Lapley

Lapley is a small English village situated in Staffordshire some 3.5 miles SW by W of Penkridge, 1.5 miles east of Wheaton Aston, 0.5 miles northeast of the Shropshire Union Canal, 1.5 miles north of Watling Street and 6 miles SSW of Stafford.

Lapley Priory

Lapley had a Priory of Black Monks (Benedictines), founded c.1061 by Alfgar, Lord of Mercia and Chester, in memory of his third son Burchard who died in Rheims on his way back from a pilgrimage to Rome with Aldred Archbishop of York. It had been Alfgar's son's dying wish to be buried at St. Rémy and for his father to donate four estates in Staffordshire including the priory of Lapley. He bestowed Lapley at Rheims, in the time of Edward the Confessor, but in the reign of Henry I, it became the property of the college of Tong, in Shropshire. In due course, it was suppressed by Henry V, who suppressed all alien priories in 1415 during the wars with France and prior to the general monastic Dissolution of 1537-8. In the English civil wars, the Priory House was fortified and garrisoned, but in 1645 it was dismantled under a parliamentary order. Some remains of the abbey may still be seen today in the walls of an old house near the church. [ [http://web.archive.org/web/20030901130047/www.ray.cowley.btinternet.co.uk/French.htm G T Hartley, "Some Notes on the Parish of Lapley-cum-Wheaton-Aston in the County of Stafford, Lapley Priory," 1912] ] [ [http://www.churches.lichfield.anglican.org/penkridge/lapley/lapley.htm "All Saints Church, Lapley,"] ] [ [http://www.crsbi.ac.uk/ed/st/laple/index.htm "The Corpus of Romanesque Sculpture in Britain and Ireland, All Saints, Lapley, Staffordshire"] ]

All Saints church

The church of All Saints at Lapley is regarded as late 11th century or early 12th century according to Pevsner. [N Pevsner, "The Buildings of England, Staffordshire," Harmonsworth/Penguin, 1974, p.167] The nave and chancel are clearly Norman in age, along with the lower part of the tower, but the upper portions appear to be 15th century. The church possesses many ancient and unusual features and has been radically altered several times in its history. "An ancient map shows the Chapel of Ease was situated here before 1577. The present church was dedicated by Bishop Lonsdale of Lichfield in 1857." [ [http://64.233.183.104/search?q=cache:J83kHxquKRUJ:www.sstaffs.gov.uk/pdf/church_trail.pdf+lapley+gargoyles&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=uk "The Historic Churches Trail of South Staffordshire"] ]

Of special interest is the Dutch carved 11th century font depicting seven scenes from the life of Christ, [ [http://churches.lichfield.anglican.org/penkridge/lapley/lapleypics/lapleyfont.jpg"Image of Lapley Font"] ] which was discovered discarded in a local farm in the 19th century and then reinstated into the church. [ [http://web.archive.org/web/20030803114259/www.ray.cowley.btinternet.co.uk/Lapleychurch.htm Rev. W D Eynon-Williams, "The ancient church of All Saints (formerly St Peter's) at Lapley," 1949] ] "The font is unusual and consists of a base and pedestal supporting a wide octagonal bowl lined with lead. Carved scenes tell the story of the birth of Christ. The font is of early Dutch origin, no one knows how it came to Lapley." [ [http://www.wheatonaston.org.uk/lapley.htm "All Saints Church, Lapley"] ]

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