Saint Lawrence Close is in Stratford sub Castle, just off of the road that runs from Salisbury out through the Avon valley, towards Amesbury and Stonehenge.
There are at least four Saint Lawrences:
- St. Lawrence Justinian
- St. Lawrence O’Toole
- St. Lawrence ‘of Osca’
- St. Lawrence, Archbishop of Canterbury
Saint Lawrence Close would be named in reference to Saint Lawrence church, since they are both in Stratford-sub-castle.
I’m not sure which of the Saint Lawrences the church is dedicated to.
The church was consecrated in 1326, but part of it goes back as far as the late 1100′s, when the Cathedral at Old Sarum was still standing 1.
Reproduced courtesy of Francis Frith.
St Lawrence Justinian
The age of the church would suggest that it is not dedicated to St Lawrence Justinian, who lived from 1381 until 1456, and was not canonized until 1690. 2.
St Lawrence O’Toole
It is unlikely too that St Lawrence’s is named after St Lawrence O’Toole – he lived from 1128 until 1180. Although he was canonized in 1225, I would still guess that he was not early enough to have had St Lawrence’s named after him.
However, the church could have been named after either of the other two Saint Lawrences.
St Lawrence ‘of Osca’
He is not normally known as St Lawrence ‘of Osca’, but he was born there so I have used this to distinguish him from the others.
Saint Lawrence ‘of Osca’ is the most well known of the Saints who share the name ‘Lawrence’- he was a 3rd century martyr. In August 258AD, Emporer Valerian issued an edict that all of the church’s priest should be put to death.
One version of his story goes as follows.
Saint Lawrence was the last of the seven deacons to be put to death. A prefect said that he would be spared if, within three days he delivered to the prefect all of the church’s riches. Having secured the church’s holy artefacts, Saint Lawrence returned with a group of sick, disabled and poor people. He said to the prefect that these were the riches of the church.
Saint Lawrence is said to have been marytred on a grid-iron, over hot coals. The primary symbol of Saint Lawrence is the grid-iron. Saint Lawrence’s Chapel within Salisbury Cathedral features an alter cloth decorated with flames and the pattern of a grill.
A slightly odd end to his story is that he is said to have cried out “This side?s done, turn me over and have a bite.”3
Saint Lawrence, the second archbishop of Canterbury
The ‘second’ Saint Lawrence is less famous internationally, but he was an ‘English’ saint, in that he was one of the missionaries who accompanied St Augustine from Rome to England, and he became the second Archbishop of Canterbury. 4
Other roads named after churches in the Salisbury area are:
St Andrews SP1
St Edmunds Church Street-SP1
St Francis Road SP1
St Gregorys Avenue
St-Georges-Road-SP2
St-Lawrence-Close-SP1
St Marks Avenue SP1, St Marks Road SP1
St Martins Church St SP1, St Martins Terrace SP1
St Marys Close SP2, St Marys Road SP2
St Michaels Road SP2, St Michaels Close SP2
St Pauls Road SP2
Update: Saint Lawrence’s Church in Stratford is name after Saint Lawrence of Osca. I visited the church a few days ago, and there’s a notice thats says so.
Footnotes
- St Lawrence Plan [↩]
- St. Lawrence Justinian [↩]
- Lawrence of Rome – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia and Thomas J. Craughwell. This Saint’s for You!: 300 Heavenly Allies Who Will Change Your Life p126, Quirk Books,US (1 Nov 2007). ISBN 978-1594741845 [↩]
- Catholic Encyclopedia (1913)/St. Lawrence (1) – Wikisource [↩]
