The village
The village name 'Weston' is Anglo Saxon in origin, and means 'western estate', referring to the situation of the village in relation to Olney. The affix 'Underwood' refers to the village's location to a nearby forest, possibly the Yardley Chase or Whittlewood.
The Church
The church of ST. LAURENCE consists of a chancel, nave, north aisle, south aisle, west tower square, and a north porch.
The nave probably incorporates part of the walling of a 12th century church to which aisles were added about the middle of the 13th century. The chancel arch was rebuilt in the first half of the 14th century, but by the middle of the century the condition of the fabric must have become very unsatisfactory, as its restoration was undertaken by John Olney, lord of the manor, about 1368, in which year the church was refounded. The rebuilding of the chancel was probably the only work accomplished by this date, but the reconstruction of the rest of the building appears to have been continued during the next twenty years, the nave arcades being rebuilt, largely with the old material, the clearstory added, and new windows inserted in both aisles. The tower and north porch were added about the middle of the 15th century. The church was restored in 1891.
All the details of the chancel are of about 1368. The east window is of three cinquefoiled lights with elaborate tracery under a pointed head and is a typical example of the period. In the tracery is a considerable quantity of old glass comprising the following subjects: a bishop with nimbus; St. Peter; St. John Baptist; St. John Evangelist with a chalice and serpent; St. Lawrence with a gridiron; St. Paul with a sword; the Ascension; a piece with a censing angel on either side of the last subject, one probably modern; and two pieces, each painted with a yellow and white rose with a blue band on a red background with white and yellow borders. In each side wall are two pointed windows, both of two cinquefoiled lights with quatrefoiled tracery in the head. The western windows are transomed and prolonged downwards to form lowside lights, now blocked, and the sill of the south-east window is lowered internally to form a sedile. The north-east window contains some original glass with canopy work, while the two south windows have foliated and floral designs. There is a contemporary doorway between the windows on the north side and in the north-east corner is a plain aumbry of uncertain date. Near the sedile is a large piscina with a pointed and cinquefoiled head and a basin of eight foils. The early 14th-century chancel arch, which is of two chamfered orders, probably contains re-used material from an earlier arch. The jambs are chamfered, and the inner order rests on triple shafts with moulded bases and capitals.
The nave has on each side an arcade of four bays, with chamfered arches and circular columns, with moulded capitals and bases. The westernmost columns and the chamfered west responds are of 13th-century date, but the remainder, with the semicircular eastern responds, are Olney's work of 1368 and are partly built of earlier material. The capitals and bases are moulded. At the north-east of the nave is the upper doorway to the rood-loft, the stairs to which have been removed. The late 14th-century clearstory windows, three on each side, are each of two trefoiled lights, with quatrefoil tracery in a pointed head. Both the chancel and nave have flat plastered ceilings.
The north aisle is lighted from the north by two square-headed late 14th-century windows, each of three trefoiled lights with vertical tracery in the head, and the south aisle has two corresponding windows of the same date and design. Both aisles have doorways between the windows, the north doorway being of the late 14th century, while the south doorway is of the 13th century. The aisle roofs contain some old timbers.
The 15th-century tower is of two stages and has diagonal buttresses, a north-west staircase, and an embattled parapet. The tower arch is of two chamfered orders. In the west wall of the ground stage is a restored doorway with a pointed head, and above it is a pointed window of two cinquefoiled lights with tracery, also much restored. The bell-chamber is lighted by four two-light windows of the same character.
The north porch has a moulded entrance archway, and in each side wall is a single trefoiled light.
This information was taken from
http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/bucks/vol4/pp497-502
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