CHURCH.
Elsi, lord of Longney until 1086 or
1087, (fn. 10) built a church there and invited St. Wulfstan,
Bishop of Worcester, to consecrate it. A luxuriant
nut-tree blocked the daylight from the church, and
when Elsi said that he would rather not have the
church consecrated than lose the tree the bishop
cursed the tree so that it withered. (fn. 11) The history of
the rectory estate, held by Wulfwin the priest c.
1115, is given above. (fn. 12) A vicarage had been established by 1291, (fn. 13) to which Great Malvern Priory
presented until the Dissolution. (fn. 14) Thereafter the
Crown retained the advowson; (fn. 15) in 1953 the vicarage
was united with the perpetual curacy of Elmore,
and the patronage of the united benefice was shared
by the Lord Chancellor with the Archdeacon of
Gloucester as patron of Elmore. (fn. 16)
The vicar's portion, £4 6s. 8d. in 1291, (fn. 17) was
worth £12 clear by 1535. (fn. 18) In 1650 its value was put
at £30, (fn. 19) and by 1698 the trustees of Smith's Charity
were making a discretionary augmentation of £6,
later raised to £10. (fn. 20) The value had risen to £100
clear by 1851, (fn. 21) and following augmentations in 1867
and 1868 (fn. 22) was £112 in 1909. (fn. 23) The vicar had the
small tithes, the great tithes of 3 yardlands, and c.
3 a. of meadow. (fn. 24) The tithes were commuted for
corn-rents at inclosure in 1815. (fn. 25) The vicarage house
was recorded, as being out of repair, in 1563; (fn. 26) it
presumably stood on the site of the 18th-century
brick house immediately north of the churchyard
that was the vicarage (fn. 27) until 1869. A new, larger
house was then built with the help of a grant (fn. 28) on
Windmill Hill, 700 yds. east of the church.
A chantry of St. Mary the Virgin in Longney
church had been founded by 1283, when it had a
chaplain called William; (fn. 29) Stephen the chaplain of
Longney, recorded c. 1267, (fn. 30) and John the chaplain
of Longney, before 1300, (fn. 31) may also have been
chantry priests. Lands in Longney that had been
for the maintenance of the chantry and its priest
were granted by the Crown in 1564. (fn. 32)
Robert Brether or Bryther, who evidently belonged to a family holding land in Hardwicke and
Longney, (fn. 33) became vicar in 1466 (fn. 34) and was still
there in 1498. (fn. 35) A curate was employed by Roger
Mathew, vicar in 1540, (fn. 36) and by his successor John
David, who was said in 1548 to be contumacious (fn. 37)
and to neglect the quarterly sermons (fn. 38) but was very
nearly satisfactory in doctrine in 1551. (fn. 39) Robert
Clayfield, vicar from 1563 to 1609, was described
as but a mean divine and no preacher in 1576, when
he had another benefice and lived elsewhere, (fn. 40) but
later he lived at Longney and preached. (fn. 41) Another
long incumbency was that of Richard Littleton (d.
1713), whose monument in Longney church records
that he was minister there for 58 years. (fn. 42) Littleton's
successors until 1865 were non-resident, usually
employing curates to serve Longney; the last three
held the perpetual curacy of Elmore also. (fn. 43) E. R.
Nussey, in whose time the new vicarage was built,
held the living of Longney alone for 39 years from
1865, and J. R. Rowland for 41 years from 1912. (fn. 44)
The church of ST. LAURENCE, (fn. 45) which may
earlier have been called St. Helen's, (fn. 46) is built mainly
of Lias stone, formerly covered externally with a
yellow wash, and has a tiled roof. It comprises
chancel with a south chapel, long nave, south tower
set as a transept, and north and south porches. No
trace of the 11th-century building is to be seen. A
rebuilding in the 13th century is represented by the
opening from the chancel to the south chapel, a
two-bay arcade of two chamfered orders resting on
a cylindrical central pier with a moulded capital, and
by two plain piscinas in the chancel and chapel. In
the 14th century the two lower stages of the tower
were made; the bottom stage has a simple window
of two pointed lights, and there is a similar window
in the south wall of the nave. The west window is of
three cusped 14th-century lights, and the east
window was once like it. The north doorway, the
timber north porch, the two-light windows in the
north wall of the nave, a sepulchral recess in the
chancel with an ogee moulded arch, and the priest's
door to the south chapel are apparently also of the
14th century. Other windows in the chancel, nave,
and south chapel were made in the 15th century.
The nave has a trussed rafter roof, retaining its
panelling at the east end, with moulded tie-beams.
The south porch and the upper stage and short
diagonal buttresses of the tower, all of oolitic ashlar,
were added in the late 15th or early 16th century;
the former chancel arch, springing from the wall, (fn. 47)
and the three-light south window of the nave were
made in the same period. The tower is embattled
and has large gargoyles, and its three stages are
separated by string-courses. The large south porch
is also embattled; both inner and outer doorways
have continuous moulded arches with quatrefoils
carved in the spandrels, and are surmounted by
mutilated niches, the outer one incorporated in a
row of trefoil-headed panels; (fn. 48) within the porch are
stone benches and the octagonal shaft of a stoup.
The nave and chancel were restored in 1873-4, (fn. 49)
and the arches between the chancel and south
chapel, which had been filled in the later 18th
century, (fn. 50) were unblocked and the chancel windows
and chancel arch were rebuilt. The chancel was
refurnished in 1906, (fn. 51) and the tower restored in
1916. (fn. 52) There were two or more bells in 1543, (fn. 53) and
five in the early 18th century. (fn. 54) Of the eight surviving bells one was cast by John Palmer in 1635, (fn. 55) one
by Abraham Rudhall in 1712, and the other six by
John Rudhall between 1796 and 1833. (fn. 56) The organ
was bought in 1905. (fn. 57) The font, which has an
octagonal panelled bowl and buttressed pedestal,
was made in the 14th century; (fn. 58) from the later 18th
century to the later 19th it was in the churchyard,
disused. (fn. 59) The mural monuments include two by
John Pearce of Frampton on Severn. The church
plate is of 1804 and 1805. (fn. 60) The registers begin in
1661 and are virtually complete. In the churchyard
are the socket of an ancient stone cross and two stone
coffins carved with crosses.