St Lawrence Church in Bovingdon set for £1.4m extension

Having received planning permission to extend, St Lawrence Church in Bovingdon is seeking to put it into action as it reaches the final step of its approval process.

The Grade II* listed building, in Church Street, would gain accessible communal facilities which would help it better provide services such as weddings, christenings and wakes.

It is also intended to provide community functions such as fairs, harvest suppers, playgroups and concerts.

Further changes involve reordering the interior, including completely removing all the pews to make it an open space for "modern church worship".

A brick and flint panel that has already been built to more accurately show how the extension will look (Image: St Lawrence Church)

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According to heritage experts, St Lawrence is currently "badly let down by the poor quality and uninspiring design of the extant set of box pews”.

The church website says the current facilities are “inadequate for the 21st century” but the plans seek to change this. It adds that fundraising is getting underway “to make the project a reality”.

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After Dacorum Borough Council approved the plans last year, further plans were submitted and approved by the Diocese of St Albans.

The church is now preparing to petition for a faculty, a legal document and the final stage needed to receive permission to undertake works on a church.CGI showing what St Lawrence Church could look like (the CGI is apparently not representative of the current vision in terms of its colour) (Image: St Lawrence Church)