CONCLUSION
The Church of St Lawrence the Martyr is a beautiful building that is much loved by all who use it particularly the regular congregation. The long history, the clergy and the bright and new open layout all help to create a warm friendly atmosphere when entering the building. The fire in 1969 was nearly a complete disaster, however this did create an ideal opportunity to remove many of the enclosed and dark internal features that had been introduced during the previous 150 years. But the price was the near complete destruction of the early 15th century roof.
At the present time St Lawrence Church is faced with a major new challenge regarding the erosion of the Clunch. The primary cause of this problem is the fact that the Totternhoe stone in the external walls has not been protected by regular coats of limewash. A secondary effect has been that without the limewash protection the original lime mortar joints between the flints in the chequer work has been eroded. These joints have been repointed with a very hard cement mortar; this has then had the effect of accelerating the erosion of the Clunch. The unprotected materials do show their true beauty in the short term and this may save on maintenance costs; however this does leave the Clunch exposed in a way that was never intended at the time of construction. Sadly the weathering of the Clunch to the chequer work and window tracery is the long term price of leaving these materials exposed without limewash protection.
The Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings describes ancient buildings as expensive to look after and needing continual regular maintenance if the structure and fabric is to be preserved for future generations. The principle concern is the nature of the buildings "restoration" or "repair", because misguided work can be extremely destructive. The skill lies in mending the buildings with the minimum loss of fabric and so of romance and authenticity. Old buildings cannot be preserved by making them new.