The tower is documented as being built from 1468 to 1479, and the steeple was added in 1508. The spandrels have naive but vivid images of the martyrdom. To the left the church’s namesake saint, Lawrence, is shown naked and stretched out on a grid. The Roman general, Decius, ordering his execution is seated top right holding out his sword, while executioners fan the flames. The martyrdom of Saint Edmund must have been chosen since this huge, and now redundant, church was founded under the patronage of the Abbey of St Edmund, Bury. According to legend the naked Saint Edmund was tied to a stake where he was shot to death and beheaded. His head was rescued by the wolf, shown at the bottom of the spandrel, who brought it to the abbey.