North Surrey

Sunday 11 September was one of the Heritage Open Days when buildings which are not always open to the public are open (that doesn't read very well does it?). Anyway I dropped Sue off at rehersal in Merstham and then headed onto the North Downs to visit one of Simon Jenkins' 1000 - St Peter and St Paul Church, Chaldon. Unfortunatly I chose to visit when it was closed as they are building an extension. The present church was started in the late 10th or early 11th century, and consisted originally of a rectangular nave, 27 feet long and just over 17 feet wide with high walls. The west wall is of traditional flint construction and is almost certainly original. The south aisle extends into St. Kateryn's Chapel, built in the 14th century, and is now the Lady Chapel .The shingled broach spire was added in 1842, and the vestry was built at the same time. On the wall at the back of the church is the main 'tourist attraction' - a large and unusual medieval mural depicting Judgement and the Ladder of Salvation, uncovered in Victorian times when the church was being redecorated.I didn't get to see it! http://www.surreycommunity.info/chaldonpc/st-peter-and-st-paul-church/

I then travelled the short distance to Chipstead and parked outside St Mary the Virgin Church. The church was built in 1866 as part of the Victorian expansion of the town. The spire added in 1883 and further extensions in 1916. It too was closed.

St Mary the Virgin was sited opposite the old Norman church of St Lawrence. This was open but there was a function going on inside - It was not my day!. The is generally believed to date from AD 1095 - although this is partly guesswork based on the Norman window.

Stocks in the graveyard.

The east end of the church.

Finally having turned back to Merstham I came across a church that was open with a helpful guide: St Margaret's Church, Chipstead. The present church probably dates from 1185. From the reign of King John to the 15th century, the church was significantly enlarged.

Early English vaulting above the crossing.

Stone benches which can be found on both north and south sides of the chancel. They extend from the screen to the steps up to the alter rails and have carved arm rests.

One of the main features of the church are the series of lancet windows with triangular heads consisting of two slabs of stone. The openings are narrow - less than four inches.

The font is one of the few (according to the guide) fonts of the Decorated Period - 1307-1377 - in Surrey. It is a shallow octagon with panels of carved tracery. The base and steps are more modern - 1827.

The west end of the church was re-built during restoration work in 1883.

The north wall was alos replaced in this restoration but the old north doorway was preserved and built into the new wall. This shows early use of 'Dog tooth ' moulding and a pear shaped moulding percular to this period circa 1175.

South West England

Somerset, Devon, Cornwall and back to Somerset!
St Mary’s Minster, Ilmimster - Ilminster takes its name from the river Isle and the church of St Mary’s which is known as The Minster. The church was built around 1450 on the site of a Saxon building. It was refurbished in 1825 by William Burgess. Its distinctive colour come from the Hamstone (a Jurassic limestone from Ham Hill in Somerset). The 90ft tower has a stair turret to the north-west corner. The north chapel contains the tombs of Sir William Wadham, by whose bequest the Minster was built, and of Nicholas and Dorothy Wadham, founders of Wadham College, Oxford.

St Andrew’s in Ipplepen, Devon. The church was built in the 15th century building with but incorporates some fragments from the 14 century. The west tower has three stages and the porch has two storeys.
....and now to Cornwall. St Andrew’s Methodist Church, Mevagissey was built in the 19th century. St Just Church, Gorran Haven - more correctly known as the Chapel of St Just.



The Parish Church of St Gorran in the aptly named Gorran Churchtown.
Holy Trinity Church, Tresillian, near Truro - The church was built at Tresillian Bridge in 1904 . The font, bells, statue of St Anthony and pulpit from the near by St Anthony’s Church at Merther were moved to the new church at Tresillian.

The church of St Elwyn in Hayle was built in 1886-88 to the design of J. D. Sedding. According to Pevsner it is "loud outside ... and dull inside"
St Barnabas Church, Queen Camel, Somerset, was built in the 14th century The tall tower dates from around 1491,it has 5 stages with pairs corner buttresses to full the height, ending in pinnacle. There is a full height octagonal stair turret with slit windows on the north-westside. The church houses the second heaviest set of six bells in Europe

St Michael at the North Gate, Cornmarket, Oxford

If you approached Oxford from the north 950 years ago, coming down St Giles, the most conspicuous building in your line of sight would have been the present church tower, dating from about 1050. It is probably the oldest surviving building in Oxford, rivalled only by the castle tower, and originally situated just within the North Gate, of the city, protected to the north by the city wall. All other traces of the original church have vanished, but a church there certainly was. After the tower, the earliest surviving parts of the church are the chancel, the eastern part of the south aisle (nearest the altar), and the south door, all dating from the 13th century.The church was substantially restored by G.E. Street in the 19th century, and again after a near disastrous fire in 1953. Since then the largest and most ambitious project has been the restoration of the tower in 1986.
The east window of the chancel contains four panels of high quality stained glass dating from the 13th century; it is some of the earliest stained glass in Oxford.



The Burma Star Association Window. The window represents the three services involved in the Burma Campaign. The glass on the left with the ships anchor represents the Royal Navy. The glass to the right with the motto 'Per ardua ad astra'represents the Royal Airforce. The centre glass shows the 14th Army, once known as 'The Forgotten Army'commanded by Bill Slim (later Field Marshall Lord Slim). The Japanese captured Burma and then crossed into India where the tide was turned at Kohima. The words on the memorial there are used each year on Remberance Sunday in Services all around Britain. FEPOW stands for far East Prisoners of War and below this is the Campaign Ribbon. The window was commissioned by Joe Blewitt a FEPOW who later became Mayor of Oxford.
The Saxon Tower: on the first-floor is the treasury containing rare silver - the earliest piece dates from 1562 - and the Charter of 1612, bearing the arms of James I. Further up the tower you is a 19th century clock mechanism and the door of the prison cell, situated nearby, through which the Protestant martyrs, including Archbishop Cranmer, stepped to their deaths in 1556.

City of London (II)

St Mary- at-Hill Church and St Olave’s Church, Hart Street

Two very different churches seen whilst walking from Fenchurch Street Station to Monument.

John Betjeman described St Olave’s as “a country church in the world of Seething Lane’. The church is first recorded in the 13th century as St Olave-towards-the-Tower. It is dedicated to the patron saint of Norway, King Olaf II of Norway, who fought alongside the Anglo-Saxon King Ethelred the Unready against the Danes in the Battle of London Bridge in 1014. He was canonised after his death and the church of St Olave's was built apparently on the site of the battle.The Norwegian connection was reinforced during the Second World War when King Haakon VII of Norway worshipped there while in exile.

Saint Olave's was rebuilt in the 13th century and then again in the 15th century. The present building dates from around 1450. The church is a rare example of the mediaeval churches that existed before the Great Fire of London in 1666. The flames came within 100 metres or so of the building but then the wind changed direction, saving a number of churches on the eastern side of the City.

The church was severely damaged in the bombing of World War II, but enough of the fabric and original masonry was spared to permit the building to be restored in the 1954.

The exterior is in the Perpendicular Gothic style. with a squat square tower of stone and brick, the latter added in 1732.






It is famous for the macabre 1658 entrance arch to the churchyard, which is decorated with grinning skulls.



The interior of St Olave's only partially survived the wartime bombing; much of it dates from the restoration of the 1950s. It is nearly square, with three bays separated by columns of Purbeck limestone supporting pointed arches. The roof is a simple oak structure with bosses.



The view down the nave towards the altar and east window.



The east window. The two central lights represent Christ as Saviour and Christ as Victor. The left panel is of St Olave over the arms of King Haakon VII and the left is St George over the arms of Queen Elizabeth II. It was designed by A E Buss.




From left to right: The pulpit was acquired in 1857 from St Benet’s Gracechurch Street and is reputed to be by Grining Gibbons (1648-1721 whose work is also found in St Pauls cathedral and Hampton Court Palace. One of two restoration stones: This is the ‘Stone of History’ which records the dates of the successive churches on this site. (the other was laid by King Haakon VII). Above the stone is one of four Sword stands which date from the C18.



The door to the vestry is thought to be older than the present church, dating back to the original C13 stone building.





The church was designated a Grade I listed building on 4 January 1950. I think John Betjeman nearly got it right - 'a City of London version of country church in the world of Seething Lane’ might be better.

Between 1948 and 1954, when the restored St Olave's was reopened, a prefabricated church stood on the site of All Hallows Staining -- . This was known as St Olave Mark Lane. The tower of All Hallows Staining was used as the chancel of the temporary church.



After leaving St Olave’s I walked along Great Tower Street and glancing south, The Shard’s progress could be seen looking down the street called ‘St Mary at Hill’. Half way down the street is the east façade of St Mary-at-Hill’ church.



A small sign then directs you through some iron gates to an open area by the north wall – but you could not get into the church from there.



A walk back around three sides of a square brings you to Lovat Lane and the west door under the tower. This was open but the church was being used for a rehearsal and I could not go in!

St Mary- at-Hill has existed for nearly a thousand years serving in the Parish of Billingsgate. The Great Fire of London (1666) started in Pudding Lane, a stone’s throw away from St Mary-at-Hill. The Fire had consumed the interior of the church leaving only parts of the walls and the brick work of the tower. It is thought that Robert Hooke may have supervised the rebuilding of St Mary’s although Christopher Wren rebuilt the interior.



Utilising the previous fabric as far as possible, the original north and south walls were reconstructed, but the building was extended a little to the east. An ornate main frontage of exposed stone was built on St Mary at Hill.



St Mary-at-Hill was one of the first churches rebuilt after the Fire, and was completed in 1677. The tower and steeple was replaced by George Gwilt’s square brick tower in 1787-9.

During the night of the 10th May, 1988 a fire broke out on the roof. This once again devastated the interior and although St. Mary-at-Hill ‘rose again’, the reredos, pulpit, box pews and organ sustained considerable damage.

Writing before the most recent fire Sir John Betjeman said of the church “This is the least spoiled and the most gorgeous interior in the City, all the more exciting by being hidden away among cobbled alleys, paved passages, brick walls, overhung by plane trees…”. Despite appearing as one of Simon Jenkins 1000Best - I will need to visit again to be convinced.

Stockton on Theme, Worcestershire

St Andrew’s Church

Not really visible from the main road this little gem of a church was a real find. It was built in the twelfth century on the site of an older Saxon church. The timber porch was added in the fourteenth century with buttresses to spread the load of the bell tower. In 1718 the chancel fell down and was re-built in brick. The church was restored in 1845 and 1898 but keeping its fourteenth century appearance.




The nave contains early Victorian box pews which have long disappeared from many churches.



The nave roof is open timbered dating from the fourteenth century.



To the right of the chancel arch by the pulpit is a ‘squint’ which allowed medieval worshippers to see the priest at the altar.



The Norman chancel arch.



Above the arch are two twelfth century carved panels. One represents the Angus Dei, the Lamb of God, with a banner of victory. The other is of an animal, either a wolf or a lion.



On the north side of the chancel is the canopied tomb of Thomas Walshe 1593. It is a painted wooden tomb (one of only two in Worcestershire). The tomb was restored to its original position in 1856 when it was found that the top was not painted but a thirteenth century tomb slab of the first priest of Stockton.



The font has a modern base but the octagonal bowl is Norman.



I was intending to visit the famous baroque church at Great Witley but did not have enough time and came across this church almost by accident. It was well worth stopping to explore - a really nice little country church.