Church of St Laurence, Upminster Church of St Laurence, Upminster The church of St Laurence, Upminster, is the Church of England parish church in Upminster, England. It is a Grade I listed building. It is the historic minster or church from which Upminster derives its name, meaning 'upper church', probably signifying 'church on higher ground'. The place-name is first attested as 'Upmynster' in 1062, and appears as 'Upmunstra' in the Domesday Book of 1086. Alice Perrers, mistress of King Edward III, was buried in the church or churchyard in 1400. There is no memorial to mark her grave. She had three illegitimate children by the
Alice Perrers these defects with the seductiveness of her voice. Blind fortune elevated this woman to such heights and promoted her to a greater intimacy with the king than was proper, since she had been the maidservant and mistress of a man of Lombardy. And while the queen was still alive, the king loved this woman more than he loved the queen. However, this account has been questioned by historians for its validity, as Walsingham was a prominent critic of the royal court, and he despised its many ‘indulgences’. Sometime before 1366, Alice arrived at court and served as a lady-in-waiting to