The church was commissioned by Sir Lionel Lyde, a merchant who had a country estate at Ayot St Lawrence.

[2] He intended this to replace the 'Old Church' which he had partly demolished because the latter obstructed the view from his Ayot House, his mansion.

[3] The architect was Nicholas Revett, the co-author of The Antiquities of Athens and Other Monuments of Greece, a multi-volume publication which appeared from 1762.

[1] The front of the church with its portico and screens of columns is designed to be viewed from Ayot House, across a parkland setting.

Lyde is alleged to have said of this arrangement that ‘since the Church united us in life, she can make amends by separating us in death’.