combined her qualities - her taste for arduous and dangerous adventure with her scientific interest and knowledge, her competence in archaeology and art, her distinguished literary gift, her sympathy for all sorts and condition of men, her political insight and appreciation of human values, her masculine vigour, hard common sense and practical efficiency - all tempered by feminine charm and a most romantic spirit.'

Wow!