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I have been traveling to Leuven once a month for some 17 months now, and have not, until yesterday, visited the church of St Peter.
It stands in the centre of the town, opposite the ornate Town Hall, and around most of it is a wide pedestrianised area, so it doesn't feel hemmed in.
It is undergoing renovation, and a large plastic sheet separates the chancel from the rest of the church, and in the chancel, called the treasury, are many wonderful items of art. And maybe due to the €3 entrance fee, I had the chancel to myself, and just my colleagues with me when I photographed the rest.
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Saint Peter's Church (Dutch: Sint-Pieterskerk) of Leuven, Belgium, is situated on the city's Grote Markt (main market square), right across the ornate Town Hall. Built mainly in the 15th century in Brabantine Gothic style, the church has a cruciform floor plan and a low bell tower that has never been completed. It is 93 meters long.
The first church on the site, made of wood and presumably founded in 986, burned down in 1176.[1] It was replaced by a Romanesque church, made of stone, featuring a West End flanked by two round towers like at Our Lady's Basilica in Maastricht. Of the Romanesque building only part of the crypt remains, underneath the chancel of the actual church.
Construction of the present Gothic edifice, significantly larger than its predecessor, was begun approximately in 1425, and was continued for more than half a century in a remarkably uniform style, replacing the older church progressively from east (chancel) to west. Its construction period overlapped with that of the Town Hall across the Markt, and in the earlier decades of construction shared the same succession of architects as its civic neighbor: Sulpitius van Vorst to start with, followed by Jan II Keldermans and later on Matheus de Layens. In 1497 the building was practically complete,[1] although modifications, especially at the West End, continued.
In 1458, a fire struck the old Romanesque towers that still flanked the West End of the uncompleted building. The first arrangements for a new tower complex followed quickly, but were never realized. Then, in 1505, Joost Matsys (brother of painter Quentin Matsys) forged an ambitious plan to erect three colossal towers of freestone surmounted by openwork spires, which would have had a grand effect, as the central spire would rise up to about 170 m,[2] making it the world's tallest structure at the time. Insufficient ground stability and funds proved this plan impracticable, as the central tower reached less than a third of its intended height before the project was abandoned in 1541. After the height was further reduced by partial collapses from 1570 to 1604, the main tower now rises barely above the church roof; at its sides are mere stubs. The architect had, however, made a maquette of the original design, which is preserved in the southern transept.
Despite their incomplete status, the towers are mentioned on the UNESCO World Heritage List, as part of the Belfries of Belgium and France.
The church suffered severe damage in both World Wars. In 1914 a fire caused the collapse of the roof and in 1944 a bomb destroyed part of the northern side.
The reconstructed roof is surmounted at the crossing by a flèche, which, unlike the 18th-century cupola that preceded it, blends stylistically with the rest of the church.
A very late (1998) addition is the jacquemart, or golden automaton, which periodically rings a bell near the clock on the gable of the southern transept, above the main southern entrance door.
Despite the devastation during the World Wars, the church remains rich in works of art. The chancel and ambulatory were turned into a museum in 1998, where visitors can view a collection of sculptures, paintings and metalwork.
The church has two paintings by the Flemish Primitive Dirk Bouts on display, the Last Supper (1464-1468) and the Martyrdom of St Erasmus (1465). The street leading towards the West End of the church is named after the artist. The Nazis seized The Last Supper in 1942.[3] Panels from the painting had been sold legitimately to German museums in the 1800s, and Germany was forced to return all the panels as part of the required reparations of the Versailles Treaty after World War I.[3]
An elaborate stone tabernacle (1450), in the form of a hexagonal tower, soars amidst a bunch of crocketed pinnacles to a height of 12.5 meters. A creation of the architect de Layens (1450), it is an example of what is called in Dutch a sacramentstoren, or in German a Sakramentshaus, on which artists lavished more pains than on almost any other artwork.
In side chapels are the tombs of Duke Henry I of Brabant (d. 1235), his wife Matilda (d. 1211) and their daughter Marie (d. 1260). Godfrey II of Leuven is also buried in the church.
A large and elaborate oak pulpit, which is transferred from the abbey church of Ninove, is carved with a life-size representation of Norbert of Xanten falling from a horse.
One of the oldest objects in the art collection is a 12th-century wooden head, being the only remainder of a crucifix burnt in World War I.
There is also Nicolaas de Bruyne's 1442 sculpture of the Madonna and Child enthroned on the seat of wisdom (Sedes Sapientiae). The theme is still used today as the emblem of Katholieke Universiteit Leuven.
After many years than three attempts to see inside this year alone, finally, the door did open for me.
But, not at first, as the loack had two settings, the first did not work, a little bit of ompf and I was in.
A pleasantly small and simple church, with remains of wall paintings a simple rood screen.
My eye was taken by the roof and support beams, very nice.
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St Peter's is in a windswept location, in open farmland, with ancient yew trees and a patina of great antiquity. Abutting the north side of the tower, and entered from the church, is a rare medieval priest's house. The nave has a distinctly unusual atmosphere. It is lofty and plain, with much light flooding in from the large south windows. While there is no chancel arch there is a horizontal beam which carries the Royal Arms of George III. The three-crownpost roof is beautifully set off by whitewashed walls which are almost devoid of monuments. After the nave the chancel is something of an anti-climax, although there are traces of medieval wall paintings on the south wall.
www.kentchurches.info/church.asp?p=Molash
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MOLASH
Is the next parish westward from Chilham; it is a parish which lies very obscurely among the hills, being little known, and having very little traffic through it. The village, which is straggling, is situated near the western boundaries of it, the parish of Wye joining close up to it. The church stands close on the north side of the village; there are about fifty houses, and two hundred and sixty-five inhabitants, the whole is much covered with coppice wood, mostly beech, with some little oak interspersed among it; the country is very hilly, and the soil of it very poor, being mostly an unsertile red earth, mixed with abundance of slints.
There is a fair held here on the 16th of July yearly, formerly on the Monday after St. Peter and St. Paul.
The Honor of Chilham claims paramount over this parish, subordinate to which is The Manor Of Bower, alias Flemings, which is situated in the bo rough of Godsole, northward from the church, it took the latter of those names from the family of Fleming, who were once the possessors of it; one of whom, John de Fleming, appears by a very antient courtroll of this manor, to have been owner of it, and in his descendants it probably continued for some time; but they were extinct here in the reign of Henry VI. in the 24th year of which, as appears by another antient court-roll, it was in the possession of John Trewonnalle, in which name it continued down to the reign of King Henry VIII. and then another John Trewonnalle alienated it to Thomas Moyle, esq. afterwards Knighted, and he owned it in the 30th year of that reign; and in his descendants it remained till the reign of Kings James I. when it was alienated to Mr. Henry Chapman; at length his delcendant Mr. Edward Chapman leaving three sons, Edward, Thomas, and James Chapman, they became possessed of it as coheirs in gavelkind, and afterwards joined in the sale of it to Christopher Vane, lord Barnard, who died in 1723, leaving two sons, Gilbert, who succeeded him in the north of England; and William, who possessed his father's seat at Fairlawn, and the rest of his estates in this county, having been in his father's life-time created viscount Vane, of the Kingdom of Ireland. He died in 1734, as did his only son and heir William, viscount Vane, in 1789.s. p. (fn. 1) who devised this manor, among the rest of his estates in this county and elsewhere, to David Papillon, esq. late of Acrise, the present possessor of it.
Witherling is a manor in this parish, situated likewise in the borough of Godsole. In the antient records of Dover castle, this manor is numbered among those estates which made up the barony of Fobert, and was held of Fulbert de Dover, as of that barony, by knight's service, by a family of its own name. Robert de Witherling appears to have held it in the reign of king John, as one knight's see, by the same tenure; in whose descendants it continued down to the reign of King Henry VI. When Joane Witherling was become heir to it, and then carried it in marriage to William Keneworth, whose son, of the same name, passed it away in the reign of Henry VII. to John Moile, of Buckwell, who died possessed of it in the 15th year of that reign, as appears by the inquisition taken after his death, and that it was held of Dover castle. His son John Moyle sold this manor, in the 4th year of Henry VIII. to Hamo Videan, descended of a family of good note in this county. There is mention made of them in the Parish Register, from the first year of it, 1557, to the present time; but they have been decayed a long time, and their possessions dispersed among other owners; but there is still a green in this neighbourhood, called from them Videan's, (by the common people Vidgeon's) forstal. In his descendants it continued till the reign of King Charles II. when it was conveyed, by a joint conveyance, from that name to Mr. Tho. Thatcher, whose daughter Mary carried it in marriage to Mr. Henry Bing, of Wickhambreux, whose son John Bing (fn. 2) sold it to Mr. Edward Baker, for the satisfying his sister's fortune, whom the latter had married; and on his dying intestate, this manor descended to his four sons, Thomas Baker, clerk, Edward, Henry, and Bing Baker, who joined in alienating it, about 1771, to Thomas Knight, esq. of Godmersham, whose only son and heir of the same name died possessed of it in 1794, s. p. and by will devised this manor to Edward Austen, esq. then of Rowling, but now of Godmersham, who is the present owner of it. A court baron is held for this manor.
Chiles, alias Slow-Court, is a small manor in this parish, which some years since belonged to the family of Goatley, which had been settled here from the time of queen Mary. One of them, Laurence Goatley, died possessed of it in 1608. He then dwelt at his house in this parish, called Bedles, and was lessee of the parsonage. Searles Goatley, esq the last of this family, was brought from Maidstone a few years ago, and buried in this church. Laurence Goatley devised this manor to his third son Laurence, one of whose descendants passed it away to Moter, and in 1661 Alice Moter, alias Mother, of Bethersden, sold it to John Franklyn, gent. of this parish, whose daughter carried it in marriage to Thomas Benson, of Maidstone, and he in 1676, by fine and conveyance, passed it away to Robert Saunders, gent. of that town, as he again did in 1703 to Esther Yates, widow, of Mereworth, whose executors in 1716 conveyed it to David Fuller, gent. of Maidstone, who dying s. p. devised it in 1751 by will to his widow Mary, who at her death in 1775, gave it to her relation, William Stacy Coast, esq. now of Sevenoke, the present proprietor of it.
Charities.
Simon Ruck, gent. of Stalisfield, and Sarah his wife, by indenture in 1672, in consideration of 35l. granted to Thomas Chapman, gent. and John Thatcher, both of Molash, a piece of land containing three acres, called Stonebridge, in this parish, for the use, maintenance, and relief of the poor of this parish for ever.
Thomas Amos, yeoman, of Ospringe, by will in 1769 gave 100l. in trust, to be laid out in the public funds, and the dividends to be yearly paid, on the day of St. Thomas the Apostle, to the churchwardens, to be distributed to the most necessitous poor of Molash; which, with other money of the parish was laid out in the purchase of 125l. three per cent. reduced Bank Annuities.
The poor constantly relieved are about nine, casually twenty. five.
This Parish is within the Ecclesiastical Juris diction of the diocese of Canterbury, and deanry of Bridge.
The church, which is dedicated to St. Peter, is a small mean building, consisting of one isle and one chancel, having a pointed turret, shingled, at the west end, in which are three bells. There are several memorials of the Chapmans in this church, and in the isle is a stone, inscribed Pulvis Chapmannorum, under which is a vault, wherein several of them lie. In the chancel there is an antient gravestone, cossin-shaped, with an inscription round, in old French capitals, now, through time, illegible. The font is antient, having on it, Gules, three right hands couped, argent; a crescent for difference. In the Parish Register, which begins in 1558, are continual entries of the Videans, Goatleys, Franklyns, Thatchers, Chapmans, Moyles, and Wildish's, from that year almost to the present time. It is esteemed only as a chapel of ease to Chilham, and as such is not rated separately in the king's books.
¶The great tithes or parsonage of this parish were formerly a part of the rectory or parsonage of Chilham, and as such belonged to the alien priory of Throwley, on the suppression of which, anno 2 king Henry V. they were given to the monastery of Sion, which being dissolved by the act of 31 Henry VIII. they came, with the rest of the possessions of that house, into the king's hands, whence the parsonage of Chilham, which included this of Molash, was granted next year, together with the honor and castle, and other premises, to Sir Thomas Cheney, whose son Henry, lord Cheney, alienated the whole of them in the 10th year of queen Elizabeth, to Sir Thomas Kempe, of Wye, who in the 21st year of that reign alienated the parsonage or great tithes of this parish to William Walch, who held the same in capite, and he that year sold it to John Martyn, who as quickly passed it away to Richard Tooke, whose descendant Nicholas Tooke, in the 25th year of that reign, conveyed it in 1633, by the description of the manor of Molash, and all the glebes and tithes of this parish, to Sir James Hales, in which name it continued some time, till it was at length sold to Sir Dudley Diggs. who devised it to his nephew Anthony Palmer, esq. whose brother Dudley Palmer, esq. of Gray's Inn, in 1653, was become owner of it. It afterwards belonged to the Meads, and from them came to Sir Thomas Alston, bart. of Odell, in Bedfordshire, who lately died possessed of it, and his devisees are now entitled to it.
This church being a chapel of ease to that of Chilham, constitutes a part of that vicarage, the vicar of it being presented and institued to the vicarage of the church of Chilham, with the chapel of Molash annexed.
In 1585 here were communicants one hundred and twenty-six. In 1640 there were only forty communicants here.
St Peter sits on a small lane leading up from the old A20 London Road to the downs of Stowting and Wye, it sits apart from the village of the same name, and the closest building is now a farm, converted from the grand house it once served.
I came here about 5 years ago on Heritage weekend, and found it locked, as it has been on a couple of subsequent visits.
I came up here more in hope really, having to get past a large group of cyclists who we making hard work of the shallow slope, in fact I only got past them when one of their number got a puncture and the whole group stopped.
But the church was unmanned, but open, so my much postponed plan to attend one of the monthly services was now not needed.
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An absolute charmer – built of flint with only the adjacent Court for company. It is a simple two cell Norman church of flint but one which, despite Clarke’s ambitious rebuilding in the nineteenth century, has much to offer. Low in the south wall, now part of the French drain, is a medieval mass dial! It is in the infill of the original south door. The medieval tower was demolished by Clarke and the west door reopened into a nave with straightforward crown post roof. The glass is a real mixture, the south western window depicting St George having a really androgynous figure! The ledger slabs from the church were all moved to the vestry and include a rare inscription to someone who was drowned whilst racing the rapids through the old London Bridge. The chancel contains a good example of funeral armour. This church is well worth a drive to seek out.
www.kentchurches.info/church.asp?p=Monks+Horton
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MONKS HORTON.
THE parish of Horton, usually called Monks Horton, from the priory situated in it, as well as to distinguish it from others of that name in this county, lies the next southward from Stowting,
It LIES adjoining to the down hills which cross the parish, and though it has a variety of situation it is in the whole esteemed healthy. The high road from Canterbury called Stone-street way, leads over Hampton-hill, along the east side of it; above this it is a dreary forlorn country, the soil wretchedly poor, and covered with sharp flints, much the same as that in Stowting before described, but at the foot of the hill it changes to a better soil, and a much more pleasant aspect, in which part it may, in comparison of the lower part of the valley southward, over which there is an extensive view, be called high ground, which occasioned this part of it to be called formerly Uphorton; in which part of it is Mount Morris, standing in the midst of several hundred acres of dry pasture grounds, extending over the greatest part of this and into the adjoining parishes, which have been all open one to the other for some time; the trees and coppice wood, round the former inclosures, having been suffered to grow for many years natural and luxuriant, and being interspersed with other woods and plantations, form a scene uncommonly pleasant and picturesque for a long way round. At a small distance from Mount Morris, among these now uninclosed pastures, stands Horton court-lodge and the church. The western part of the parish is very low, wet, and swampy; the stream which rises northward from hence at Stowting, runs along this side of it by the hamlets of Horton and Broad street, and so on into the Post ling branch below Sellinge; here the soil is a deep, miry clay, though on the side of the stream there are some fertile good meadows, among which is Horton priory, standing in a bottom near the stream, below Broad-street, in a very low and damp situation, and so obscure and retired, having a large wood which reaches close up to it, that it is hardly seen till you are close to it. There is but a small part of it remaining; what is left is made use of for the dwellinghouse, being a long narrow building, of ashler stone and flints, seemingly of the time of king Henry VI though by the windows it appears to have been much altered at different times; and there are the remains of a tower at the east end, and a small part of a very fine, large, circular arch, with zigzag ornaments of a much antienter date, seemingly the great entrance into the priory, or perhaps the church of it; beyond which, still further eastward, that part which was taken down by the king's order soon after the suppression of it, seems to have stood.
At THE TIME of taking the survey of Domesday, Horton was part of the possessions of Hugo de Montfort; accordingly it is thus entered in Domesday, under the general title of his lands:
In Stotinges hundred, Alnod holds of Hugo, Hortone. Leuuin held it of king Edward, and it was taxed at half a suling. The arable land is three carucates. In demesne there are two carucates, and five villeins, with six borderers having one carucate and an half. There is a church, and one mill of twenty five pence, and twentyfour acres of meadow. Wood for the pannage of ten bogs. In the time of king Edward the Confessor it was worth forty shillings, and afterwards twenty, now sixty shillings. In the same place Alnod holds one yoke, of Hugo, but there is nothing.
The same Hugo holds three rood and a half in the same lath, which three sochmen hold of king Edward. There now one villein has half a carucate, with three borderers. It is and was worth separately ten shillings.
And a little further below, in the same record:
In Stotinges hundred, Ralph holds of Hugo, Hortun. Two sochmen held it of king Edward, and it was laxed at one yoke and an half. The arable land is one carucate and an half. In demesne there is one, with four villeins, and one mill of thirty pence, and ten acres of meadow. Of the wood there is pannage for six bogs.
On the voluntary exile of Robert de Montfort, grandson of Hugh above-mentioned, in the reign of king Henry I. his estates in this parish, among the rest of his possessions, came into the king's hands, whence they were, with others adjoining in this neighbourhood, soon afterwards granted to Robert de Ver, constable of England, who had married Adeliza, daughter of Hugh de Montfort, and they jointly, by which it should seem that she had a special interest in this manor as part of her inheritance, granted THE MANOR OF HORTON, alias UPHORTON, in the early part of the reign of king Henry II. to the prior and monks of their new-founded priory in this parish, to hold to them, on the payment of one marc of silver yearly to the church of St. Pancrace, of Lewes, as an acknowledgment. (fn. 1) It appears by the record of Dover castle, taken in king Edward I.'s reign, that the prior of Horton held one knight's fee in Horton, by the service of ward to that castle, being part of that barony held of it, called the Constabularie; so called from its being held as part of the barony of the earl of Bologne, constable of that castle in the reign of king Henry I. and Darell, in his treatise, says the possessors of this manor, among others, were bound to repair a tower in it, called Penchester tower; which service was afterwards changed for the annual payment of ten shillings in lieu of it. In which state it continued till the general dissolution of religious houses in the reign of king Henry VIII. in the 27th year of which, an act having passed for the suppression of all such, whose revenues did not amount to two hundred pounds per annum, this priory was surrendered into the king's hands; whence this manor, as well as all the rest of the possessions belonging to it, was granted by the king, in his 29th year, to archbishop Cranmer, and it continued part of the possessions of that see till the reign of queen Elizabeth, when it was by act again vested in the crown, where it staid till king Charles I. in his 4th year, granted it to trustees for the use of the mayor and commonalty of the city of London; whence it was sold two years afterwards to George Rooke, gent. of Mersham, from whose family were descended the Rookes, of St. Laurence, near Canterbury, now extinct. They bore for their arms, Argent, on a chevron engrailed, sable, three chess rooks, argent, between three rooks, sable. (fn. 2) His descendant Heyman Rooke alienated it in the reign of queen Anne to Tho. Morris, esq. of this parish, who dying without issue male, devised this manor by will to his daughter's son Morris Drake Morris, esq. and on failure of issue male in that branch, to the issue male of the said Morris's sister Elizabeth Drake, by her husband Matthew Robinson, esq. of Yorkshire; by virtue of which, their eldest son the Right Hon. Matthew Robinson Morris, lord Rookby, of whom a further account will be given hereafter, is now become entitled to it. A court baron is regularly held for this manor.
THE MANOR OF SHERFORD, alias EAST HORTON, was, in the time of king Edward the Consessor, part of the possessions of the abbot and convent of St. Augustine, being then esteemed as one yoke of land; but after the Norman conquest it was taken from them, and given, among much other land in this neighbourhood, to Hugh de Montsort, not withstanding the opposition which the monks made to it, which their chronicles say, was all in vain, and this manor is accordingly included in the description before-mentioned of his lands in the survey of Domesday. On his voluntary exile in the reign of Henry I. it was, with the rest of his possessions, seized on by the crown, and was most probably afterwards returned to the abbot; for in the 23d year of king Edward III. Sir Richard de Retling held it of the abbot at his death, that year, and left it to Joane his sole daughter and heir, who marrying John Spicer, entitled him to it, and in this name and family this manor continued till the reign of queen Elizabeth, about the latter end of which it was alienated by one of them to Thomas Morris, gent. of London, whose grandson Thomas Morris, esq. late of London, merchant, in the reign of king William, erected on the scite of this manor, on an eminence, a handsome mansion for his residence, which he named MOUNT MORRIS. He died in 17'7, having had an only son Thomas, who was drowned under London bridge, on his return from Holland, in 1697, æt. 23; and one daughter, married first to Drake, of Cambridgeshire, and secondly to the learned Dr. Conyers Middleton; by the former of whom she had Morris Drake, and a daughter Elizabeth, who married Matthew Robinson, esq. The family of Morris bore for their arms, Argent, a spread eagle within a bordure, sable. (fn. 3) Thomas Morris, esq. by will devised this seat, as well as the manor of East Horton, among his other estates, at his death in 1717, to his grandson Morris Drake, esq. who took the name of Morris, and afterwards resided here, and dying s.p. it came by the entail in the above will to his sister Elizabeth Drake, married to Matthew Robinson, esq. of Yorkshire, for her life, and afterwards to her issue. The Robinsons are originally descended from the Robinsons, of Strouan, in Perthshire, in the highlands of Scotland, where at this time there is a considerable and numerous clan of this name. The first of them, of this branch, who came into England, settled at Kendal, in Westmoreland, in the reign of king Henry VIII. After which William Robinson, of the eldest branch of them, resided at Rookby, in Yorkshire, which he had purchased in queen Elizabeth's reign, whose eldest son Thomas was killed in the civil wars in 1643, leaving several sons and daughters. From William the eldest, descended William Robinson, of Rookby, of whose sons, Thomas the eldest, was of Rookby, and created a baronet in 1730, but died s.p. Richard, the sixth son, was archbishop of Armagh, and primate of Ireland, and on failure of issue by his brother, succeeded to the title of baronet in 1777. He was created Lord Rokeby, of the kingdom of Ireland, with remainder to Matthew Robinson, esq. his kinsman, of West Layton, in Yorkshire, and his heirs male. He died unmarried in 1794, and Septimius, the seventh son, was knighted and gentleman usher of the black rod. Leonard, the youngest son of Thomas, who was slain in 1643 as above-mentioned, was chamberlain of London, and knighted. He left three sons and six daughters, of whom the eldest and only surviving son was Matthew Robinson, esq. of West Layton, who married Elizabeth Drake, by whom he became possessed of Horton during her life, as above-mentioned. He died in London in 1778, æt. 84, having had by her seven sons and two daughters. Of the former, Matthew Robinson Morris, esq. of Horton, twice served in parliament for Canterbury, and is the present Lord Rokeby; Tho mas was barrister-at-law, author of the celebrated treatise on Gavelkind, who died unmarried in 1748; Morris was solicitor in chancery, who died in Ireland in 1777, leaving two sons, Morris and Matthew; William was late rector of Denton, whose son Matthew is in orders, and his daughter Elizabeth is the second wife of Samuel Egerton Brydges, esq. of Denton; John was fellow of Trinity-hall, Cambridge; and Charles is barrister-at law, recorder of Canterbury, and served twice in parliament for that city; he has one daughter Mary, who married William Hougham, jun. esq. The two daughters were Elizabeth married to Edw. Montague, esq. of Allethorpe, in Yorkshire; and Sarah to G. L. Scott, esq. They bear for their arms, Vert, a chevron between three roebucks trippant, or. (fn. 4) By virtue of Mr. Morris's will, on the death of Elizabeth, wife of Matthew Robinson, esq. this estate passed immediately, notwithstanding her husband survived, to her eldest son Matthew Robinson, esq. who in compliance with the same will, took the additional name of Morris, of whom a full account has already been given before. In 1794, on the death of the lord primate of Ireland, unmarried, he succeeded, by the limitation of the patent, to the title of lord Rokeby, which he now enjoys. He is now entitled to this manor and seat, in which he resides, being at present unmarried.
IN THE VERY beginning of king Henry II.'s reign, Robert, son of Bernard de Ver, with the king's licence, founded A PRIORY in this parish, (on part of the demesnes of the manor of Horton) in honor of the Virgin Mary, and St. John the Evangelist, placing in it monks of the order of Clugni, and subjecting it as a cell to the priory of St. Pancrace, of that order, at Lewes, in Sussex. After which he, together with his wife Adeliza, daughter of Hugh de Montfort, gave to them their manor of Horton, with its appurtenances, and other lands and services elsewhere, the prior paying yearly to the church of St. Pancrace before-mentioned, one marc of silver as an acknowledgment. And they ordained that the prior of St. Pancrace, of Lewes, should have the management and disposition of the prior and monks of Horton, in the same manner as of his own, according to the rule of St. Benedict, and the order of Clugnt; and they gave to them besides, by different subsequent charters, several other lands, tithes, churches, and other possessions, and confirmed their former donations to it; and these were afterwards increased by others made at different times to it, as appears by the several charters in the register of it, and those again confirmed by Henry de Essex, by king Stephen, and by several different popes. King Edward III. in his 47th year, released this priory from its state of an alien priory, and made it indigenous, prioratus indigena, that is, upon the same footing as other English priories. In the 8th year of the next reign of king Richard II. the revenues of it, in temporalities and spiritualities, were valued at 98l. 16s. 8d.
In the reign of king Henry VI. they were taxed at 106l. 16s. 8d. though the total revenue of it was 117l. 12s. 6d. At which time, as appears by the register of the priory, there were here only six monks, with the prior, all priests and prosessed, though by their charter of foundation, they were to maintain thirteen monks, or if their revenue came short, at least eight. And in this state it continued till the 27th year of king Henry VIII. when this priory was suppressed by act, as not having revenues of the clear yearly value of two hundred pounds, the yearly revenues of it amounting to no more than 95l. 12s. 2d. clear yearly income, and 111l. 16s. 11½d. total yearly revenue, (fn. 5) and it was surrendered up with all its lands and possessions, into the king's hands, by Richard Gloucester, alias Brisley, then prior of it, who had fifteen pounds a year pension granted to him. (fn. 6)
The original of the register of this priory was formerly in the possession of the family of Rooke, afterwards of William Somner, of Canterbury; and a transcript of it was not many years since in the Surrenden library, though now in other hands. Among the Harleian MSS. are collections from the chartularie of this priory, taken anno 1648, No. 2044-38; and there is a manuscript chartularie in the Bodleian library at Oxford, Dodsworth LV, which seems to be that once in the possession of William Somner abovementioned.
THE SCITE OF THE PRIORY of Horton, with the possessions belonging to it, did not remain long in the hands of the crown, during which time however much of the buildings of it were pulled down and carried off, for the king, in his 29th year, granted them, subject to certain exceptions and payments to archbishop Cranmer, who that year conveyed them back again to the crown; whence they were next year granted, to hold in capite by knight's service, to Richard Tate, esq. of Stockbury, who was then in possession of them by a former lease from the crown. He was afterwards knighted, and in the I st year of Edward VI. alienated the scite of the priory, with the lands belonging to it, to Walter Mantell, esq. grandson of Sir Walter Mantell, of Heyford, in Northamptonshire, who bore for his arms, Argent, a cross engrailed, between four mullets, sable; but he being, with his nephew Walter Mantell and others, attainted and executed, for being concerned in Sir Thomas Wyatt's rebellion, in the I st year of queen Mary, this estate became forfeited to the crown, where it staid till queen Elizabeth, in her 13th year, restored it to his eldest son Matthew Mantell, to bold to him and his heirs male, whose direct descendants continued to reside in it for several generations afterwards, in one of whom it still continues, being at this time vested in Mr. Augustus William Mantell.
Charities.
WILLIAM FORDRED, by will in 1550, gave to this parish, among others, a proportion of the rents of twenty-five acres of land in St. Mary's parish, in Romney Marsh; which portion to this parish is of the annual produce of 4l. 12s. 4 1/2d. to be distributed annually to the poor, and vested in certain trustees.
The poor constantly relieved are about eight, casually four.
THIS PARISH is within the ECCLESIASTICAL JURISDICTION of the diocese of Canterbury, and deanry of Elham.
¶The church, which is dedicated to St. Peter, is but a small building, consisting of one isle and one chancel, having a low pointed turret at the west end, in which are four bells. In the chancel are two monuments for the family of Rooke, and several memorials for the Morris's, who lie in a vault underneath. In the isle there are monuments and memorials likewise of the Morris's. Against the north wall, over lord Rokeby's pew, is a curious tablet of vellum, on which is written a long copy of Latin verses, round it are ornaments, with the last-mentioned arms, and the date, 1647, seemingly done in needle-work, most probably by Mrs. Sarah, wise of Thomas Morris, gent. of Horton, who died in 1646, whose monument is here near it. There are no remains of painted glass in the windows. Richard Burcherde, of Canterbury, by will in 1534, gave three pounds to this church, to buy two tables of alabaster for two altars in the body of it, on one to be the story of our Lady, and on the other that of St. John; near them was the tabernacle of St. Nicholas; and he gave four pounds towards making a window, the same as that on the north side there.
The church of Horton appears, after the general dissolution of monasteries in the reign of Henry VIII. to have been vested in the crown, where it remained till the king, in his 34th year, exchanged the advowson of this rectory, among other premises, with the archbishop of Canterbury, and it has remained parcel of the possessions of that see ever since, his grace the archbishop being the present patron of it.
This rectory is valued in the king's books at 7l. 10S. 8d. It is now a discharged living, of the clear yearly certified value of forty pounds. In 1588 it was valued at thirty pounds, communicants 108. In 1640 it was valued at sixty pounds, communicants 180.
There was a decree made in the court of exchequer, on the complaint of Laurence Rook, then the queen's farmer, of the scite and demesnes of Horton manor, in the 39th year of queen Elizabeth, touching the payment of tithes to the rector of this parish, by which, certified by the queen's letters of inspeximus, a modus was established as having been time out of mind, for all pasture grounds, and of the dry cattle, and the wool of sheep and lambs feeding on them, and for certain sorts of wood mentioned therein.
Bryan Faussett, soon after he became rector, commenced a suit in the exchequer, for tithes due to him, in opposition to the above decree; but after carrying his suit on for several years, he dropped it, and the tithes have been ever since received by the succeeding rectors according to the above-mentioned decree.
A visit to Coughton Court in Warwickshire, on the Spring Bank Holiday Weekend in late May 2018. A National Trust property, it was the home of the Throckmorton family.
Coughton Court is an English Tudor country house, situated on the main road between Studley and Alcester in Warwickshire. It is a Grade I listed building.
The house has a long crenelated façade directly facing the main road, at the centre of which is the Tudor Gatehouse, dating from 1530; this has hexagonal turrets and oriel windows in the English Renaissance style. The gatehouse is the oldest part of the house and is flanked by later wings, in the Strawberry Hill Gothic style, popularised by Horace Walpole.
The Coughton estate has been owned by the Throckmorton family since 1409. The estate was acquired through marriage to the De Spinney family. Coughton was rebuilt by Sir George Throckmorton, the first son of Sir Robert Throckmorton of Coughton Court by Catherine Marrow, daughter of William Marrow of London. The great gatehouse at Coughton was dedicated to King Henry VIII by Throckmorton, a favorite of the King. Throckmorton would become notorious due to his almost fatal involvement in the divorce between King Henry and his first wife Catherine of Aragon. Throckmorton favoured the queen and was against the Reformation. Throckmorton spent most of his life rebuilding Coughton. In 1549, when he was planning the windows in the great hall, he asked his son Nicholas to obtain from the heralds the correct tricking (colour abbreviations) of the arms of his ancestors' wives and his own cousin and niece by marriage Queen Catherine Parr. The costly recusancy (refusal to attend Anglican Church services) of Robert Throckmorton and his heirs restricted later rebuilding, so that much of the house still stands largely as he left it.
After Throckmorton's death in 1552, Coughton passed to his eldest son, Robert. Robert Throckmorton and his family were practicing Catholics therefore the house at one time contained a priest hole, a hiding place for priests during the period when Catholics were persecuted by law in England, from the beginning of the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. The Hall also holds a place in English history for its roles in both the Throckmorton Plot of 1583 to murder Queen Elizabeth I of England, and the Gunpowder Plot of 1605, although the Throckmorton family were themselves only indirectly implicated in the latter, when some of the Gunpowder conspirators rode directly there after its discovery.
The house has been in the ownership of the National Trust since 1946. The family, however, hold a 300-year lease and previously managed the property on behalf of the Trust. In 2007, however, the house reverted to management by the National Trust. The management of the property is renewed every 10 years. The family tenant until recently was Clare McLaren-Throckmorton, known professionally as Clare Tritton QC, until she died on 31 October 2017.
The house, which is open to the public all year round, is set in extensive grounds including a walled formal garden, a river and a lake.
The gatehouse at Coughton was built at the earliest in 1536, as it is built of stones which came from Bordesley Abbey and Evesham Abbey after the Dissolution of the Monasteries Act in 1536. As with other Tudor houses, it was built around a courtyard, with the gatehouse used for deliveries and coaches to travel through to the courtyard. The courtyard was closed on all four sides until 1651, when Parliamentary soldiers burnt the fourth (east) wing, along with many of the Throckmorton's family papers, during the English Civil War.
After the Roman Catholic Relief Act was passed in 1829, the Throckmorton family were able to afford large-scale building works, allowing them to remodel the west front.
The first of two churches at Coughton Court. This one is a Church of England church quite close to Coughton Court House and is near The Walled Garden.
Grade I Listed Building
Listing Text
COUGHTON
SP06SE
1/147 Church of St. Peter
01/02/67
GV I
Church. Late C15 and early C16; chancel and chapels built for Sir Robert
Throckmorton and in construction in 1518. Porch c.1780. Repaired and re-roofed
1829-30. Sandstone ashlar; south aisle mainly rubble. Stair turret of brick with
ashlar dressings. Moulded stone plinths and string course. Low pitched lead
roofs with parapets. Aisled nave, chancel, north and south chapels, west tower
and south porch. Perpendicular style. 4-bay nave, 2-bay chancel. 4-centred
arched doors and traceried windows. Tower in 2 stages, with double plinth and
angle and diagonal buttresses. West doorway has hollow chamfered jambs and arch
under straight head, and original double-leaf oak doors with moulded stiles and
rails. 3-light west window, and small rectangular window above. String course.
Bell stage has square-headed openings of 2 trefoiled lights and relieving
arches. Embattled parapet with C17 or C18 pinnacles. Gothick south porch with
ogee arch. South doorway with hollow-chamfered jambs and early C19 six-panelled
door. Aisles, chapels and chancel have diagonal and side buttresses throughout.
Aisles each have two 3-light windows and 3-light west windows. South aisle has
trefoiled lights; north aisle has cinqfoiled lights and wider openings. North
aisle has north-west door, blocked inside with spandrels carved with a human
head and foliage. Nave clerestory of four 3-light windows with square heads and
hood moulds and cinqfoiled lights. North and south chapels each have two 3-light
windows and small door, and square-headed 4-light east windows, all with
uncusped lights. South chapel has ribbed door, north chapel has linenfold panel
door, blocked inside, and semi-octagonal stair turret. Chancel has 5-light east
window with cinqfoiled lights. Interior: Nave has 4-bay arcade with
hollow-chamfered piers and arches. 2-centred tower arch of 1890, Nave and
chancel have Perpendicular timber roofs of 1829-30. Chancel arch and chapel
arcades of 4 half-shafts, and 2-centred arches with 2 wave mouldings. Chancel
and chapels have late C17 paving of alternating black and white diagonally-set
flagstones. Chapels and aisles have lean-to roofs. Fittings: C13 (VCH) font,
originally square but cut to octagon with 4 incised crosses, on capitals and
bases of C15 (Buildings of England) stem, with shafts missing. Much
Perpendicular woodwork, some re-used. Chapel screens with tracery. Pulpit of
1891, but made up from traceried and linenfold panels. Stall and priests desks
with traceried fronts and linenfold backs. Panelled bench ends in nave and
aisles. Bread dole board, south aisle. Dated 1717. Enclosure of small balusters
with H-hinges, below stone tablet set in wall. Stained glass: Some early C16
glass survives chancel east window has 3 sibyls c.1530, re-set, with C17 heads.
Reset fragments and heraldic tracery. North and south chapel windows with pieces
of original glass, included small complete figures of the Apostles, Evangelists
etc. Aisles have fragments. Nave west window of 1890, attributed to Powell
(Buildings of England). Throckmorton monuments, Nave: Sir Robert d.1518, but
occupied by another Sir Robert (d.1791) Tomb chest with grey marble slab and
marble sides with rich quatrefoil panels and shields. Chancel, north-east arch:
Sir George (d.1552) and Dame Katherine. Grey marble chest tomb with panelled
sides and brasses. South east arch. Sir Robert (d.1570). Alabaster and marble
chest tomb with pilasters and panels. South; Sir John (d.1580) and wife Large
canopied alabaster monument with panelled base, effigies and 6 Corinthian
columns. North: Sir Robert (d.1862) and wife. Chest tomb with black marble lid
and brass and enamel cross. Dame Elizabeth (1547); brass inscription plate. C17
and C18 monuments and grave slabs of the Throckmorton and other families. St.
Peter's is an exceptionally complete Perpendicular church with good original
furnishings and monuments.
(V.C.H.: Warwickshire, Vol.III, pp.82-4; Buildings of England: Warwickshire,
pp.244-5).
Listing NGR: SP0834560561
This text is from the original listing, and may not necessarily reflect the current setting of the building.
It has taken some time to see inside of this church. Repeated attempts at either Open House or whenever up in the City, and always the same story, the doors are locked, or people entering walk right by you.
Last year I was in St Andrew Undercroft and explained how frustrated I was, and other in the GWUK group were, and was told, just ring up and access will be allowed.
I had to wait, until Christmas had passed, and so I asked among the group who were interested, and a few other like-minded souls joined my, and so this afternoon we gathered outside hopefully to be let in.
In the end, no worries, we were allowed in, and we spent a good hour inside photographing it.
St Peter now comes under the umbrella of St Helen's Bishopsgate, and so there is a mix of the traditional and modern. The church itself is used for private study, and a kitchen, apparently.
The fabric of the church is unaltered pretty much, with just the pews having been replaced with tables and chairs
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St Peter upon Cornhill is an Anglican church on the corner of Cornhill and Gracechurch Street in the City of London of medieval origin. It was destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666 and rebuilt to the designs of Sir Christopher Wren. It is now a satellite church in the parish of St Helen's Bishopsgate and is used for staff training, bible studies and a youth club. The St Helen's church office controls access to St Peter's.[1]
The church was used by the Tank Regiment after the Second World War, subsumed under St Helen's Bishopsgate.
The church of St Peter upon Cornhill stands on the highest point of the City of London. A tradition grew up that the church was of very ancient origin and was the seat of an archbishop until coming of the Saxons in the 5th century, after which London was abandoned and Canterbury became the seat for the 6th-century Gregorian mission to the Kingdom of Kent.[2]
The London historian John Stow, writing at the end of the 16th century, reported "there remaineth in this church a table whereon is written, I know not by what authority, but of a late hand, that King Lucius founded the same church to be an archbishop's see metropolitan, and chief church of his kingdom, and that it so endured for four hundred years".[3] The "table" (tablet) seen by Stow was destroyed when the medieval church was burnt in the Great Fire,[4] but before this time a number of writers had recorded what it said. The text of the original tablet as printed by John Weever in 1631 began:
Be hit known to al men, that the yeerys of our Lord God an clxxix [AD 179]. Lucius the fyrst christen kyng of this lond, then callyd Brytayne, fowndyd the fyrst chyrch in London, that is to sey, the Chyrch of Sent Peter apon Cornhyl, and he fowndyd ther an Archbishoppys See, and made that Chirch the Metropolitant, and cheef Chirch of this kingdom...[5]
A replacement, in the form of an inscribed brass plate, was set up after the Great Fire[4] and still hangs in the church vestry today. The text of the brass plate has been printed several times, for example by George Godwin in 1839,[6] and an engraving of it was included in Robert Wilkinson's Londina Illustrata (1819–25).[7]
In 1444 a "horsemill" was given to St Peter's. The bells of St Peter are mentioned in 1552, when a bell foundry in Aldgate was asked to cast a new bell.
The church was badly damaged in the Great Fire of London in 1666. The parish tried to patch it up, but between 1677 and 1684 it was rebuilt to a design by Christopher Wren at a cost of £5,647.[citation needed] The new church was 10 feet (3.0 m) shorter than its predecessor, the eastern end of the site having been given up to widen Gracechurch Street.[8]
St Peter's was described by Ian Nairn as having "three personalities inextricably sewn into the City".[9] The eastern frontage to Gracechurch Street is a grand stone-faced composition, with five arched windows between Ionic pilasters above a high stylobate. The pilasters support an entablature; above that is a blank attic storey, then a gable with one arched window flanked by two round ones. The north and south sides are stuccoed and much simpler in style. Unusually, shallow 19th-century shops have survived towards Cornhill, squeezed between the church and the pavement. The tower is of brick, its leaded cupola topped with a small spire, which is in turn surmounted by a weather vane in the shape of St. Peter’s key.[6][10]
The interior is aisled, with square arcade piers[11] resting on the medieval pier foundations. The nave is barrel vaulted, while the aisles have transverse barrel vaults.[10] Unusually for a Wren church, there is a screen marking the division between nave and chancel. This was installed at the insistence of the rector at the time of rebuilding, William Beveridge.[12]
Charles Dickens mentions the churchyard in "Our Mutual Friend". A theatre group called The Players of St Peter were formed at the church in 1946 and performed there until 1987.[13] They are now based at St Clement Eastcheap where its members perform medieval mystery plays each November.
The church was designated a Grade I listed building on 4 January 1950.
St Peter sits on a small lane leading up from the old A20 London Road to the downs of Stowting and Wye, it sits apart from the village of the same name, and the closest building is now a farm, converted from the grand house it once served.
I came here about 5 years ago on Heritage weekend, and found it locked, as it has been on a couple of subsequent visits.
I came up here more in hope really, having to get past a large group of cyclists who we making hard work of the shallow slope, in fact I only got past them when one of their number got a puncture and the whole group stopped.
But the church was unmanned, but open, so my much postponed plan to attend one of the monthly services was now not needed.
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An absolute charmer – built of flint with only the adjacent Court for company. It is a simple two cell Norman church of flint but one which, despite Clarke’s ambitious rebuilding in the nineteenth century, has much to offer. Low in the south wall, now part of the French drain, is a medieval mass dial! It is in the infill of the original south door. The medieval tower was demolished by Clarke and the west door reopened into a nave with straightforward crown post roof. The glass is a real mixture, the south western window depicting St George having a really androgynous figure! The ledger slabs from the church were all moved to the vestry and include a rare inscription to someone who was drowned whilst racing the rapids through the old London Bridge. The chancel contains a good example of funeral armour. This church is well worth a drive to seek out.
www.kentchurches.info/church.asp?p=Monks+Horton
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MONKS HORTON.
THE parish of Horton, usually called Monks Horton, from the priory situated in it, as well as to distinguish it from others of that name in this county, lies the next southward from Stowting,
It LIES adjoining to the down hills which cross the parish, and though it has a variety of situation it is in the whole esteemed healthy. The high road from Canterbury called Stone-street way, leads over Hampton-hill, along the east side of it; above this it is a dreary forlorn country, the soil wretchedly poor, and covered with sharp flints, much the same as that in Stowting before described, but at the foot of the hill it changes to a better soil, and a much more pleasant aspect, in which part it may, in comparison of the lower part of the valley southward, over which there is an extensive view, be called high ground, which occasioned this part of it to be called formerly Uphorton; in which part of it is Mount Morris, standing in the midst of several hundred acres of dry pasture grounds, extending over the greatest part of this and into the adjoining parishes, which have been all open one to the other for some time; the trees and coppice wood, round the former inclosures, having been suffered to grow for many years natural and luxuriant, and being interspersed with other woods and plantations, form a scene uncommonly pleasant and picturesque for a long way round. At a small distance from Mount Morris, among these now uninclosed pastures, stands Horton court-lodge and the church. The western part of the parish is very low, wet, and swampy; the stream which rises northward from hence at Stowting, runs along this side of it by the hamlets of Horton and Broad street, and so on into the Post ling branch below Sellinge; here the soil is a deep, miry clay, though on the side of the stream there are some fertile good meadows, among which is Horton priory, standing in a bottom near the stream, below Broad-street, in a very low and damp situation, and so obscure and retired, having a large wood which reaches close up to it, that it is hardly seen till you are close to it. There is but a small part of it remaining; what is left is made use of for the dwellinghouse, being a long narrow building, of ashler stone and flints, seemingly of the time of king Henry VI though by the windows it appears to have been much altered at different times; and there are the remains of a tower at the east end, and a small part of a very fine, large, circular arch, with zigzag ornaments of a much antienter date, seemingly the great entrance into the priory, or perhaps the church of it; beyond which, still further eastward, that part which was taken down by the king's order soon after the suppression of it, seems to have stood.
At THE TIME of taking the survey of Domesday, Horton was part of the possessions of Hugo de Montfort; accordingly it is thus entered in Domesday, under the general title of his lands:
In Stotinges hundred, Alnod holds of Hugo, Hortone. Leuuin held it of king Edward, and it was taxed at half a suling. The arable land is three carucates. In demesne there are two carucates, and five villeins, with six borderers having one carucate and an half. There is a church, and one mill of twenty five pence, and twentyfour acres of meadow. Wood for the pannage of ten bogs. In the time of king Edward the Confessor it was worth forty shillings, and afterwards twenty, now sixty shillings. In the same place Alnod holds one yoke, of Hugo, but there is nothing.
The same Hugo holds three rood and a half in the same lath, which three sochmen hold of king Edward. There now one villein has half a carucate, with three borderers. It is and was worth separately ten shillings.
And a little further below, in the same record:
In Stotinges hundred, Ralph holds of Hugo, Hortun. Two sochmen held it of king Edward, and it was laxed at one yoke and an half. The arable land is one carucate and an half. In demesne there is one, with four villeins, and one mill of thirty pence, and ten acres of meadow. Of the wood there is pannage for six bogs.
On the voluntary exile of Robert de Montfort, grandson of Hugh above-mentioned, in the reign of king Henry I. his estates in this parish, among the rest of his possessions, came into the king's hands, whence they were, with others adjoining in this neighbourhood, soon afterwards granted to Robert de Ver, constable of England, who had married Adeliza, daughter of Hugh de Montfort, and they jointly, by which it should seem that she had a special interest in this manor as part of her inheritance, granted THE MANOR OF HORTON, alias UPHORTON, in the early part of the reign of king Henry II. to the prior and monks of their new-founded priory in this parish, to hold to them, on the payment of one marc of silver yearly to the church of St. Pancrace, of Lewes, as an acknowledgment. (fn. 1) It appears by the record of Dover castle, taken in king Edward I.'s reign, that the prior of Horton held one knight's fee in Horton, by the service of ward to that castle, being part of that barony held of it, called the Constabularie; so called from its being held as part of the barony of the earl of Bologne, constable of that castle in the reign of king Henry I. and Darell, in his treatise, says the possessors of this manor, among others, were bound to repair a tower in it, called Penchester tower; which service was afterwards changed for the annual payment of ten shillings in lieu of it. In which state it continued till the general dissolution of religious houses in the reign of king Henry VIII. in the 27th year of which, an act having passed for the suppression of all such, whose revenues did not amount to two hundred pounds per annum, this priory was surrendered into the king's hands; whence this manor, as well as all the rest of the possessions belonging to it, was granted by the king, in his 29th year, to archbishop Cranmer, and it continued part of the possessions of that see till the reign of queen Elizabeth, when it was by act again vested in the crown, where it staid till king Charles I. in his 4th year, granted it to trustees for the use of the mayor and commonalty of the city of London; whence it was sold two years afterwards to George Rooke, gent. of Mersham, from whose family were descended the Rookes, of St. Laurence, near Canterbury, now extinct. They bore for their arms, Argent, on a chevron engrailed, sable, three chess rooks, argent, between three rooks, sable. (fn. 2) His descendant Heyman Rooke alienated it in the reign of queen Anne to Tho. Morris, esq. of this parish, who dying without issue male, devised this manor by will to his daughter's son Morris Drake Morris, esq. and on failure of issue male in that branch, to the issue male of the said Morris's sister Elizabeth Drake, by her husband Matthew Robinson, esq. of Yorkshire; by virtue of which, their eldest son the Right Hon. Matthew Robinson Morris, lord Rookby, of whom a further account will be given hereafter, is now become entitled to it. A court baron is regularly held for this manor.
THE MANOR OF SHERFORD, alias EAST HORTON, was, in the time of king Edward the Consessor, part of the possessions of the abbot and convent of St. Augustine, being then esteemed as one yoke of land; but after the Norman conquest it was taken from them, and given, among much other land in this neighbourhood, to Hugh de Montsort, not withstanding the opposition which the monks made to it, which their chronicles say, was all in vain, and this manor is accordingly included in the description before-mentioned of his lands in the survey of Domesday. On his voluntary exile in the reign of Henry I. it was, with the rest of his possessions, seized on by the crown, and was most probably afterwards returned to the abbot; for in the 23d year of king Edward III. Sir Richard de Retling held it of the abbot at his death, that year, and left it to Joane his sole daughter and heir, who marrying John Spicer, entitled him to it, and in this name and family this manor continued till the reign of queen Elizabeth, about the latter end of which it was alienated by one of them to Thomas Morris, gent. of London, whose grandson Thomas Morris, esq. late of London, merchant, in the reign of king William, erected on the scite of this manor, on an eminence, a handsome mansion for his residence, which he named MOUNT MORRIS. He died in 17'7, having had an only son Thomas, who was drowned under London bridge, on his return from Holland, in 1697, æt. 23; and one daughter, married first to Drake, of Cambridgeshire, and secondly to the learned Dr. Conyers Middleton; by the former of whom she had Morris Drake, and a daughter Elizabeth, who married Matthew Robinson, esq. The family of Morris bore for their arms, Argent, a spread eagle within a bordure, sable. (fn. 3) Thomas Morris, esq. by will devised this seat, as well as the manor of East Horton, among his other estates, at his death in 1717, to his grandson Morris Drake, esq. who took the name of Morris, and afterwards resided here, and dying s.p. it came by the entail in the above will to his sister Elizabeth Drake, married to Matthew Robinson, esq. of Yorkshire, for her life, and afterwards to her issue. The Robinsons are originally descended from the Robinsons, of Strouan, in Perthshire, in the highlands of Scotland, where at this time there is a considerable and numerous clan of this name. The first of them, of this branch, who came into England, settled at Kendal, in Westmoreland, in the reign of king Henry VIII. After which William Robinson, of the eldest branch of them, resided at Rookby, in Yorkshire, which he had purchased in queen Elizabeth's reign, whose eldest son Thomas was killed in the civil wars in 1643, leaving several sons and daughters. From William the eldest, descended William Robinson, of Rookby, of whose sons, Thomas the eldest, was of Rookby, and created a baronet in 1730, but died s.p. Richard, the sixth son, was archbishop of Armagh, and primate of Ireland, and on failure of issue by his brother, succeeded to the title of baronet in 1777. He was created Lord Rokeby, of the kingdom of Ireland, with remainder to Matthew Robinson, esq. his kinsman, of West Layton, in Yorkshire, and his heirs male. He died unmarried in 1794, and Septimius, the seventh son, was knighted and gentleman usher of the black rod. Leonard, the youngest son of Thomas, who was slain in 1643 as above-mentioned, was chamberlain of London, and knighted. He left three sons and six daughters, of whom the eldest and only surviving son was Matthew Robinson, esq. of West Layton, who married Elizabeth Drake, by whom he became possessed of Horton during her life, as above-mentioned. He died in London in 1778, æt. 84, having had by her seven sons and two daughters. Of the former, Matthew Robinson Morris, esq. of Horton, twice served in parliament for Canterbury, and is the present Lord Rokeby; Tho mas was barrister-at-law, author of the celebrated treatise on Gavelkind, who died unmarried in 1748; Morris was solicitor in chancery, who died in Ireland in 1777, leaving two sons, Morris and Matthew; William was late rector of Denton, whose son Matthew is in orders, and his daughter Elizabeth is the second wife of Samuel Egerton Brydges, esq. of Denton; John was fellow of Trinity-hall, Cambridge; and Charles is barrister-at law, recorder of Canterbury, and served twice in parliament for that city; he has one daughter Mary, who married William Hougham, jun. esq. The two daughters were Elizabeth married to Edw. Montague, esq. of Allethorpe, in Yorkshire; and Sarah to G. L. Scott, esq. They bear for their arms, Vert, a chevron between three roebucks trippant, or. (fn. 4) By virtue of Mr. Morris's will, on the death of Elizabeth, wife of Matthew Robinson, esq. this estate passed immediately, notwithstanding her husband survived, to her eldest son Matthew Robinson, esq. who in compliance with the same will, took the additional name of Morris, of whom a full account has already been given before. In 1794, on the death of the lord primate of Ireland, unmarried, he succeeded, by the limitation of the patent, to the title of lord Rokeby, which he now enjoys. He is now entitled to this manor and seat, in which he resides, being at present unmarried.
IN THE VERY beginning of king Henry II.'s reign, Robert, son of Bernard de Ver, with the king's licence, founded A PRIORY in this parish, (on part of the demesnes of the manor of Horton) in honor of the Virgin Mary, and St. John the Evangelist, placing in it monks of the order of Clugni, and subjecting it as a cell to the priory of St. Pancrace, of that order, at Lewes, in Sussex. After which he, together with his wife Adeliza, daughter of Hugh de Montfort, gave to them their manor of Horton, with its appurtenances, and other lands and services elsewhere, the prior paying yearly to the church of St. Pancrace before-mentioned, one marc of silver as an acknowledgment. And they ordained that the prior of St. Pancrace, of Lewes, should have the management and disposition of the prior and monks of Horton, in the same manner as of his own, according to the rule of St. Benedict, and the order of Clugnt; and they gave to them besides, by different subsequent charters, several other lands, tithes, churches, and other possessions, and confirmed their former donations to it; and these were afterwards increased by others made at different times to it, as appears by the several charters in the register of it, and those again confirmed by Henry de Essex, by king Stephen, and by several different popes. King Edward III. in his 47th year, released this priory from its state of an alien priory, and made it indigenous, prioratus indigena, that is, upon the same footing as other English priories. In the 8th year of the next reign of king Richard II. the revenues of it, in temporalities and spiritualities, were valued at 98l. 16s. 8d.
In the reign of king Henry VI. they were taxed at 106l. 16s. 8d. though the total revenue of it was 117l. 12s. 6d. At which time, as appears by the register of the priory, there were here only six monks, with the prior, all priests and prosessed, though by their charter of foundation, they were to maintain thirteen monks, or if their revenue came short, at least eight. And in this state it continued till the 27th year of king Henry VIII. when this priory was suppressed by act, as not having revenues of the clear yearly value of two hundred pounds, the yearly revenues of it amounting to no more than 95l. 12s. 2d. clear yearly income, and 111l. 16s. 11½d. total yearly revenue, (fn. 5) and it was surrendered up with all its lands and possessions, into the king's hands, by Richard Gloucester, alias Brisley, then prior of it, who had fifteen pounds a year pension granted to him. (fn. 6)
The original of the register of this priory was formerly in the possession of the family of Rooke, afterwards of William Somner, of Canterbury; and a transcript of it was not many years since in the Surrenden library, though now in other hands. Among the Harleian MSS. are collections from the chartularie of this priory, taken anno 1648, No. 2044-38; and there is a manuscript chartularie in the Bodleian library at Oxford, Dodsworth LV, which seems to be that once in the possession of William Somner abovementioned.
THE SCITE OF THE PRIORY of Horton, with the possessions belonging to it, did not remain long in the hands of the crown, during which time however much of the buildings of it were pulled down and carried off, for the king, in his 29th year, granted them, subject to certain exceptions and payments to archbishop Cranmer, who that year conveyed them back again to the crown; whence they were next year granted, to hold in capite by knight's service, to Richard Tate, esq. of Stockbury, who was then in possession of them by a former lease from the crown. He was afterwards knighted, and in the I st year of Edward VI. alienated the scite of the priory, with the lands belonging to it, to Walter Mantell, esq. grandson of Sir Walter Mantell, of Heyford, in Northamptonshire, who bore for his arms, Argent, a cross engrailed, between four mullets, sable; but he being, with his nephew Walter Mantell and others, attainted and executed, for being concerned in Sir Thomas Wyatt's rebellion, in the I st year of queen Mary, this estate became forfeited to the crown, where it staid till queen Elizabeth, in her 13th year, restored it to his eldest son Matthew Mantell, to bold to him and his heirs male, whose direct descendants continued to reside in it for several generations afterwards, in one of whom it still continues, being at this time vested in Mr. Augustus William Mantell.
Charities.
WILLIAM FORDRED, by will in 1550, gave to this parish, among others, a proportion of the rents of twenty-five acres of land in St. Mary's parish, in Romney Marsh; which portion to this parish is of the annual produce of 4l. 12s. 4 1/2d. to be distributed annually to the poor, and vested in certain trustees.
The poor constantly relieved are about eight, casually four.
THIS PARISH is within the ECCLESIASTICAL JURISDICTION of the diocese of Canterbury, and deanry of Elham.
¶The church, which is dedicated to St. Peter, is but a small building, consisting of one isle and one chancel, having a low pointed turret at the west end, in which are four bells. In the chancel are two monuments for the family of Rooke, and several memorials for the Morris's, who lie in a vault underneath. In the isle there are monuments and memorials likewise of the Morris's. Against the north wall, over lord Rokeby's pew, is a curious tablet of vellum, on which is written a long copy of Latin verses, round it are ornaments, with the last-mentioned arms, and the date, 1647, seemingly done in needle-work, most probably by Mrs. Sarah, wise of Thomas Morris, gent. of Horton, who died in 1646, whose monument is here near it. There are no remains of painted glass in the windows. Richard Burcherde, of Canterbury, by will in 1534, gave three pounds to this church, to buy two tables of alabaster for two altars in the body of it, on one to be the story of our Lady, and on the other that of St. John; near them was the tabernacle of St. Nicholas; and he gave four pounds towards making a window, the same as that on the north side there.
The church of Horton appears, after the general dissolution of monasteries in the reign of Henry VIII. to have been vested in the crown, where it remained till the king, in his 34th year, exchanged the advowson of this rectory, among other premises, with the archbishop of Canterbury, and it has remained parcel of the possessions of that see ever since, his grace the archbishop being the present patron of it.
This rectory is valued in the king's books at 7l. 10S. 8d. It is now a discharged living, of the clear yearly certified value of forty pounds. In 1588 it was valued at thirty pounds, communicants 108. In 1640 it was valued at sixty pounds, communicants 180.
There was a decree made in the court of exchequer, on the complaint of Laurence Rook, then the queen's farmer, of the scite and demesnes of Horton manor, in the 39th year of queen Elizabeth, touching the payment of tithes to the rector of this parish, by which, certified by the queen's letters of inspeximus, a modus was established as having been time out of mind, for all pasture grounds, and of the dry cattle, and the wool of sheep and lambs feeding on them, and for certain sorts of wood mentioned therein.
Bryan Faussett, soon after he became rector, commenced a suit in the exchequer, for tithes due to him, in opposition to the above decree; but after carrying his suit on for several years, he dropped it, and the tithes have been ever since received by the succeeding rectors according to the above-mentioned decree.
St. Peter's Church is the oldest Roman Catholic parish in New York State, dating to 1785. The cornerstone of the present Greek Revival granite building, the second on the site purchased from Trinity Parish, with six Ionic columns was laid in 1836, as designed by John R. Haggerty and Thomas Thomas.
The Roman Catholic Church was not permitted to function in New York during the Dutch and British colonial periods, except for the administration of Governor Thomas Dongan, who was himself Catholic. St. Peter's Church. The British evacuation following the American Revolution changed this, paving the way for St. Peter's.
St. Peter's Parish opened the first Catholic school in the state of New York in 1800. Elizabeth Ann Seton was received into the Roman Catholic Church at St. Peter's in 1805. St. Peter's was the first church in the archdiocese to offer midday services, and by the 1940s St. Peter's was becoming more of a service church as the financial district gave way to stores and tall office buildings, with thousands entering the area each day for work.
Located just north of the World Trade Center, the church served as a staging area for emergency responders. The body of the Rev. Mychal Judge, Chaplain to the New York City Fire Department and officially the first casualty of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack, was brought to St. Peter's by firefighters and laid before the altar.
St. Peter's was designated a landmark by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission in 1965.
National Register #80002721 (1980)
St Peter, Boughton Monchelsea, is one of a series of parish churches built on a sandstone ridge overlooking the Kentish Weald. It is one of them which was closed on my last visit to the area, so on Heritage Weekend I returned, and found it open and very friendly.
A volunteer had cleared some of the vegetation in the churchyard, and was making busy with a bonfire, whose smoke lazily crept through the boughs of ancient trees down the slope of the down.
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A church whose interior does not quite deliver all its picturesque exterior promises. The situation on the end of the sandstone ridge with far-ranging views is wonderful - and the lychgate is one of the oldest in the county, probably dating from the fifteenth century. Inside the results of a serious fire in 1832 and subsequent rebuildings are all too obvious. The plaster has been stripped from the walls and the rubble stonework disastrously repointed, whilst the poor quality mid-nineteenth-century glass installed by Hardman's studio is not typical of the usual high quality of that firm's output. However, the stone and alabaster reredos is just the right scale for the chancel, and compliments the medieval aumbry, piscina and sedilia. There is also a good range of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century memorials including a large piece at the west end by Scheemakers to commemorate Sir Christopher Powell (d. 1742).
www.kentchurches.info/church.asp?p=Boughton+Monchelsea
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BOUGHTON MONCHENSIE
LIES the next parish northward from Hedcorne. It is written in Domesday, Boltone; in later records, Bocton, and sometimes West Bocton; and now usually Boughton. It has the addition of Monchensie, (commonly pronounced Monchelsea) to it from the family of that name, antiently possessors of it, and to distinguish it from the other parishes of the same name within this county; and it is sometimes called, in the neighbourhood of it, Boughton Quarry, from the large quarries of stone within it.
THIS PARISH lies upon the lower or southern ridge, commonly called the Quarry hills, which cross it, the summit of them being the northern boundary of the Weald, so much therefore of this parish as is below it is within that district. The church stands about half way down of the hill southward, and close to the churchyard is the antient mansion of Boughton-place, pleasantly situated, having an extensive prospect southward over the Weald, in a park well wooded and watered; from hence the parish extends into the Weald, towards that branch of the Medway which flows from Hedcorne towards Style-bridge and Yalding, over a low deep country, where the soil is a stiff clay like that of Hedcorne before-described. Northward from Boughtonplace, above the hill, the parish extends over Cocksheath, part of which is within its bounds, on the further side of it is a hamlet called Boughton-green, and beyond it the seat of Boughton-mount, the grounds of which are watered by the stream, which rises near Langley park, and having lost itself under ground, rises again in the quarries here, and flowing on through Lose, to which this parish joins here, joins the Medway a little above Maidstone. These large and noted quarries, usually known by the name of Boughton quarries, are of the Kentish rag-stone, of which the soil of all this part of the parish, as far as the hills above-mentioned consists, being covered over with a fertile loam, of no great depth. At the end of Cocksheath eastward is the hamlet of Cock-street, usually called, from a public-house in it, Boughton Cock, when the soil becomes a red earth, much mixed with rotten flints; a little to the southward of which, at the edge of the heath is the parsonage, with some coppice wood adjoining, and on the brow of the hill, at the eastern bounds of the parish, the seat of Wiarton, having an extensive prospect over the Weald.
THIS PARISH was part of those possessions given by William the Conqueror, on his accession to the crown of England, to his half-brother Odo, bishop of Baieux, whom he likewise made earl of Kent, under the general title of whose lands it is thus entered in the survey of Domesday, taken about the year 1080:
Hugh, grandson of Herbert, holds of the bishop of Baieux Boltone. It was taxed at one suling. The arable land is two carucates. In demesne there is nothing. But five villeins have five carucates there, and two acres of meadow. Wood for the pannage of twenty hogs. There is a church. In the time of king Edward the Consessor, and afterwards, it was worth eight pounds, now six pounds. Alunin held it of earl Goduine.
Four years after the taking the above-mentioned survey, the bishop of Baieux was disgraced, and all his possessions were consiscated to the crown.
After which, this manor came into the possession of the family of Montchensie, called in Latin records, De Monte Canisio, the principal seat of which was at Swanscombe, in this county. (fn. 1) William, son of William de Montchensie, who died anno 6 king John, was possessed of this manor, and it appears that he survived his father but a few years, for Warine de Montchensie, probably his uncle, succeeded to his whole inheritance in the 15th year of that reign. Soon after which this manor passed into the possession of the family of Hougham, of Hougham, in this county.
OUGHTON MONCHENSIE is within the ECCLESIASTICAL JURISDICTION of the diocese of Canterbury, and deanry of Sutton.
The church, which is dedicated to St. Peter, is a small building, having a handsome square tower at the west end.
This church was given to the priory of Leeds, soon after the foundation of it by Henry de Bocton, and was afterwards appropriated to it, with the licence of the archbishop, before the reign of king Richard II. at which time the parsonage of it was valued at ten pounds, and the vicarage of it at four pounds yearly income, (fn. 4) both which remained part of the possessions of the priory till the dissolution of it in the reign of king Henry VIII. when it came, with the rest of the possessions of that house, into the king's hands, who by his dotation-charter in his 33d year, settled both the parsonage and advowson of the church of Bocton on his new-erected dean and chapter of Rochester, part of whose possessions they now remain.
The lessee of the parsonage is Mrs. Eliz. Smith; but the presentation to the vicarage, the dean and chapter reserve to themselves.
¶On the abolition of deans and chapters, after the death of king Charles I. this parsonage was surveyed by order of the state in 1649, when it was returned, that it consisted of the scite, which, with the tithes, was worth 56l. 3s. 4d. that the glebe land of twenty-nine acres and two roods was worth 8l. 16s. 8d. per annum, both improved rents; which premises were let anno 14 Charles I. to Sir Edward Hales, knight and baronet, by the dean and chapter, for twenty one years, at the yearly rent of 13l. 10s. The lessee to repair the chancel of the parish church, and the advowson was excepted by the dean and chapter out of the lease.
The vicarage is valued in the king's books at 7l. 13s. 4d. and the yearly tenths at 15s. 4d. per annum. In 1640 it was valued at sixty pounds per annum. Communicants, 177. In 1649 it was surveyed, with the parsonage, by order of the state, and valued at thirty pounds per annum, clear yearly income. (fn. 5)
The vicar of this church in 1584, but his name I have not found, was deprived for non-conformity; though he was so acceptable to the parishioners, that they, to the number of fifty-seven, made a petition to the lord treasurer, to restore their minister to them.
St. Peter and St. Paul, Teigngrace Grade 2*
Recently included in Todd Gray’s “Devon’s Fifty Best Churches”, St. Peter and St. Paul, Teigngrace is of some significance as a Georgian church designed in a style of Strawberry Hill Gothic. The external structure that you see now is very much as it would have appeared to the Templer family at the dedication service in March 1788. Originally the church was surrounded by fields, with a pathway to the Schoolroom that was built in 1873. Over the years the village has grown and the church is now surrounded by houses. However, it still has a feel of seclusion about it, sheltered by the drive from the road and the yew in front
Originally the church was part of Stover estate, serving the village, workers on the estate and, in time, workers on the canal built by James Templer.
The earliest definite record of a church at Teigngrace dates back to 1350, but by the late 18th century it was in a poor state of repair.
The estate was purchased in 1765 by James Templer, who subsequently built Stover Lodge. He died in 1782, his wife Mary in 1784, and their three sons, James, George & John rebuilt the parish church in 1787 dedicating it in memory of their parents. The Rev. John Templer was the first Rector of the new church. The first service in the new church was held on Sunday 30th March 1788. The 220th anniversary of this dedication was held in 2008.
Teigngrace Interior
The Templer family is commemorated by a number of wonderful memorials.
Pevsner (1952) notes that the monuments are “both interesting and varied. They have eloquent inscriptions, but are not of excessive size. The earliest are two wall-mounted monuments flanking the chancel arch, to James Templer †1782 and his wife, Mary †1784, the first with a mourning figure at an urn, in a roundel, the second with a similar theme in a lunette at the top.—Charles Templer †1786 has a delicate shipwreck relief; Captain William Templer †1805 and his brother, both also drowned at sea, have only the signed tablet, a fat weeping angel by an urn above a Gothic fan coving, by Coade and Sealy.—The Nelson memorial, of 1805, is also of Coade stone. It has the unusual form of a figure of Fame above a globe, inscribed “slain in battle”.—James Templer †1813 has another Coade monument: a female figure reclining on an urn, a standard type.—other simpler tablets include two naval associates, Cornwallis, Viscount Hawarden † 1803 and Captain Richard Dalling Dunn †1813 , both with chaste urns, and one to the Rev. John Templer † 1832 (the first of the two Templer rectors) with draped urn on sarcophagus.”
The picture of interest in the church is the large Pieta used as an Altar piece. This seems to have been in position since the church was rebuilt. Previously it has been attributed to James Barry, the Irish artist, and some sources have said it is a copy of Van Dyck’s Pieta found in the Antwerp museum. The first attribution dates to the publication of Lyson’s Magnus Brittanica in 1822, only 35 years after the rebuilding. The states that the painting is “ a painting of Our lady of Pity, by Barry”. No mention is made of it being a copy, and indeed, if you look at Van Dyck’s work it is completely different.
The organ was installed in the tower with the rebuilding of the church and is one of only two in the country in it’s very nearly original condition. It is attributed by the West Country Organ database to James Davis, with additions by George Hawkins in 1885. Its unique feature is its original “nag’s head shutter”.
After many years than three attempts to see inside this year alone, finally, the door did open for me.
But, not at first, as the loack had two settings, the first did not work, a little bit of ompf and I was in.
A pleasantly small and simple church, with remains of wall paintings a simple rood screen.
My eye was taken by the roof and support beams, very nice.
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St Peter's is in a windswept location, in open farmland, with ancient yew trees and a patina of great antiquity. Abutting the north side of the tower, and entered from the church, is a rare medieval priest's house. The nave has a distinctly unusual atmosphere. It is lofty and plain, with much light flooding in from the large south windows. While there is no chancel arch there is a horizontal beam which carries the Royal Arms of George III. The three-crownpost roof is beautifully set off by whitewashed walls which are almost devoid of monuments. After the nave the chancel is something of an anti-climax, although there are traces of medieval wall paintings on the south wall.
www.kentchurches.info/church.asp?p=Molash
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MOLASH
Is the next parish westward from Chilham; it is a parish which lies very obscurely among the hills, being little known, and having very little traffic through it. The village, which is straggling, is situated near the western boundaries of it, the parish of Wye joining close up to it. The church stands close on the north side of the village; there are about fifty houses, and two hundred and sixty-five inhabitants, the whole is much covered with coppice wood, mostly beech, with some little oak interspersed among it; the country is very hilly, and the soil of it very poor, being mostly an unsertile red earth, mixed with abundance of slints.
There is a fair held here on the 16th of July yearly, formerly on the Monday after St. Peter and St. Paul.
The Honor of Chilham claims paramount over this parish, subordinate to which is The Manor Of Bower, alias Flemings, which is situated in the bo rough of Godsole, northward from the church, it took the latter of those names from the family of Fleming, who were once the possessors of it; one of whom, John de Fleming, appears by a very antient courtroll of this manor, to have been owner of it, and in his descendants it probably continued for some time; but they were extinct here in the reign of Henry VI. in the 24th year of which, as appears by another antient court-roll, it was in the possession of John Trewonnalle, in which name it continued down to the reign of King Henry VIII. and then another John Trewonnalle alienated it to Thomas Moyle, esq. afterwards Knighted, and he owned it in the 30th year of that reign; and in his descendants it remained till the reign of Kings James I. when it was alienated to Mr. Henry Chapman; at length his delcendant Mr. Edward Chapman leaving three sons, Edward, Thomas, and James Chapman, they became possessed of it as coheirs in gavelkind, and afterwards joined in the sale of it to Christopher Vane, lord Barnard, who died in 1723, leaving two sons, Gilbert, who succeeded him in the north of England; and William, who possessed his father's seat at Fairlawn, and the rest of his estates in this county, having been in his father's life-time created viscount Vane, of the Kingdom of Ireland. He died in 1734, as did his only son and heir William, viscount Vane, in 1789.s. p. (fn. 1) who devised this manor, among the rest of his estates in this county and elsewhere, to David Papillon, esq. late of Acrise, the present possessor of it.
Witherling is a manor in this parish, situated likewise in the borough of Godsole. In the antient records of Dover castle, this manor is numbered among those estates which made up the barony of Fobert, and was held of Fulbert de Dover, as of that barony, by knight's service, by a family of its own name. Robert de Witherling appears to have held it in the reign of king John, as one knight's see, by the same tenure; in whose descendants it continued down to the reign of King Henry VI. When Joane Witherling was become heir to it, and then carried it in marriage to William Keneworth, whose son, of the same name, passed it away in the reign of Henry VII. to John Moile, of Buckwell, who died possessed of it in the 15th year of that reign, as appears by the inquisition taken after his death, and that it was held of Dover castle. His son John Moyle sold this manor, in the 4th year of Henry VIII. to Hamo Videan, descended of a family of good note in this county. There is mention made of them in the Parish Register, from the first year of it, 1557, to the present time; but they have been decayed a long time, and their possessions dispersed among other owners; but there is still a green in this neighbourhood, called from them Videan's, (by the common people Vidgeon's) forstal. In his descendants it continued till the reign of King Charles II. when it was conveyed, by a joint conveyance, from that name to Mr. Tho. Thatcher, whose daughter Mary carried it in marriage to Mr. Henry Bing, of Wickhambreux, whose son John Bing (fn. 2) sold it to Mr. Edward Baker, for the satisfying his sister's fortune, whom the latter had married; and on his dying intestate, this manor descended to his four sons, Thomas Baker, clerk, Edward, Henry, and Bing Baker, who joined in alienating it, about 1771, to Thomas Knight, esq. of Godmersham, whose only son and heir of the same name died possessed of it in 1794, s. p. and by will devised this manor to Edward Austen, esq. then of Rowling, but now of Godmersham, who is the present owner of it. A court baron is held for this manor.
Chiles, alias Slow-Court, is a small manor in this parish, which some years since belonged to the family of Goatley, which had been settled here from the time of queen Mary. One of them, Laurence Goatley, died possessed of it in 1608. He then dwelt at his house in this parish, called Bedles, and was lessee of the parsonage. Searles Goatley, esq the last of this family, was brought from Maidstone a few years ago, and buried in this church. Laurence Goatley devised this manor to his third son Laurence, one of whose descendants passed it away to Moter, and in 1661 Alice Moter, alias Mother, of Bethersden, sold it to John Franklyn, gent. of this parish, whose daughter carried it in marriage to Thomas Benson, of Maidstone, and he in 1676, by fine and conveyance, passed it away to Robert Saunders, gent. of that town, as he again did in 1703 to Esther Yates, widow, of Mereworth, whose executors in 1716 conveyed it to David Fuller, gent. of Maidstone, who dying s. p. devised it in 1751 by will to his widow Mary, who at her death in 1775, gave it to her relation, William Stacy Coast, esq. now of Sevenoke, the present proprietor of it.
Charities.
Simon Ruck, gent. of Stalisfield, and Sarah his wife, by indenture in 1672, in consideration of 35l. granted to Thomas Chapman, gent. and John Thatcher, both of Molash, a piece of land containing three acres, called Stonebridge, in this parish, for the use, maintenance, and relief of the poor of this parish for ever.
Thomas Amos, yeoman, of Ospringe, by will in 1769 gave 100l. in trust, to be laid out in the public funds, and the dividends to be yearly paid, on the day of St. Thomas the Apostle, to the churchwardens, to be distributed to the most necessitous poor of Molash; which, with other money of the parish was laid out in the purchase of 125l. three per cent. reduced Bank Annuities.
The poor constantly relieved are about nine, casually twenty. five.
This Parish is within the Ecclesiastical Juris diction of the diocese of Canterbury, and deanry of Bridge.
The church, which is dedicated to St. Peter, is a small mean building, consisting of one isle and one chancel, having a pointed turret, shingled, at the west end, in which are three bells. There are several memorials of the Chapmans in this church, and in the isle is a stone, inscribed Pulvis Chapmannorum, under which is a vault, wherein several of them lie. In the chancel there is an antient gravestone, cossin-shaped, with an inscription round, in old French capitals, now, through time, illegible. The font is antient, having on it, Gules, three right hands couped, argent; a crescent for difference. In the Parish Register, which begins in 1558, are continual entries of the Videans, Goatleys, Franklyns, Thatchers, Chapmans, Moyles, and Wildish's, from that year almost to the present time. It is esteemed only as a chapel of ease to Chilham, and as such is not rated separately in the king's books.
¶The great tithes or parsonage of this parish were formerly a part of the rectory or parsonage of Chilham, and as such belonged to the alien priory of Throwley, on the suppression of which, anno 2 king Henry V. they were given to the monastery of Sion, which being dissolved by the act of 31 Henry VIII. they came, with the rest of the possessions of that house, into the king's hands, whence the parsonage of Chilham, which included this of Molash, was granted next year, together with the honor and castle, and other premises, to Sir Thomas Cheney, whose son Henry, lord Cheney, alienated the whole of them in the 10th year of queen Elizabeth, to Sir Thomas Kempe, of Wye, who in the 21st year of that reign alienated the parsonage or great tithes of this parish to William Walch, who held the same in capite, and he that year sold it to John Martyn, who as quickly passed it away to Richard Tooke, whose descendant Nicholas Tooke, in the 25th year of that reign, conveyed it in 1633, by the description of the manor of Molash, and all the glebes and tithes of this parish, to Sir James Hales, in which name it continued some time, till it was at length sold to Sir Dudley Diggs. who devised it to his nephew Anthony Palmer, esq. whose brother Dudley Palmer, esq. of Gray's Inn, in 1653, was become owner of it. It afterwards belonged to the Meads, and from them came to Sir Thomas Alston, bart. of Odell, in Bedfordshire, who lately died possessed of it, and his devisees are now entitled to it.
This church being a chapel of ease to that of Chilham, constitutes a part of that vicarage, the vicar of it being presented and institued to the vicarage of the church of Chilham, with the chapel of Molash annexed.
In 1585 here were communicants one hundred and twenty-six. In 1640 there were only forty communicants here.
Some churches provide no challenge to see inside, whilst others have an almost mystique about what delights might be inside, so hard are they to gain entrance.
St Peter is one of the nearest churches to home, and yet despite trying so many times to see inside, and even on the Heritage weekend or Ride and Stride, but it remains closed.
But with the internet, it is possible to arrange a meeting, and so it was that this morning I had arranged to meet the warden who would facilitate my visit.
It was the weekly church tidy up, I suppose, so I park outside, grab my camera bag, and see even from the car park, I could see the door ajar.
The first thing I see when I walk in is the altar right in front of me, in what should be the middle of the nave.
It was reorganised in the 1970s, so now the congreation sits in a semi circle around the alter which is in the middle of the north wall.
In the south wall, there were the remains of three ancient pillars, which had been allowed to be seen among the rendered walls.
Many thankls to the warden for allowing me to see inside this wonderful, modernised but ancient church, on the edge of the modern town of Whitfield.
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A picturesque church in the fields – not yet joined up to its village. In the west wall can be seen a double-splayed Saxon window which takes this church back to the 8th or 9th century. From the outside all looks pretty ordinary for a country church but on opening the door we find that in the 1970s the church was reordered so that the altar is in the north aisle! It may be unusual but it works well. The chancel is now a vestry. The original chancel arch was, unfortunately, taken down by Ewan Christian when he restored the church –it would have been a rare survivor indeed. His replacement arch, however, maintains the proportions of Saxon work.
www.kentchurches.info/church.asp?p=Whitfield
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WHITFIELD, alias BEWSFIELD,
IS the next parish south-eastward from Coldred. It has been variously called by both these names, both which plainly imply its high and open situation; but the latter, written in Domesday, Bevesfel, is its proper name, that of Whitfield being much more modern, by which it is now however in general called. The manor of Norborne claims paramount over great part of this parish.
THIS PARISH is very small and narrow, it is a very unfrequented place, situated on very high ground, in a poor country of open uninclosed land, the soil of which is in general chalk and very light, though there are some few strypes of deep ground more fertile than the rest. The village, called Whitfield-street, having the church in it, is situated at the south-east bounds of it, at a small distance from which is a hamlet of houses, called Lower Whitfield, where is a farm, formerly belonging to the Denews, and then to Brett, of Spring Grove, whence it was sold to the present possessor of it, Peter Fector, esq. of Dover, and at the western bounds, in a dell, Hazling wood. At the northern bounds is the hamlet of Pinham, consisting of three small farms.—There is no fair.
OFFA, king of Mercia, in the first year of his reign, anno 757, gave to the abbot of St. Augustine's monastery, land called Bewesfeld, with the privilege of feeding hogs and cattle in the royal wood, and other liberties mentioned in his charter for that purpose, one of which was that of taking one goat in Snowlyn's wood, where the king's goats went; after which this land continued in the possession of the monastery till the time of taking the survey of Domesday, in which record it is thus entered under the general title of the land of the church of St. Augustine:
Oidelard holds of this manor, viz. Norborne, one suling, and it is called Bevesfel, and there he has two carucates, with ten borderers. It is worth six pounds.
After which, that part of the above land, which comprehended THIS MANOR OF BEWSFIELD, was held of the abbot by knight's service, by the eminent family of Badlesmere. Guncelin de Badlesmere held this manor in Hen. VIII.'s reign, and another Guncelin de Badlesmere held it in like manner in king John's reign, and was a justice itinerant. He left one son, Bartholomew, and two daughters; Joane, married to John de Northwood, and another to John de Coningsby. Before his death he gave this manor in frank marriage, with this eldest daughter Joane, to Sir John de Northwood, of Northwood, who was a man of great account in the reigns of king Edward I. and II. whose descendants continued in the possession of this manor for some length of time, and till it was at length alienated to Chelesford, alias Chelford, from which name it again passed by sale about Henry VII.'s reign, to Wm. Boys, of Fredville, whose descendant Sir E. Boys the elder, afterwards possessed it, at which time the name of this manor seems to have dropped, and to have been blended in that of the adjoining one of LINACRECOURT, by which name it has ever since been called. He gave it to his second son Roger Boys, esq. (fn. 1) whose only son and heir Edward Boys, about the year 1644, conveyed it by sale to Herbert Nowell, esq. and he alienated it to John Day, who sold it to Roger Laming, of Wye, and he parted with it to Hercules Baker, esq. of Deal, whose daughter Sarah carried it in marriage to Thomas Barrett, esq. of Lee, whose third wife she was. She died s. p. as did Mr. Barrett in 1757, possessed of this manor, leaving it in jointure to his fourth wife Katherine, daughter, and at length sole heir of Humphry Pudner, esq. who died in 1785, on which it descended to their only son Thomas Barrett, esq. now of Lee, in Ickham, who is the present possessor of it.
LINACRE MANOR, or LINACRE-COURT, as it is usually called, in which the manor of Bewsfield is now merged, lies in the south-west part of this parish, adjoining to Coldred and River, and was the other part of that land given to St. Augustine's monastery, and described in Domesday as before-mentioned, being held by knight's service of the abbot, by the family of Criol, one of whom, William de Criol, as appears by the book of knights fees in the exchequer, held it as such in the reign of king Edward I. but it did not long afterwards remain with them, for John de Malmains, of Hoo, held it in the next reign of king Edward II. his son John left an only daughter and heir, who carried it in marriage to John Monyn, and he in her right held it in the 20th year of king Edward III. After this it continued but a small time in the name of Monyn, for in the 49th year of that reign, John Solley is entered in the register of the abbey, as holding this manor of the abbot by knight's service. How long it remained in his descendants I have not found, only that it was at length alianated to Chelsesford, alias Chelford, from which name it passed, with the manor of Bewsfield as before related, by sale, about Henry VII.'s reign, to William Boys, esq. of Fredville, who died possessed of both these manors in 1508; after which it descended down to Mr. Edward Boys, who about the year 1644 conveyed this manor by sale to Herbert Nowell, esq. since which it has passed in the like chain of ownership as the manor of Bewsfield described before, down to Thomas Barrett, esq. of Lee, in lckham, who is the present owner of this manor of Linacre, in which that of Bewsfield is included. A court baron is held for this manor.
THE MANOR OF WHITFIELD, with THE MANOR OF LITTLE PISING, and THE LANDS OF PIMHAM, was in the reign of king Henry III. in the hands of the crown, in the 13th year of which that eminent man, Hubert de Burgh, earl of Kent and chief justice of England, had a grant of it, among others, with licence to give of assign it to whomever he would, either to a religious house or otherwise; not long after which, he appears to have settled this manor, with the estate in this parish, called Little Pising, on the hospital of St. Mary, in Dover, afterwards called the Maison Dieu, then lately founded by him; after which Edward I. granted a charter of free-warren to the master and bretheren of this hospital, for their demesne lands in Whytefeld and Coldred adjoining. After which this manor and estate continued part of the revenues of this hospital till king Henry VIII.'s reign, when on the suppression of it they came into the king's hands, where they staid till king Edward VI. in his 2d year granted the manors of Whitfield and Little Pysing, to Sir Thomas Heneage and William lord Willoughbye, to hold in capiteby knight's service. (fn. 2) They seem to have sold their joint interest in them to James Hales, whose heirs possessed them at the latter end of the reign of queen Elizabeth, after which I find no more of the manor of Whitfield, but that the manor of Little Pysing passed by sale into the family of Monins, of Waldershare, in which it continued down to Sir Edward Monins, bart. who died in 1663, after which his heirs and trustees joined in the sale of it, together with other lands at Pinham, to Sir Henry Furnese, bart. of Waldershare, who died possessed of it in 1712, after which his granddaughter Catherine, countess of Rockingham, became possessed of this manor of Little Pising in her own right, and of the lands at Pinham, jointly with her two sisters, as coheirs of their father, in equal shares in coparcenary in tail general, since which her interst in these estates have passed in like manner as Coldred before-mentioned, and her other estates in this county, to her eldest grand son, the present right hon. Geo-Augustus, earl of Guildford, the present possessor of them.
Charities.
THERE was given by a person unknown, for the use of the poor not having relief, land, now vested in Redman Jones, of the annual produce of 10s.
The poor constantly maintained are about ten, casually eight.
THIS PARISH is within the ECCLESIASTICAL JURISDICTION of the diocese of Canterbury, and deanry of Dover.
The church, which is dedicated to St. Peter, consists of a small nave and two chancels, having one bell in it, but there is no steeple, it is a wretched mean building. The roof is supported by a most uncouth pillar in the middle, so strangely as to prevent, I think, all description of it. There are no monuments in it, nor any thing surther worthy notice.
This church was originally appendant to the manor, and as such was given to St. Augustine's abbey in 757, by king Offa; after which the abbot and convent, in the year 1221, anno 6 Henry III. granted their right in this church to the abbot and convent of Combwell, to hold in perpetual alms, but it was at the same time agreed, that the latter should not exact the tithes of sheaves, arising from twenty-five acres of Napushurst, which the abbot and convent of St. Augustine had sometime granted to Thomas de Newesole, but that the church of Bewefield should enjoy the small tithes of the above lands for the ecclesiastical service, which it should persorm to the tenants of St. Augustine, who inhabited there, and this, by the liberal concession of the abbot and convent of St. Augustine, at the time of making the grant; (fn. 3) upon which, though this church became appropriated to the abbot and convent of Combwell, yet there does not seem to have been a vicarage endowed in it till the year 1441, anno 20 king Henry VI. when a composition was made by archbishop Chicheley, between the abbot and convent, appropriators of this church, and Wm. Geddyng, vicar of it, on account of his portion, and the pensions belonging to this church. In which state this appropriation and vicarage continued till the final dissolution of the priory of Combwell, for so it was then esteemed, in the 27th year of king Henry VIII. when it was suppressed by the act then passed, as being under the clear yearly value of two hundred pounds, and came into the hands of the crown; after which the king, in his 29th year, granted the scite of the priory, with all its lands and possessions, in which this appropriation and advowson of the vicarage of Beausfield,alias Whitfield, was included, to Thomas Culpeper, esq. to hold in capite, who before the 34th of that reign passed them back again to the crown, whence they were immediately afterwards granted to Sir John Gage, comptroller of the king's household, to hold in like manner; and he next year exchanged them both, among other premises, with the archbishop of Canterbury, for the confirmation of which an act passed anno 35 Henry VIII. since which they have continued parcel of the possessions of the see of Canterbury, his grace the archbishop being at this time entitled to them. Thomas Barrett, esq. of Lee, is the present lessee of this parsonage.
This church has been for many years esteemed only as a curacy, to which the archbishop nominates; for Henry Hannington, vicar of it, at the instance of archbishop Abbot, by deed in 1613, renounced all the right and title, that he had by virtue of the endowment or composition made in the time of archbishop Chichele, between the then vicar of this church and the prior and convent of Combwell.
¶This church was valued, anno 8 king Richard II. at twelve pounds, and the vicarage at four pounds, which on account of its smallness was not taxed to the tenth; the latter is valued in the king's books at 5l. 18s. 8d. It formerly paid twelve shillings tenths to the crown receiver, but being certified to be only of the value of twenty-six pounds, it is now discharged of first fruits and tenths. In 1588 here were eighty-two communicants, and it was valued at fifteen pounds only. In 1640 it was valued at forty-five pounds. It was augmented by archbishop Juxon in 1661, with twenty pounds per annum, to be paid by the lessee of the parsonage; and farther confirmed by indenture anno 28 Charles II. It is now a discharged living of the yearly certified value of twenty-six pounds. There was a payment to the parson of Bewsfield, payable yearly out of the lands of the abbot and convent of St. Radigund, which was granted to the archbishop anno 29 Henry VIII.
Situated off the main road into the city, just inside the city marked by the nearby Westgate. St Peter sits at the end of a narrow lane, and is easily overlooked or mistaken for a small church.
In fact it is a tardis of a church, once you walk in, the body of the church opens up revealing, for me, a confused history.
Pews have been removed and replaced with modern chairs, and seems to also be a thriving cafe, judging by the people who came in asking if it was open. On this day it was just open for viewing.
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The earliest visible part of this church is the round-headed arch at the west end of the north arcade (see drawing in Smith (1971), 103 fig 3). This has Caenstone voussoirs and sits on plain rectangular piers with side-alternate Caenstone jambs, at the top of which are plain square imposts with a plain chamfer below. The masonry is diagonally tooled and must date from the first half of the 12th century.
A bit later in date is the small tower on the south-west. This was rebuilt and largely refaced externally in the early 14th century, but inside its east arch into the south aisle is similar to the north arcade arch, but is pointed and has some Reigate stone among its Caenstone quoins. The very large and long external quoins to the tower, which have been called 'Saxo-Norman' re surely a mixture of reused Roman blocks and new Ragstone long ties of the 14th century (compare the 'long and short' work on the north west quoin of the 14th century Lady Chapel).
Soon after the tower was built, probably in the early 13th century, the south door was built. This has jambs largely of Reigate stone, and on its east side a very worn capital and base indicate a missing shaft (no doubt a Purbeck marble column). The beginning of the moulded archway over the door (also in Reigate stone) can be seen on the east, but the rest of it has been restored with plain Caenstone voussoirs. Inside the original hooks for the double doors still survive.
There is a plain font of c.1200 with a square bowl of Bethersden marble at the west end of the nave. It has a 17th century cover and iron crane for lifting it.
During the 13th century, as is commonly found, a longer new chancel was built (confirmed by documentary evidence, which shows that in rental D (Urry, 209 and 304) of c. 1200, the eastern part of the area now occupied by the chancel was still in secular hands). The most obvious evidence for this is the wide lancet on the south-east side of the chancel, which shows that the south aisle was only extended eastwards at a later date. The two wide but plain arches on the north side of the chancel have chamfers with bar stops and comb-tooling which also suggests a 13th century date. The narrower western arch in the south arcade (opposite the south door) is also a plain 13th century arch.
In the early 14th century the tower and west wall of the church was rebuilt. The west wall was realigned, presumably to allow St Peter's Lane, which bifurcated immediately north of the church, more room. At the same time a new 3-light east window was built that has similar 'Decorated' tracery to the new west window. The tower has small single light early 14th century windows in its upper stage, and a probably comtemporary (but now restored) crenellated parapet. Inside the top stage of the tower is a (probably 14th century) timber bell-frame. It was heightened and enlarged for 3 bells in the early 17th century and restored in 1968 when 4 bells were hung there (including a treble, recast in 1903, from St Margaret's Church). There are still two medieval bells in the tower, one of which (the tenor) was cast by William le Belyetere in the early 14th century. The other by William Wodewarde is a bit later (c. 1400).
Also probably of the first half of the 14th century is the new, much wider, Lady Chapel on the north east. It has one original two light window on the north, but unfortunately the east window has its tracery removed and replaced with (c. early 19th century) timber Y-tracery. Between the Lady Chapel and Chancel a fire Easter Sepulcre (with cusped and sub-cusped arches over on both sides) was inserted. Some time perhaps later in the 14th century a new wide but irregularly shaped north aisle was created west of the Lady Chapel and a new crown-post roof was erected over the whole north aisle and Lady Chapel. There is a three light window with hexofoils over at the west end of the enlarged north aisle with a square hood mould externally. However, the Petrie view from the north-west of 1801 shows only a 2 light window without upper quatre-foiled lights.
Also perhaps of the first half of the 14th century, is the rebuilt south aisle which terminated in the Chapel of St John-the-Baptist (see will of 1505). The east window is of the reticulated variety while in the south wall are 2-light, 3-light and 2-light windows all under square hood-moulds. They have all been heavily restored externally in Bathstone. There is a piscina under the eastern 2-light window with a small shelf over the damaged bowl. Between this aisle and the chancel are two contemporary plain arches with simple chamfers and (now worn) brooch-stops at the base. At about the same time the old Romanesque piers were probably demolished at the east end of the nave and two very wide but plain arches were inserted instead. The crown-post roof over the new south aisle may also be 14th century, but that over the nave is perhaps 15th century. There is also a double piscina on the south-east side of the chancel with a Perpendicular head over it, and a small window at the extreme west end of the north aisle on the north side with a simple cinque-foiled head (now into the vestry).
The only late-15th century addition to the church are probably the rood-screen and loft. The extra tie-beam here is probably part of the rood loft (a door through the south pier between the nave and chancel still survives) and the doorway from the north chapel into the late 19th century parish hall beyond. This small doorway dates from c. 1500 and presumably lead originally into a comtemporary vestry.
The major restoration of the church was in 1882, when a new parish hall to the north was built, as we have seen. Much of the external parts of the windows were restored at this time in Bathstone.
BUILDING MATERIALS (Incl. old plaster, paintings, glass, tiles etc.):
The 12th century work has only Caenstone for quoins with flint, reused Roman bricks, etc, for the rubble work. By the end of the 12th century Reigate stone was being introduced, and by the later 13th century Ragstone is used, and this is the most common quoin material for the 14th century work (though Caen is still used).
The usual 19th century restoration in Bathstone, while the east wall of the church was refaced in 19th century buff brick (also the upper part of the south-east buttress). The east window has recently been refaced externally in Lepine.
Bells in tower: Treble - 1903 (S B Goslin, from St Margaret's Church), 2nd 1637 (John Palmer, Canterbury) 3rd c 1400 (William Wodewarde, London), Tenor c.1325 (William Le Belyetere, Canterbury) (rehung for chiming only 1968). Some old glass also survives.
www.kentarchaeology.org.uk/01/03/C-PET.htm
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St Peter's church is the only one of six Canterbury medieval churches lying on the main city thoroughfare (Westgate to St George's gate) to have survived for parish worship. The others (Holy Cross, All Saints, St Mary Bredman, St Andrews and St George's) have all been removed to assist traffic flow, incorporated into new retail developments, converted to secular use or lost to enemy bombing in World War II. The position of St Peter's parish church (not to be confused with the nearby St Peter's Methodist church) is odd - set back from the highway and tucked away behind retail shops which stand directly on St Peter's Street (Image 1). This location lies on the line of the original Roman road leading from the Westgate, suggesting a possible religious use for the site from early times. The building includes examples of materials and styles reflecting 1000 years of worship here - specific examples are listed below. Specialists have not agreed on the dating of some elements, but in general terms the original 12th century tower and nave were enlarged first with a 13th century sanctuary, followed by the wide north aisle in the early 14th century and the narrower south aisle in the later 14th century. A major refurbishment in 1882 included addition of a parish hall. From 1660 until recent years, the church was used for the annual service to mark the appointment of a new mayor - hence the need for a mace holder (more below). St Peter's closed for parish worship in 1928 but Sunday services resumed in 1953. The City Centre parish currently comprises St Peter's, St Mildred's and St Dunstan's churches.
Several red Roman tiles can be spotted amongst the flint work of the slim Norman tower
Large white quoin stones mark the corners of the tower - a mix of re-used Roman blocks and added ragstone
A single round 12th century Norman arch survives under the eastern face of the tower (Image 2)
The font (Image 3) dates from around 1200, has a square bowl and is carved from Bethersden marble - the 17th century font cover is currently kept on the floor nearby but its winding mechanism (an iron crane) of a similar date remains place
The original door hooks are also in place, whilst the late 17th century mace holder currently stands, hard to spot, high on a window ledge (Image 4)
Two brass plates may be on interest. On the north wall, the memorial to William Lovelle, rector of St George's in the 1430s, provides interesting detail of ecclesiastical dress of the period (Image 5) but has had a chequered existence: rescued from St George's church after the bombing of 1942, removed to the Cathedral Library for safe keeping, remounted in St Peter's church, taken to Whitstable for a few days in January 1978 to improve its fixings, suffered minor damage in the storms and floods that month, cleaned up and returned to St Peter's. A second brass, also on the north wall, includes several French names, reminding us of Huguenot religious refugees whose descendants were buried here in the 17th and 18th centuries.
Near the high altar, note: an Easter sepulchre, a recess used to keep the host and altar crucifix during Easter time under its ogee arch (Image 6); the simple aumbry, a small cupboard used to store chalices and the sacrament (Image 7); and the less common double piscina (Image 8) used to wash hands and communion vessels
A window in the south aisle, inserted in 1904, is by Sir Ninian Comper, who incorporated a strawberry into many of his works as a tribute to his clergyman father (the latter died whist giving strawberries to poor children). Here the strawberry appears in the bottom left corner (Image 9).
The roof structures contain many examples of 14th and 15th century crown posts
The modern rood beam and figures were erected in 1922 in memory of priest-in-charge William Beam and parishioners who gave their lives in World War I
The keys of St Peter can be seen in the weather vane above the tower.
St. Peter's Rectory, McKeesport, PA., side view from 7th Ave. Later, it became the St. Martin de Porres Parish Center. My first C.C.D. (Confraternity of Christian Doctrine or more simply, "Sunday School") classes were held in here. At one time it housed up to three or four priests.
The rectory was designed by the Rev. Michael McInerney, O.S.B of Belmont Benedictine Abbey, North Carolina. Fr McInerney was originally from St. Peter's Parish. Construction began in September 1919 and finished in February, 1921.
-Source, the "Centennial Jubilee, Saint Peter's Parish" (1846 - 1946)
Some other buildings by Michael McInerney, OSB
* St. Benedict Church, Baltimore, MD (www.saintbenedict.org/About/History.htm)
* Sacred Heart Church, Savannah, GA (diosav.org/sites/all/files/archives/S8504p03.pdf)
* St. Benedict Church, Richmond, VA (www.saintbenedictparish.org/church/grand_design.php) [which by chance has the the Father William Nolte Knights of Columbus Council, #11533. A beloved priest that I personally knew who spent his last days in Richmond, VA!]
Update 8/10/2014: This building is up for sale for just $135K. Again, as they say though, "locaation, location, location".
My good friend and EA church expert and all round good bloke, Simon K, www.flickr.com/photos/norfolkodyssey/, provided me a list of fine churches to visit in the Dedham Vale which I should visit if the planned trip to Suffolk ever came off.
I left Dover early on the Thursday morning, and mixed it with the rush hour traffic at Dartfod before turning up the A12 and away from the craziness. And into the driving craziness that is Essex. But that's another story.
I turned off just after crossing the border into Suffolk at Stratford St Mary, and then got lost. I was trying to get to Stoke by Nayland, but I found no signs for it, and had to pull the sat nav out to find my way.
In preparing the list, I noted the name of Boxted, as it was nearly the same name as my first employer, Buxted, so when I saw a sign for Boxted, I followed it.
I thought I was in Suffolk still, but somewhere along the line I must have crossed back into Essex, as there are villages in both counties, very near each other, called Boxted.
Boxted village has two netres, the new part down in the valley, and the old part around the church up the hill. The church took some finding, but along and up Church Hill (always a giveaway), there it was.
I couple were preparing to do some pruning of the brambles growing out of the wall near the gate, and they gave me a disdainful look, but were pleasant enough when I left as I remarked what a wonderful church it is.
In fact, this might be one of my favourite churches I have visited, maybe even the favourite. I was surprised that Simon says so little about it, I found it a delight. The gallery so steeply raked the church felt like a theatre, and I am sure services here are special.
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There are two settlements in the parish, a large village a mile away down in the valley, and this smaller, older hamlet around the church.
While I was photographing the exterior, a rather brusque, rude woman asked me to move my bike so she could reverse up to the church because she was 'doing the flowers'. She then parked directly in front of the porch. She must have known her car would spoil my photographs. She got out and took - I kid you not - a single leafy branch from the back of her car and went into the church. I took as long as I could before joining her, by which time she was just leaving, thankfully. She had the grace to say goodbye.
This is a nice interior, full of light, curious pointed arcades punched through thick Norman walls, and a large west gallery raked so steeply that one has the impression of being in a cinema or theatre. An 18th Century memorial has an angel and a skeleton arm-wrestling over a corpse. I liked this one a lot, despite the rude woman.
Simon Knott, October 2012
www.essexchurches.org.uk/boxted.htm
In the early years of the 11th century a Saxon lord named Edwin built a church at Boxted, on the southern slopes of the Dedham Vale. The site chosen by Edwin for his church is rumoured to have been occupied by the ruins of a Roman villa destroyed by Queen Boudicca in her rebellion against the Romans in 61AD. Certainly the Saxon church was built using Roman bricks, mixed with local rubble.
Early historical studies of Boxted church suggest that Edwin's church used septaria stones, of the sort used to build the town walls of Colchester a few miles to the south.
In the late 11th century Edwin's church was replaced with a grand new building in stone. The builders were Robert de Horkesley and his wife Beatrice. The building was begun sometime around 1090 and completed by 1130. The church was dedicated to St Mary, and that dedication held true until sometime around the Reformation - perhaps when nearby Little Horkesley Priory was dissolved, at which point the church was rededicated to St Peter. The first priest was a monk from Little Horkesley Priory named Roberto. The material was a mix of puddingstone, rubble, and Roman brick, but the upper part of the tower was rebuilt in the 16th century with brick, and brick buttresses added. At the same time a timber porch was added.
he church was always kept in good repair; following the Reformation the locals complained that the chancel was in such poor condition that the vicar refused to hold services there. The church was heavily repaired in 1870 by AW Blomfield, one of the most active Victorian church architects. During a subsequent restoration in 1930 medieval wall paintings were uncovered, then just as quickly painted over again.
Historical Highlights
Interior features include a series of 17th century floor slabs to members of the Maidstone family, and to two servants of the Earl of Oxford. A painted and gilded royal coat of arms to George III are hung on the north wall of the nave. There is a 17th centuiry oak chest and several 12th century windows set high above the north arcade. The simple chancel arch is also 12th century. The nave roof is an intriguing crown-post design. On the wall is an attractive early 17th century memorial to Nathaniel Bacon.
Summming up Boxted church
I'd call St Peters an attractive church, not blessed with an enormous number of historic features, but a church with an ancient and interesting history nonetheless. Rather than making a special trip to see it I'd suggest seeing St Peters as part of a longer outing visiting several of the fascinating historic churches in Dedham Vale, like those at Little Horkesley, Wormingford, and Langham. To the best of my knowledge the church is normally open daylight hours.
North wisle west window by Carl Almquist for Shrigley & Hunt. Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
.... Bexhill Old Town, after morning service on a cold, but reasonably bright, Easter Sunday morning.
This is the very old church where Catherine and Ben were married in 2011 ..... parts of it date back to Saxon times. This was the first Easter service for the newly appointed Rector.
Happy Easter !
St Peter Martyr was not the first Dominican to die in the cause of preaching the Truth but he was so revered for his sanctity that he was canonized in 1253, a year after his death, and a General Chapter soon mandated that every Dominican church had to have an image of St Dominic and St Peter of Verona.
Born of heretical parents in Verona, he maintained the Faith of the Church and was sent to study in Bologna where he met St Dominic at the age of fifteen and begged admission to the Order of Preachers.
Peter was a celebrated preacher who engaged in disputes with heretics throughout northern Italy and his success in this regard won him many enemies.
On 6 April 1252, on the road to Milan, he was ambushed and killed. He has been singing the Easter sequence, 'Victimae Paschali Laudes' on the road when he was beset and he died, forgiving his murderers. One of his murderers was so moved by his faith - the dying saint wrote the words 'Credo in unum Deum on the dusty road with his blood - that he repented, converted and became a Dominican.
The Order today, 4 June, celebrates this great saint and brother, and this painting of the saint hangs in the library at Blackfriars Oxford.
St Peter's Church is the parish church of Prestbury, Cheshire, England. It is probably the fourth church on the site. The third, the Norman Chapel, stands in the churchyard. The church is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade I listed building.[1] The Norman Chapel,[2] the lychgate and west wall,[3] the Hearse House,[4] and the sundial in the churchyard[5] are listed at Grade II. It is a Church of England parish church in the diocese of Chester, the archdeaconry of Macclesfield and the deanery of Macclesfield.[6]
There is compelling evidence that there was a church at Prestbury ("priest’s enclosure") in the Anglo-Saxon era. After the Norman conquest of England, the church, probably the second on the site, came into the possession of the powerful baron Hugh Kyvelioc who gave it to the Abbey of St Werburgh in 1170-1173.
The monks demolished the Anglo-Saxon church and built what is now called the Norman Chapel.[7] The chapel served as a place of worship for the vast Parish of Prestbury until after the Magna Carta and the deaths of King John and Pope Innocent III in 1216.
In 1220, the monks, supported by the Davenports of Marton (and later Henbury), the Piggots of Butley and the family de Corona (predecessors of the Leghs of Adlington) started to build what became the chancel and nave of the present church. Rather than incorporate the chapel into the new building, as was often done, they left it in the churchyard. Some time later, it was given to the Davenports for use as a place of burial and perhaps as a private chapel.
During the next three centuries, the church was enlarged and the tower was erected. As a Roman Catholic church, worship in Latin was conducted at the high altar behind the rood screen. Rich vestments and ornaments were in use.
With the dissolution of the monasteries, the Abbey of St Werburgh ceased to exist. The newly created Diocese of Chester (1541) administered Prestbury until Sir Richard Cotton purchased the manor and advowson in 1547. A few years afterwards, in 1580, Thomas Legh of Adlington acquired the manor and advowson and became Lay Rector of Prestbury. The Legh family has held the manor and advowson of Prestbury ever since.
St Peter's Church before the general restoration
Public worship in Latin was abolished by the Acts of Uniformity. A pulpit was erected in 1560. The high altar and the rood loft were taken down during the years 1563-72 and a moveable Communion table was set up.
The church was transformed during the Georgian period to suit the contemporaneous style of worship. Pews (1707) filled the building. In 1710 a canopied three-decker pulpit was erected in the nave. Between 1711 and 1712, a large gallery was built at the western end of the church, with access from external staircases on both sides of the tower. A ceiling was put up in 1719 and decorated in 1720. In 1741-1742, the north aisle was rebuilt.
In a general restoration designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott which took place between 1879 and 1888, the pews were replaced, the three-decker pulpit was dismantled, the gallery and the ceiling were removed and the north aisle was again rebuilt.
Further changes took place during the 20th and the first few years of the 21st centuries and no doubt will continue to take place.
Churchyard[edit]
The Lychgate was built in 1715 and re-sited to its present position in 1728.
St Peter's Churchyard
The outstanding feature of the churchyard is the Norman Chapel.[8] Dating from 1175-1190, it began to fall into disrepair a few years after the present church came into use. In 1747 it was rebuilt by Sir William Meredith of Henbury so that his son Amos and other members of his family could be buried there. Restored in 1953, it is now used for a variety of church purposes.
Fragments of a cross of late Saxon origin were discovered in about 1880 built into the wall of the church. At one time they were thought to date from the late seventh or early eighth centuries, but are now believed to be 10th or 11th century. Pieces of the cross have been put together and now stand in the churchyard near the Norman Chapel. It has been registered as a scheduled monument.[9]
Yew trees in the churchyard date from the time of the Hundred Years' War.
The sundial (needed to correct the church clock) dates from 1672. It was improved in 1771 but the gnomon is missing.
The forerunner of the Hearse House was built in 1728. The present Hearse House dates from 1852. It is used to store garden tools.
The churchyard contains the war graves of twelve Commonwealth service personnel, seven from World War I and five from World War II.[10]
Church building[edit]
Ground plan
The nave is twenty-two feet wide. The north aisle and the south aisle are twenty-one and ten feet wide respectively. The chancel is nineteen feet wide. The south porch is fifteen feet square. The tower is twenty-three feet square with walls four feet thick. It is seventy-two feet high.
The main body of the church (the nave and chancel) was built during 1220-1230 in the Early English style. The south Aisle and the first north aisle were added in 1310.
The tower and south porch were built around 1480 and are the only parts of the building to survive in essentially their original form.
The clerestory with four windows each side and the bell-cot are early sixteenth century.
In 1612 three of the four fourteenth century windows in the south aisle were replaced by square windows.
The 1741-2 north aisle had five round-headed windows which contrasted with the windows of the south aisle. Two of the round-headed windows survived the general restoration of 1879-1888.
The vestry to the north of the chancel was added during the general restoration of 1879-1888.
South Porch and South Aisle
Interior[edit]
The main west door leads through the West Porch, the Parish's memorial to the dead of the two World Wars.
Above the porch is the ringers’ gallery (1637). It was formerly an organ loft. The bells date from 1820. They were recast in 1968.
Nave[edit]
Warden’s pews at the west end of the nave survived the general restoration.
The roof (1675) [11] replaced an earlier one. The timbering is rough as it was not designed to be exposed.
The nave chandelier is dated 1814. Electric lighting replaced acetylene gas in 1936. Ancient candle brackets remain on the pillars and the south wall.
Paintings above the pillars represent the twelve apostles and the twelve tribes of Israel. They were executed in 1719 by the travelling painter who had decorated the eighteenth-century ceiling which was removed as part of the general restoration.
The pulpit is Jacobean (1607). It was found in 1858 encased in the three-decker pulpit which had been made in 1710. It had replaced the 1560 pulpit.
A fragment of heraldic glass from an early window in the Legh chapel (1601) is now kept in an illuminated cabinet at the west end of the nave,[12] near a memorial book remembering those who lost their lives in the two World Wars.
In 2001 a three-manual Allen Renaissance Digital Organ was installed to replace the pipe organ. At the same time a dais was installed with space for a nave communion table.
Chancel[edit]
Incised slab commemorating Reginald Legh
The chancel is entered through a screen which had been erected in 1740 for the Legh Chapel. It has borne the Hanoverian Arms since 1787.
A memorial slab built into the north wall of the sanctuary is the oldest memorial in the church (1482). It commemorates Reginald Legh who helped to build the tower and south porch. This and other slabs were built into the walls when the church was cleared of altar-tombs.
The two-tier chandelier in the chancel is dated 1712.
The east window (1915) represents the river and tree of life as described in Revelations, 22: 1-2. It replaced an earlier window which was had been inserted sixty years previously.
A thirteenth century three-light window in the north side of the chancel is filled with simulated organ pipes.
The main window in the south of the chancel has a representation of Christ’s call of St Peter. It was inserted in 1981. Most of the other glass in the church dates from 1882-1896.
North aisle[edit]
The 13th century font at the west end of the aisle was refaced and recut in 1857. The sculptured heads may represent monks or lay brothers from the Abbey of St Werburgh.
At the east end of the north aisle is the Legh Chantry Chapel,[13] separated from the rest of the aisle by a heavy oak screen.
South aisle[edit]
At the east end of the south aisle, the Tytherington Chantry Chapel, dedicated to St Nicholas, was created in 1350. A 14th century piscina with a carved head typical of the period projects from the wall.
A small figure of St Nicholas at the top of the east window of the south aisle is 14th Century, the oldest piece of glass in the church.[14]
Situated off the main road into the city, just inside the city marked by the nearby Westgate. St Peter sits at the end of a narrow lane, and is easily overlooked or mistaken for a small church.
In fact it is a tardis of a church, once you walk in, the body of the church opens up revealing, for me, a confused history.
Pews have been removed and replaced with modern chairs, and seems to also be a thriving cafe, judging by the people who came in asking if it was open. On this day it was just open for viewing.
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The earliest visible part of this church is the round-headed arch at the west end of the north arcade (see drawing in Smith (1971), 103 fig 3). This has Caenstone voussoirs and sits on plain rectangular piers with side-alternate Caenstone jambs, at the top of which are plain square imposts with a plain chamfer below. The masonry is diagonally tooled and must date from the first half of the 12th century.
A bit later in date is the small tower on the south-west. This was rebuilt and largely refaced externally in the early 14th century, but inside its east arch into the south aisle is similar to the north arcade arch, but is pointed and has some Reigate stone among its Caenstone quoins. The very large and long external quoins to the tower, which have been called 'Saxo-Norman' re surely a mixture of reused Roman blocks and new Ragstone long ties of the 14th century (compare the 'long and short' work on the north west quoin of the 14th century Lady Chapel).
Soon after the tower was built, probably in the early 13th century, the south door was built. This has jambs largely of Reigate stone, and on its east side a very worn capital and base indicate a missing shaft (no doubt a Purbeck marble column). The beginning of the moulded archway over the door (also in Reigate stone) can be seen on the east, but the rest of it has been restored with plain Caenstone voussoirs. Inside the original hooks for the double doors still survive.
There is a plain font of c.1200 with a square bowl of Bethersden marble at the west end of the nave. It has a 17th century cover and iron crane for lifting it.
During the 13th century, as is commonly found, a longer new chancel was built (confirmed by documentary evidence, which shows that in rental D (Urry, 209 and 304) of c. 1200, the eastern part of the area now occupied by the chancel was still in secular hands). The most obvious evidence for this is the wide lancet on the south-east side of the chancel, which shows that the south aisle was only extended eastwards at a later date. The two wide but plain arches on the north side of the chancel have chamfers with bar stops and comb-tooling which also suggests a 13th century date. The narrower western arch in the south arcade (opposite the south door) is also a plain 13th century arch.
In the early 14th century the tower and west wall of the church was rebuilt. The west wall was realigned, presumably to allow St Peter's Lane, which bifurcated immediately north of the church, more room. At the same time a new 3-light east window was built that has similar 'Decorated' tracery to the new west window. The tower has small single light early 14th century windows in its upper stage, and a probably comtemporary (but now restored) crenellated parapet. Inside the top stage of the tower is a (probably 14th century) timber bell-frame. It was heightened and enlarged for 3 bells in the early 17th century and restored in 1968 when 4 bells were hung there (including a treble, recast in 1903, from St Margaret's Church). There are still two medieval bells in the tower, one of which (the tenor) was cast by William le Belyetere in the early 14th century. The other by William Wodewarde is a bit later (c. 1400).
Also probably of the first half of the 14th century is the new, much wider, Lady Chapel on the north east. It has one original two light window on the north, but unfortunately the east window has its tracery removed and replaced with (c. early 19th century) timber Y-tracery. Between the Lady Chapel and Chancel a fire Easter Sepulcre (with cusped and sub-cusped arches over on both sides) was inserted. Some time perhaps later in the 14th century a new wide but irregularly shaped north aisle was created west of the Lady Chapel and a new crown-post roof was erected over the whole north aisle and Lady Chapel. There is a three light window with hexofoils over at the west end of the enlarged north aisle with a square hood mould externally. However, the Petrie view from the north-west of 1801 shows only a 2 light window without upper quatre-foiled lights.
Also perhaps of the first half of the 14th century, is the rebuilt south aisle which terminated in the Chapel of St John-the-Baptist (see will of 1505). The east window is of the reticulated variety while in the south wall are 2-light, 3-light and 2-light windows all under square hood-moulds. They have all been heavily restored externally in Bathstone. There is a piscina under the eastern 2-light window with a small shelf over the damaged bowl. Between this aisle and the chancel are two contemporary plain arches with simple chamfers and (now worn) brooch-stops at the base. At about the same time the old Romanesque piers were probably demolished at the east end of the nave and two very wide but plain arches were inserted instead. The crown-post roof over the new south aisle may also be 14th century, but that over the nave is perhaps 15th century. There is also a double piscina on the south-east side of the chancel with a Perpendicular head over it, and a small window at the extreme west end of the north aisle on the north side with a simple cinque-foiled head (now into the vestry).
The only late-15th century addition to the church are probably the rood-screen and loft. The extra tie-beam here is probably part of the rood loft (a door through the south pier between the nave and chancel still survives) and the doorway from the north chapel into the late 19th century parish hall beyond. This small doorway dates from c. 1500 and presumably lead originally into a comtemporary vestry.
The major restoration of the church was in 1882, when a new parish hall to the north was built, as we have seen. Much of the external parts of the windows were restored at this time in Bathstone.
BUILDING MATERIALS (Incl. old plaster, paintings, glass, tiles etc.):
The 12th century work has only Caenstone for quoins with flint, reused Roman bricks, etc, for the rubble work. By the end of the 12th century Reigate stone was being introduced, and by the later 13th century Ragstone is used, and this is the most common quoin material for the 14th century work (though Caen is still used).
The usual 19th century restoration in Bathstone, while the east wall of the church was refaced in 19th century buff brick (also the upper part of the south-east buttress). The east window has recently been refaced externally in Lepine.
Bells in tower: Treble - 1903 (S B Goslin, from St Margaret's Church), 2nd 1637 (John Palmer, Canterbury) 3rd c 1400 (William Wodewarde, London), Tenor c.1325 (William Le Belyetere, Canterbury) (rehung for chiming only 1968). Some old glass also survives.
www.kentarchaeology.org.uk/01/03/C-PET.htm
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St Peter's church is the only one of six Canterbury medieval churches lying on the main city thoroughfare (Westgate to St George's gate) to have survived for parish worship. The others (Holy Cross, All Saints, St Mary Bredman, St Andrews and St George's) have all been removed to assist traffic flow, incorporated into new retail developments, converted to secular use or lost to enemy bombing in World War II. The position of St Peter's parish church (not to be confused with the nearby St Peter's Methodist church) is odd - set back from the highway and tucked away behind retail shops which stand directly on St Peter's Street (Image 1). This location lies on the line of the original Roman road leading from the Westgate, suggesting a possible religious use for the site from early times. The building includes examples of materials and styles reflecting 1000 years of worship here - specific examples are listed below. Specialists have not agreed on the dating of some elements, but in general terms the original 12th century tower and nave were enlarged first with a 13th century sanctuary, followed by the wide north aisle in the early 14th century and the narrower south aisle in the later 14th century. A major refurbishment in 1882 included addition of a parish hall. From 1660 until recent years, the church was used for the annual service to mark the appointment of a new mayor - hence the need for a mace holder (more below). St Peter's closed for parish worship in 1928 but Sunday services resumed in 1953. The City Centre parish currently comprises St Peter's, St Mildred's and St Dunstan's churches.
Several red Roman tiles can be spotted amongst the flint work of the slim Norman tower
Large white quoin stones mark the corners of the tower - a mix of re-used Roman blocks and added ragstone
A single round 12th century Norman arch survives under the eastern face of the tower (Image 2)
The font (Image 3) dates from around 1200, has a square bowl and is carved from Bethersden marble - the 17th century font cover is currently kept on the floor nearby but its winding mechanism (an iron crane) of a similar date remains place
The original door hooks are also in place, whilst the late 17th century mace holder currently stands, hard to spot, high on a window ledge (Image 4)
Two brass plates may be on interest. On the north wall, the memorial to William Lovelle, rector of St George's in the 1430s, provides interesting detail of ecclesiastical dress of the period (Image 5) but has had a chequered existence: rescued from St George's church after the bombing of 1942, removed to the Cathedral Library for safe keeping, remounted in St Peter's church, taken to Whitstable for a few days in January 1978 to improve its fixings, suffered minor damage in the storms and floods that month, cleaned up and returned to St Peter's. A second brass, also on the north wall, includes several French names, reminding us of Huguenot religious refugees whose descendants were buried here in the 17th and 18th centuries.
Near the high altar, note: an Easter sepulchre, a recess used to keep the host and altar crucifix during Easter time under its ogee arch (Image 6); the simple aumbry, a small cupboard used to store chalices and the sacrament (Image 7); and the less common double piscina (Image 8) used to wash hands and communion vessels
A window in the south aisle, inserted in 1904, is by Sir Ninian Comper, who incorporated a strawberry into many of his works as a tribute to his clergyman father (the latter died whist giving strawberries to poor children). Here the strawberry appears in the bottom left corner (Image 9).
The roof structures contain many examples of 14th and 15th century crown posts
The modern rood beam and figures were erected in 1922 in memory of priest-in-charge William Beam and parishioners who gave their lives in World War I
The keys of St Peter can be seen in the weather vane above the tower.
St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican
Of all of Rome’s riches, Michelangelo’s Pietà to me was the most moving. I feel as if I had known it all of my life and may be I did. Bellini’s “Madonna of the Meadow” at the National Gallery has always been a favourite. www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/giovanni-bellini-mad.... The similarities are striking. The natural pose of the baby with the mother anticipates the inevitable sadness to follow in the Pietà.
St Peter's at Widmerpool is an elusive building hidden away down a leafy path beyond a cul de sac (with no signs to direct, but if you follow the public footpath you should find it). What we see today is the result of an ambitious Victorian rebuilding (leaving only the medieval tower) with a richly ornamented exterior and gloriously vaulted chancel.
Inside the chancel draws the eye as the liturgical and architectural climax of the building, a beautifully flamboyant piece of Victorian architecture which greatly enlivens the interior the nave by contrast feels rather more serious). There are some rich furnishings and details, though the most notable piece within is the effigy of Harriet Robertson (d.1891), which is very difficult to photograph in the gloomy north-west corner.
I was pleased to find this church open and welcoming on my visit (if initially a little tricky to find!).
Hidden away behind the suburban facades of Hall Green lies a little known gem, St Peter's is one of the most outstanding modern churches in the Midlands and can be found by venturing down a quiet lane that leads between the houses off one of Hall Green's busier roads. Its presence is announced over the rooftops by the slender concrete tower with a striking lattice window and a circular cap at its summit.
The church was opened in 1964 to replace a more modest predecessor and makes a striking architectural statement. Approaching it from the lane reveals an intriguingly formed building with an octagonal nave at its heart, similarly finished in precast concrete and capped by a pleasingly green copper roof. Below is a brick ambulatory that surrounds the nave and from which a substantial chapel and the main sanctuary also erupt, both marked by large expanses of dalle de verre glazing, as are the twelve windows in the upper part of the nave itself. These were what I'd really come to see, but the unusual architecture itself is a reward for meandering this way.
Entry is via the doorway at the base of the tall and slender west tower, and initially there is a sense of subdued light until one becomes accustomed to the level and can then fully appreciate the dazzling richness of the glass. All around the octagonal nave is a series of strikingly non-figurative windows inspired by Middle Eastern prayer-mats, each design different and evoking other times and places in their symbolism of the act of prayer itself, but doing so in a modern idiom. At the east end our eyes are drawn to the largest window in the church situated behind the altar, which is again a work of dalle de verre glass mosaic, but is a figurative composition depicting Christ's call to St Peter. The austerity of the architecture sets the windows off very well.
The windows are rare works (outside his native Alsace) by the artist Tristan Ruhlmann and their style is unlike any dalle de verre glass I've seen elsewhere. Ruhlmann used his own technical wizardry to expand the graphic quality of this otherwise limited medium for pictorial subject matter (dalle de verre windows normally consist of roughly hewn chunks of glass set in concrete, which limits their narrative capacity). In order to work in a more illustrative style, Ruhlmann incorporates pieces of flat glass as well, only using then set on their edges to create lines of coloured light with which he 'draws' *(some are heat distorted to create curves). This is likely a unique use of the medium in England, and deserves to be better known as a highly complex and imaginitive response to the material which remain without imitators.
On the south side is the lady chapel which culminates in another large Ruhlmann window, this time depicting the Nativity across three lights. The chapel is otherwise flooded with light from its remaining clear glazed windows, and is a pleasant place to sit and contemplate Ruhlmann's work.
The church isn't normally open outside of services but is well worth seeing if one can make arrangements to visit. I am hugely hugely indebted to the church's vicar, Reverend Martin Stephenson who kindly agreed to open the church for me after I'd phoned the parish office and spent some time showing me his archive of photos of Ruhlmann's work in France (all of which was previously unknown to me and quite a revelation!). He clearly understands what a special church he has and what a unique individual Tristan Ruhlmann was and I am very grateful for the time he gave me to explore the church and share his passion for its glass.
It was a visit I'll never forget and a church I could easily lose myself in for a lot longer (the acoustics are 'interesting' in there too, quite an echo to every word and movement, I wonder what it is like to sing in there?). Frustratingly my camera was having 'issues' that day, but at least I have a reasonable set of images to show for my visit.
St. Peter and St. Paul, Teigngrace Grade 2*
Recently included in Todd Gray’s “Devon’s Fifty Best Churches”, St. Peter and St. Paul, Teigngrace is of some significance as a Georgian church designed in a style of Strawberry Hill Gothic. The external structure that you see now is very much as it would have appeared to the Templer family at the dedication service in March 1788. Originally the church was surrounded by fields, with a pathway to the Schoolroom that was built in 1873. Over the years the village has grown and the church is now surrounded by houses. However, it still has a feel of seclusion about it, sheltered by the drive from the road and the yew in front
Originally the church was part of Stover estate, serving the village, workers on the estate and, in time, workers on the canal built by James Templer.
The earliest definite record of a church at Teigngrace dates back to 1350, but by the late 18th century it was in a poor state of repair.
The estate was purchased in 1765 by James Templer, who subsequently built Stover Lodge. He died in 1782, his wife Mary in 1784, and their three sons, James, George & John rebuilt the parish church in 1787 dedicating it in memory of their parents. The Rev. John Templer was the first Rector of the new church. The first service in the new church was held on Sunday 30th March 1788. The 220th anniversary of this dedication was held in 2008.
Teigngrace Interior
The Templer family is commemorated by a number of wonderful memorials.
Pevsner (1952) notes that the monuments are “both interesting and varied. They have eloquent inscriptions, but are not of excessive size. The earliest are two wall-mounted monuments flanking the chancel arch, to James Templer †1782 and his wife, Mary †1784, the first with a mourning figure at an urn, in a roundel, the second with a similar theme in a lunette at the top.—Charles Templer †1786 has a delicate shipwreck relief; Captain William Templer †1805 and his brother, both also drowned at sea, have only the signed tablet, a fat weeping angel by an urn above a Gothic fan coving, by Coade and Sealy.—The Nelson memorial, of 1805, is also of Coade stone. It has the unusual form of a figure of Fame above a globe, inscribed “slain in battle”.—James Templer †1813 has another Coade monument: a female figure reclining on an urn, a standard type.—other simpler tablets include two naval associates, Cornwallis, Viscount Hawarden † 1803 and Captain Richard Dalling Dunn †1813 , both with chaste urns, and one to the Rev. John Templer † 1832 (the first of the two Templer rectors) with draped urn on sarcophagus.”
The picture of interest in the church is the large Pieta used as an Altar piece. This seems to have been in position since the church was rebuilt. Previously it has been attributed to James Barry, the Irish artist, and some sources have said it is a copy of Van Dyck’s Pieta found in the Antwerp museum. The first attribution dates to the publication of Lyson’s Magnus Brittanica in 1822, only 35 years after the rebuilding. The states that the painting is “ a painting of Our lady of Pity, by Barry”. No mention is made of it being a copy, and indeed, if you look at Van Dyck’s work it is completely different.
The organ was installed in the tower with the rebuilding of the church and is one of only two in the country in it’s very nearly original condition. It is attributed by the West Country Organ database to James Davis, with additions by George Hawkins in 1885. Its unique feature is its original “nag’s head shutter”.
St Peter and St Paul Church Fareham. Small churchyard I walked through this morning when out for my morning exercise.
Saint Peter's Square (Italian: Piazza San Pietro, pronounced [pi̯aʦa san pi̯ɛːtɾo]) is located directly in front of St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican City, the papal enclave within Rome. [Source: Wikipedia]
After many years than three attempts to see inside this year alone, finally, the door did open for me.
But, not at first, as the loack had two settings, the first did not work, a little bit of ompf and I was in.
A pleasantly small and simple church, with remains of wall paintings a simple rood screen.
My eye was taken by the roof and support beams, very nice.
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St Peter's is in a windswept location, in open farmland, with ancient yew trees and a patina of great antiquity. Abutting the north side of the tower, and entered from the church, is a rare medieval priest's house. The nave has a distinctly unusual atmosphere. It is lofty and plain, with much light flooding in from the large south windows. While there is no chancel arch there is a horizontal beam which carries the Royal Arms of George III. The three-crownpost roof is beautifully set off by whitewashed walls which are almost devoid of monuments. After the nave the chancel is something of an anti-climax, although there are traces of medieval wall paintings on the south wall.
www.kentchurches.info/church.asp?p=Molash
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MOLASH
Is the next parish westward from Chilham; it is a parish which lies very obscurely among the hills, being little known, and having very little traffic through it. The village, which is straggling, is situated near the western boundaries of it, the parish of Wye joining close up to it. The church stands close on the north side of the village; there are about fifty houses, and two hundred and sixty-five inhabitants, the whole is much covered with coppice wood, mostly beech, with some little oak interspersed among it; the country is very hilly, and the soil of it very poor, being mostly an unsertile red earth, mixed with abundance of slints.
There is a fair held here on the 16th of July yearly, formerly on the Monday after St. Peter and St. Paul.
The Honor of Chilham claims paramount over this parish, subordinate to which is The Manor Of Bower, alias Flemings, which is situated in the bo rough of Godsole, northward from the church, it took the latter of those names from the family of Fleming, who were once the possessors of it; one of whom, John de Fleming, appears by a very antient courtroll of this manor, to have been owner of it, and in his descendants it probably continued for some time; but they were extinct here in the reign of Henry VI. in the 24th year of which, as appears by another antient court-roll, it was in the possession of John Trewonnalle, in which name it continued down to the reign of King Henry VIII. and then another John Trewonnalle alienated it to Thomas Moyle, esq. afterwards Knighted, and he owned it in the 30th year of that reign; and in his descendants it remained till the reign of Kings James I. when it was alienated to Mr. Henry Chapman; at length his delcendant Mr. Edward Chapman leaving three sons, Edward, Thomas, and James Chapman, they became possessed of it as coheirs in gavelkind, and afterwards joined in the sale of it to Christopher Vane, lord Barnard, who died in 1723, leaving two sons, Gilbert, who succeeded him in the north of England; and William, who possessed his father's seat at Fairlawn, and the rest of his estates in this county, having been in his father's life-time created viscount Vane, of the Kingdom of Ireland. He died in 1734, as did his only son and heir William, viscount Vane, in 1789.s. p. (fn. 1) who devised this manor, among the rest of his estates in this county and elsewhere, to David Papillon, esq. late of Acrise, the present possessor of it.
Witherling is a manor in this parish, situated likewise in the borough of Godsole. In the antient records of Dover castle, this manor is numbered among those estates which made up the barony of Fobert, and was held of Fulbert de Dover, as of that barony, by knight's service, by a family of its own name. Robert de Witherling appears to have held it in the reign of king John, as one knight's see, by the same tenure; in whose descendants it continued down to the reign of King Henry VI. When Joane Witherling was become heir to it, and then carried it in marriage to William Keneworth, whose son, of the same name, passed it away in the reign of Henry VII. to John Moile, of Buckwell, who died possessed of it in the 15th year of that reign, as appears by the inquisition taken after his death, and that it was held of Dover castle. His son John Moyle sold this manor, in the 4th year of Henry VIII. to Hamo Videan, descended of a family of good note in this county. There is mention made of them in the Parish Register, from the first year of it, 1557, to the present time; but they have been decayed a long time, and their possessions dispersed among other owners; but there is still a green in this neighbourhood, called from them Videan's, (by the common people Vidgeon's) forstal. In his descendants it continued till the reign of King Charles II. when it was conveyed, by a joint conveyance, from that name to Mr. Tho. Thatcher, whose daughter Mary carried it in marriage to Mr. Henry Bing, of Wickhambreux, whose son John Bing (fn. 2) sold it to Mr. Edward Baker, for the satisfying his sister's fortune, whom the latter had married; and on his dying intestate, this manor descended to his four sons, Thomas Baker, clerk, Edward, Henry, and Bing Baker, who joined in alienating it, about 1771, to Thomas Knight, esq. of Godmersham, whose only son and heir of the same name died possessed of it in 1794, s. p. and by will devised this manor to Edward Austen, esq. then of Rowling, but now of Godmersham, who is the present owner of it. A court baron is held for this manor.
Chiles, alias Slow-Court, is a small manor in this parish, which some years since belonged to the family of Goatley, which had been settled here from the time of queen Mary. One of them, Laurence Goatley, died possessed of it in 1608. He then dwelt at his house in this parish, called Bedles, and was lessee of the parsonage. Searles Goatley, esq the last of this family, was brought from Maidstone a few years ago, and buried in this church. Laurence Goatley devised this manor to his third son Laurence, one of whose descendants passed it away to Moter, and in 1661 Alice Moter, alias Mother, of Bethersden, sold it to John Franklyn, gent. of this parish, whose daughter carried it in marriage to Thomas Benson, of Maidstone, and he in 1676, by fine and conveyance, passed it away to Robert Saunders, gent. of that town, as he again did in 1703 to Esther Yates, widow, of Mereworth, whose executors in 1716 conveyed it to David Fuller, gent. of Maidstone, who dying s. p. devised it in 1751 by will to his widow Mary, who at her death in 1775, gave it to her relation, William Stacy Coast, esq. now of Sevenoke, the present proprietor of it.
Charities.
Simon Ruck, gent. of Stalisfield, and Sarah his wife, by indenture in 1672, in consideration of 35l. granted to Thomas Chapman, gent. and John Thatcher, both of Molash, a piece of land containing three acres, called Stonebridge, in this parish, for the use, maintenance, and relief of the poor of this parish for ever.
Thomas Amos, yeoman, of Ospringe, by will in 1769 gave 100l. in trust, to be laid out in the public funds, and the dividends to be yearly paid, on the day of St. Thomas the Apostle, to the churchwardens, to be distributed to the most necessitous poor of Molash; which, with other money of the parish was laid out in the purchase of 125l. three per cent. reduced Bank Annuities.
The poor constantly relieved are about nine, casually twenty. five.
This Parish is within the Ecclesiastical Juris diction of the diocese of Canterbury, and deanry of Bridge.
The church, which is dedicated to St. Peter, is a small mean building, consisting of one isle and one chancel, having a pointed turret, shingled, at the west end, in which are three bells. There are several memorials of the Chapmans in this church, and in the isle is a stone, inscribed Pulvis Chapmannorum, under which is a vault, wherein several of them lie. In the chancel there is an antient gravestone, cossin-shaped, with an inscription round, in old French capitals, now, through time, illegible. The font is antient, having on it, Gules, three right hands couped, argent; a crescent for difference. In the Parish Register, which begins in 1558, are continual entries of the Videans, Goatleys, Franklyns, Thatchers, Chapmans, Moyles, and Wildish's, from that year almost to the present time. It is esteemed only as a chapel of ease to Chilham, and as such is not rated separately in the king's books.
¶The great tithes or parsonage of this parish were formerly a part of the rectory or parsonage of Chilham, and as such belonged to the alien priory of Throwley, on the suppression of which, anno 2 king Henry V. they were given to the monastery of Sion, which being dissolved by the act of 31 Henry VIII. they came, with the rest of the possessions of that house, into the king's hands, whence the parsonage of Chilham, which included this of Molash, was granted next year, together with the honor and castle, and other premises, to Sir Thomas Cheney, whose son Henry, lord Cheney, alienated the whole of them in the 10th year of queen Elizabeth, to Sir Thomas Kempe, of Wye, who in the 21st year of that reign alienated the parsonage or great tithes of this parish to William Walch, who held the same in capite, and he that year sold it to John Martyn, who as quickly passed it away to Richard Tooke, whose descendant Nicholas Tooke, in the 25th year of that reign, conveyed it in 1633, by the description of the manor of Molash, and all the glebes and tithes of this parish, to Sir James Hales, in which name it continued some time, till it was at length sold to Sir Dudley Diggs. who devised it to his nephew Anthony Palmer, esq. whose brother Dudley Palmer, esq. of Gray's Inn, in 1653, was become owner of it. It afterwards belonged to the Meads, and from them came to Sir Thomas Alston, bart. of Odell, in Bedfordshire, who lately died possessed of it, and his devisees are now entitled to it.
This church being a chapel of ease to that of Chilham, constitutes a part of that vicarage, the vicar of it being presented and institued to the vicarage of the church of Chilham, with the chapel of Molash annexed.
In 1585 here were communicants one hundred and twenty-six. In 1640 there were only forty communicants here.
St Peter Hungate sits at the southern end of the historic Elmhill which curves away forth, and the churchyard looks over it.
As before, I had noticed St Peter many times, and when visiting the city for the beer festival, I would hope to find it open. I don't think I tried hard enough, but it was made for a day like this.
I had walked past it twice already that day, but was not going to be open before time, a sandwich board was outside tempting the passerby in.
It is a redundant church, and has been thus since the first world war. Simon Knott tells it used to be a unique museum, which has sadly now closed, but now is open three days a week as a museum to the Norwich stained glass industry.
A young lady sat on watch as visitors milled around, admonishing anyone who said they remembered this being a church or even worshiping here, they would have to have been over 100 years old that to make that claim.
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At the time of the 16th Century protestant Reformation, Norwich had 36 parish churches, and many of these buildings survive today. A handful are still in use for the congregational worship of the Church of England, for which they were never designed of course. Others have found uses as concert venues, artist workshops, day centres and offices. One houses the Norwich Probation Servce, another is even a Pregnancy Advisory Centre. Some stand empty, but far more are in use now than were ten years ago. It is the largest collection of urban medieval buildings in any one city north of the Alps.
Although St Peter Hungate is right in the heart of the urban area, its setting is idyllic; 16th and 17th century cottages flank the north and east sides, and then beautiful Elm Hill drops away below it. To the west is the magnificent chancel window of the Blackfriars church, while to the south are grand 19th century commercial buildings, full of Victorian confidence. Hungate itself no longer exists, but was formerly 'houndsgate', the street of dogs. In this conservation area the roads are cobbled, and it is an oasis of charm in the middle of East Anglia's biggest city. St Peter is that rare beast in Norwich: a cruciform church. It looks older than it actually is; the primitive capped tower is actually a tall 15th century one that was truncated in 1906 for safety reasons. In fact, the whole church was completely rebuilt during the middle thirty years of the 15th century. The chancel collapsed after the Reformation, and was rebuilt by the Laudians in the early 17th century. It is a blessing that they reused the 15th century windows, and in fact most of the window tracery in the church is still original.
In the 19th century, St Peter Hungate was one of the highest of Norwich's many Anglo-catholic churches; it was the first to use vestments, the first to use incense, the first to use candles on the altar. However, as with St Simon and St Jude at the other end of Elm Hill, St Peter has long been redundant, last being used as a church before the First World War. When, in the 1930s, the Norwich Society went on their pioneering crusade to save this area of the city, there was a renewal of interest in finding appropriate uses for the old churches, and in 1936 St Peter Hungate became a museum of church furnishings. The fixtures and fittings from other redundant churches were brought here for display, and the collection was augmented by items from the Norwich and Norfolk museums, as well as by other churches wanting to find a safe home for their treasures.
It was a superb museum, the only one of its kind in England. From a church explorer's point of view, it was a priceless resource; you could read about things, and then go and see them in real life, all in one place: rood screens, bench ends, reredoses, corbels, pyxes and pyx cloths, all at first hand. St Peter Hungate Museum of Church Art lasted until the late 1990s, when a reorganisation of the museum service in Norwich killed it off. All the exhibits were removed, and most went into storage under the Castle. For nearly ten years, the building was completely empty, and can be seen as it was in 2005 in these photographs.
St Peter Hungate, Norwich
angel At the time of the 16th Century protestant Reformation, Norwich had 36 parish churches, and many of these buildings survive today. A handful are still in use for the congregational worship of the Church of England, for which they were never designed of course. Others have found uses as concert venues, artist workshops, day centres and offices. One houses the Norwich Probation Servce, another is even a Pregnancy Advisory Centre. Some stand empty, but far more are in use now than were ten years ago. It is the largest collection of urban medieval buildings in any one city north of the Alps.
Although St Peter Hungate is right in the heart of the urban area, its setting is idyllic; 16th and 17th century cottages flank the north and east sides, and then beautiful Elm Hill drops away below it. To the west is the magnificent chancel window of the Blackfriars church, while to the south are grand 19th century commercial buildings, full of Victorian confidence. Hungate itself no longer exists, but was formerly 'houndsgate', the street of dogs. In this conservation area the roads are cobbled, and it is an oasis of charm in the middle of East Anglia's biggest city. St Peter is that rare beast in Norwich: a cruciform church. It looks older than it actually is; the primitive capped tower is actually a tall 15th century one that was truncated in 1906 for safety reasons. In fact, the whole church was completely rebuilt during the middle thirty years of the 15th century. The chancel collapsed after the Reformation, and was rebuilt by the Laudians in the early 17th century. It is a blessing that they reused the 15th century windows, and in fact most of the window tracery in the church is still original.
In the 19th century, St Peter Hungate was one of the highest of Norwich's many Anglo-catholic churches; it was the first to use vestments, the first to use incense, the first to use candles on the altar. However, as with St Simon and St Jude at the other end of Elm Hill, St Peter has long been redundant, last being used as a church before the First World War. When, in the 1930s, the Norwich Society went on their pioneering crusade to save this area of the city, there was a renewal of interest in finding appropriate uses for the old churches, and in 1936 St Peter Hungate became a museum of church furnishings. The fixtures and fittings from other redundant churches were brought here for display, and the collection was augmented by items from the Norwich and Norfolk museums, as well as by other churches wanting to find a safe home for their treasures.
It was a superb museum, the only one of its kind in England. From a church explorer's point of view, it was a priceless resource; you could read about things, and then go and see them in real life, all in one place: rood screens, bench ends, reredoses, corbels, pyxes and pyx cloths, all at first hand. St Peter Hungate Museum of Church Art lasted until the late 1990s, when a reorganisation of the museum service in Norwich killed it off. All the exhibits were removed, and most went into storage under the Castle. For nearly ten years, the building was completely empty, and can be seen as it was in 2005 in these photographs.
ewg empty view out of the south door
In 2006, a small group of people came together in an attempt to get Hungate open and in use again. Their plan was to use it as an interpretation centre for Norfolk's medieval heritage, with a particular emphasis on the medieval stained glass artists of the city of Norwich. St Peter Hungate is a good place to do this, as it has the best collection outside of the cathedral in the whole city. This glass, largely of the 15th century, is partly from St Peter Hungate originally, and partly a consequence of the medievalist enthusiasms of the 19th Century, when much was collected and brought here. It includes a sequence of the Order of Angels, other angels holding scrolls, the Evangelists, the Apostles, and much else besides. Here are some highlights.
There are squints into the transepts, and image niches in the east walls of both; the south transept, which was a chapel for the guild of St John the Baptist, was the burial place of Sir John Paston. High above, the corbels to the roof are finely gilded; they depict the four evangelists, St Matthew, St Mark, St Luke and St John, and the four Latin Doctors of the Church, St Augustine, St Ambrose, St Gregory and St Jerome. This is the only known example of these eight Saints as roofpost stops. There is a central boss of Christ in Judgement.
The fixtures and fittings of the new Hungate Centre are much less intrusive than those of the old museum, allowing a sense of space and light. Display cases down the sides of the nave explain and interpret the history of Norwich's stained glass industry, and between them are the lovely benches from Tottington, which I had last seen marooned within the fences of the Battle Training Area. There are temporary exhibitions which use the transepts and chancel, and regular activities for adults and children. The Centre is currently open three days a week, and you can read more about it on its website.
If you go out through the north door, you find yourself in the former graveyard, now a pleasant garden overlooking the rooftops of Elm Hill. The 15th century building immediately to the north, now a restaurant, was once a beguinage, a retreat house for nuns. The lawn is surrounded by lavender and rosemary, and it is all very well kept. All in all, this beautiful space, now once again in safe hands, is much to be celebrated.
Simon Knott, November 2005, revised and updated February 2011
www.norfolkchurches.co.uk/norwichpeterhungate/norwichpete...
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The tower is square, and built of black flints in 1431, by Thomas Ingham. Its unusual pyramid cap was put on in 1906, when the tower had become so unsafe that the battlemented belfry stage was demolished.
The south porch was added in 1497, by Nicholas Ingham, who is buried in it. It has angle buttresses and a niche for a statue over the door. Its ceiling has four bosses –one for each Evangelist.
The nave and transepts were totally rebuilt, as ‘a neat building of black flint’, by John and Margaret Paston in 1458, after they had acquired the advowson from St Mary’s College. A stone in a buttress near the north door records this – it shows a tree trunk without branches (= decay of the old church) with a new shoot (= the new building), together with the date of completion – 1460. The windows are uniformly Perpendicular, and allow much light into the building.
The chancel had been rebuilt in 1431 by Thomas Ingham and was rebuilt again in 1604 after it had collapsed: it is of rough rubble, plastered over, contrasting with the nave and transepts. Its windows are of an older pattern and have trefoil tracery in the heads. It is covered with peg-tiles, which date from the 1604 rebuilding.
Both the north and the south doors are original – of about 1460 – and have tracery which is similar to that in the windows.
The nave has wall - arcading, to frame each window. The nave roof is of low pitch, and angels with scrolls adorn it. There is a central boss, of Christ in Judgment.
The font is fifteenth-century, and its cover, with an open-work steeple, is dated 1605.
There are two squints which give a view from the nave into the transepts. In the south transept is a niche for a statue of St John the Baptist, and John Paston was buried in front of it. The headstops on the window in the south transept are supposed to represent him and his wife
In the north transept the doors to the rood-stair can be seen. The collapse of the chancel in 1604 demolished the rood-screen, and it was never replaced.
The east window is filled with pieces of mediæval glass. Blomefield, writing in 1741, says that much of the original glass survived in the chancel, but much was later lost through neglect. What remains has been assembled in this window.
There is one monument – on the west wall, to Matthew Goss, who died in 1779.
The church was one of the earliest to be affected by the Oxford Movement. The square pews were replaced by chairs, and the services took on a very ritualistic character, with candles, incense, and banners, and was ‘one of the most fashionable places of worship in Norwich’.
By the end of the century it was again in a bad way: in 1888, the tower was so dangerous an order was served on the churchwardens. In 1897, a large hole in the chancel roof was covered only by a tarpaulin.
Although restored in 1906, the church was in bad state again by 1931, and was threatened with demolition. The Norfolk Archæological Trust raised money to repair it, and it was used as a museum of church art from 1936 until 1995
The church contains beautiful stained glass. To see magnified pictures and information on all the stained glass in this and other churches across Norfolk visit www.norfolkstainedglass.co.uk
www.norwich-churches.org/St Peter Hungate/home.shtm
St Peter's Church, Tiverton, Devon.
Alongside my other subjects, Churches and Historic Buildings have always been a source of great interest to me. One such building which is local to me and a particular favourite is St Peter's Church.
A wonderful building with some lovely carvings in the stonework.
Nikolaus Pevsner described the building as "a gorgeously ostentatious display of civic pride", in my eyes he was spot-on with that description.
St Peter's is noted as the location for the first performance of Mendelssohn's 'Wedding March', it was performed by organist Samuel Reay at the wedding of Dorothy Carew & Tom Daniel on 2nd June 1847.
In 1952 the Church was Grade I listed.
St Peter's Church, Prestbury, Cheshire.
St Peter's Church is the parish church of Prestbury, Cheshire, England. It is probably the fourth church on the site. The third, the Norman Chapel, stands in the churchyard. The church is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade I listed building.[1] The Norman Chapel,[2] the lychgate and west wall,[3] the Hearse House,[4] and the sundial in the churchyard[5] are listed at Grade II. It is a Church of England parish church in the diocese of Chester, the archdeaconry of Macclesfield and the deanery of Macclesfield.[6]
There is compelling evidence that there was a church at Prestbury ("priest’s enclosure") in the Anglo-Saxon era. After the Norman conquest of England, the church, probably the second on the site, came into the possession of the powerful baron Hugh Kyvelioc who gave it to the Abbey of St Werburgh in 1170-1173.
The monks demolished the Anglo-Saxon church and built what is now called the Norman Chapel.[7] The chapel served as a place of worship for the vast Parish of Prestbury until after the Magna Carta and the deaths of King John and Pope Innocent III in 1216.
In 1220, the monks, supported by the Davenports of Marton (and later Henbury), the Piggots of Butley and the family de Corona (predecessors of the Leghs of Adlington) started to build what became the chancel and nave of the present church. Rather than incorporate the chapel into the new building, as was often done, they left it in the churchyard. Some time later, it was given to the Davenports for use as a place of burial and perhaps as a private chapel.
During the next three centuries, the church was enlarged and the tower was erected. As a Roman Catholic church, worship in Latin was conducted at the high altar behind the rood screen. Rich vestments and ornaments were in use.
With the dissolution of the monasteries, the Abbey of St Werburgh ceased to exist. The newly created Diocese of Chester (1541) administered Prestbury until Sir Richard Cotton purchased the manor and advowson in 1547. A few years afterwards, in 1580, Thomas Legh of Adlington acquired the manor and advowson and became Lay Rector of Prestbury. The Legh family has held the manor and advowson of Prestbury ever since.
St Peter's Church before the general restoration
Public worship in Latin was abolished by the Acts of Uniformity. A pulpit was erected in 1560. The high altar and the rood loft were taken down during the years 1563-72 and a moveable Communion table was set up.
The church was transformed during the Georgian period to suit the contemporaneous style of worship. Pews (1707) filled the building. In 1710 a canopied three-decker pulpit was erected in the nave. Between 1711 and 1712, a large gallery was built at the western end of the church, with access from external staircases on both sides of the tower. A ceiling was put up in 1719 and decorated in 1720. In 1741-1742, the north aisle was rebuilt.
In a general restoration designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott which took place between 1879 and 1888, the pews were replaced, the three-decker pulpit was dismantled, the gallery and the ceiling were removed and the north aisle was again rebuilt.
Further changes took place during the 20th and the first few years of the 21st centuries and no doubt will continue to take place.
Churchyard[edit]
The Lychgate was built in 1715 and re-sited to its present position in 1728.
St Peter's Churchyard
The outstanding feature of the churchyard is the Norman Chapel.[8] Dating from 1175-1190, it began to fall into disrepair a few years after the present church came into use. In 1747 it was rebuilt by Sir William Meredith of Henbury so that his son Amos and other members of his family could be buried there. Restored in 1953, it is now used for a variety of church purposes.
Fragments of a cross of late Saxon origin were discovered in about 1880 built into the wall of the church. At one time they were thought to date from the late seventh or early eighth centuries, but are now believed to be 10th or 11th century. Pieces of the cross have been put together and now stand in the churchyard near the Norman Chapel. It has been registered as a scheduled monument.[9]
Yew trees in the churchyard date from the time of the Hundred Years' War.
The sundial (needed to correct the church clock) dates from 1672. It was improved in 1771 but the gnomon is missing.
The forerunner of the Hearse House was built in 1728. The present Hearse House dates from 1852. It is used to store garden tools.
The churchyard contains the war graves of twelve Commonwealth service personnel, seven from World War I and five from World War II.[10]
Church building[edit]
Ground plan
The nave is twenty-two feet wide. The north aisle and the south aisle are twenty-one and ten feet wide respectively. The chancel is nineteen feet wide. The south porch is fifteen feet square. The tower is twenty-three feet square with walls four feet thick. It is seventy-two feet high.
The main body of the church (the nave and chancel) was built during 1220-1230 in the Early English style. The south Aisle and the first north aisle were added in 1310.
The tower and south porch were built around 1480 and are the only parts of the building to survive in essentially their original form.
The clerestory with four windows each side and the bell-cot are early sixteenth century.
In 1612 three of the four fourteenth century windows in the south aisle were replaced by square windows.
The 1741-2 north aisle had five round-headed windows which contrasted with the windows of the south aisle. Two of the round-headed windows survived the general restoration of 1879-1888.
The vestry to the north of the chancel was added during the general restoration of 1879-1888.
South Porch and South Aisle
Interior[edit]
The main west door leads through the West Porch, the Parish's memorial to the dead of the two World Wars.
Above the porch is the ringers’ gallery (1637). It was formerly an organ loft. The bells date from 1820. They were recast in 1968.
Nave[edit]
Warden’s pews at the west end of the nave survived the general restoration.
The roof (1675) [11] replaced an earlier one. The timbering is rough as it was not designed to be exposed.
The nave chandelier is dated 1814. Electric lighting replaced acetylene gas in 1936. Ancient candle brackets remain on the pillars and the south wall.
Paintings above the pillars represent the twelve apostles and the twelve tribes of Israel. They were executed in 1719 by the travelling painter who had decorated the eighteenth-century ceiling which was removed as part of the general restoration.
The pulpit is Jacobean (1607). It was found in 1858 encased in the three-decker pulpit which had been made in 1710. It had replaced the 1560 pulpit.
A fragment of heraldic glass from an early window in the Legh chapel (1601) is now kept in an illuminated cabinet at the west end of the nave,[12] near a memorial book remembering those who lost their lives in the two World Wars.
In 2001 a three-manual Allen Renaissance Digital Organ was installed to replace the pipe organ. At the same time a dais was installed with space for a nave communion table.
Chancel[edit]
Incised slab commemorating Reginald Legh
The chancel is entered through a screen which had been erected in 1740 for the Legh Chapel. It has borne the Hanoverian Arms since 1787.
A memorial slab built into the north wall of the sanctuary is the oldest memorial in the church (1482). It commemorates Reginald Legh who helped to build the tower and south porch. This and other slabs were built into the walls when the church was cleared of altar-tombs.
The two-tier chandelier in the chancel is dated 1712.
The east window (1915) represents the river and tree of life as described in Revelations, 22: 1-2. It replaced an earlier window which was had been inserted sixty years previously.
A thirteenth century three-light window in the north side of the chancel is filled with simulated organ pipes.
The main window in the south of the chancel has a representation of Christ’s call of St Peter. It was inserted in 1981. Most of the other glass in the church dates from 1882-1896.
North aisle[edit]
The 13th century font at the west end of the aisle was refaced and recut in 1857. The sculptured heads may represent monks or lay brothers from the Abbey of St Werburgh.
At the east end of the north aisle is the Legh Chantry Chapel,[13] separated from the rest of the aisle by a heavy oak screen.
South aisle[edit]
At the east end of the south aisle, the Tytherington Chantry Chapel, dedicated to St Nicholas, was created in 1350. A 14th century piscina with a carved head typical of the period projects from the wall.
A small figure of St Nicholas at the top of the east window of the south aisle is 14th Century, the oldest piece of glass in the church.[14]
On the occasions when the A12 is blocked north of Blyburgh, or just wanting a change, there is a main road running from Blyburgh to Beccles, and from there I can take the back roads to Haddiscoe and St Olaves to home.
It is some years since I last traveled this way, passing by the contract buses taking people to work at Bernard Matthews near Halesworth. Although I never worked for Bernie, I did 5 years in a chicken factory at Flixton, so I have been there on the bus taking me to a slaughterhouse.
The road winds its way westward, and at Brampton, skirts round the edge of St Peter as it climbs towards the village. I knew it was there, but until Jools had gone this way a few weeks ago and said there some interesting churches along here, I thought I would go this way too.
I parked just off the main road on the hairpin bend, dashed over the road. It was now dusk, or felt like it. Light was fading fast, and you could not alway rely on churches having lights, or the switches for light easy to find.
If truth be know, St Peter was very plain and in poor condition really, but good to see inside and good to find it unlocked.
I did like the ceiling mind, like the black ribs of the wooden struts.
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Way back in the 1990s, I came across St Peter almost by accident, rearing its head up on its mound at a fairly vicious bend in the Beccles to Blythburgh road. Thereafter, I often passed its stately landmark tower, but it wasn't until the late summer of 2008 that I finally came back here. It was open, as I fully expected - they pretty much all are around here. Back in 1998, it had been more of a surprise to me, not then knowing the variations in welcome and suspicion across the county.
On an earlier entry for this church I observed that, despite difficulties of access, this church, God bless it, was open. In all honesty there is not a great deal to see here, beyond admiring the exterior. This, I suppose, makes its being open all the more admirable, since it actually gives access for prayer rather than for tourists. All of which remains true today, although, as I also observed at the time, everything is pleasant enough; neat and trim, and well cared-for. One thing that is of more than mild interest is the piscina in the sanctuary, set low-down in the wall after the Victorian restoration raised the floor level. It has a credence shelf at the back, and another little alcove that Mortlock thought might be for towels. The George III coat of arms includes familiar words, but credits them as a text from the book of Samuel intended to support royal leadership of the church, which is unusual and interesting.
This is an interesting church for the student of Victorian stained glass, since it not only contains good glass by William Warrington, it is also the only church in Suffolk to contain work by his son James. But mostly, here is an ancient building being used in a lively manner by its local people, and I liked it for that.
I am afraid that my return visit was in something of a hurry. Brampton parish has its own railway station on the Ipswich to Lowestoft line, and at the end of a long day I was heading home, wanting to catch the next train which left in barely twenty minutes. Trains only go every two hours, so I did not want to miss it. But the station is a good two miles from this church, so it was with regret that I was only briefly able to enjoy the pleasing mid-Victorian ambience of the the interior, a well-kept and obviously much-loved rustic atmosphere that hasn't changed much in almost 150 years. I must go back soon.
Simon Knott, November 2008
St Peter's Church, Castle Park, Bristol
The foundation of the church can be traced back to 1106 when it was endowed on Tewkesbury Abbey, with a 12th-century lower tower, the rest of the church being built in the 15th century. Excavations in 1975 suggest that this was the site of Bristol's first church; the 12th-century city wall runs under the west end of the present church. It was bombed during the Bristol Blitz of 24–25 November 1940 and ruined. It is maintained as a monument to the civilian war dead of Bristol.
It has been designated by English Heritage as a grade II* listed building.
The church ran St Peter's Hospital, a workhouse located between the church and Floating Harbour which was destroyed by bombing during the Bristol Blitz.
Taken with a Nikon D90
St. Peter and St. Paul, Teigngrace Grade 2*
Recently included in Todd Gray’s “Devon’s Fifty Best Churches”, St. Peter and St. Paul, Teigngrace is of some significance as a Georgian church designed in a style of Strawberry Hill Gothic. The external structure that you see now is very much as it would have appeared to the Templer family at the dedication service in March 1788. Originally the church was surrounded by fields, with a pathway to the Schoolroom that was built in 1873. Over the years the village has grown and the church is now surrounded by houses. However, it still has a feel of seclusion about it, sheltered by the drive from the road and the yew in front
Originally the church was part of Stover estate, serving the village, workers on the estate and, in time, workers on the canal built by James Templer.
The earliest definite record of a church at Teigngrace dates back to 1350, but by the late 18th century it was in a poor state of repair.
The estate was purchased in 1765 by James Templer, who subsequently built Stover Lodge. He died in 1782, his wife Mary in 1784, and their three sons, James, George & John rebuilt the parish church in 1787 dedicating it in memory of their parents. The Rev. John Templer was the first Rector of the new church. The first service in the new church was held on Sunday 30th March 1788. The 220th anniversary of this dedication was held in 2008.
Teigngrace Interior
The Templer family is commemorated by a number of wonderful memorials.
Pevsner (1952) notes that the monuments are “both interesting and varied. They have eloquent inscriptions, but are not of excessive size. The earliest are two wall-mounted monuments flanking the chancel arch, to James Templer †1782 and his wife, Mary †1784, the first with a mourning figure at an urn, in a roundel, the second with a similar theme in a lunette at the top.—Charles Templer †1786 has a delicate shipwreck relief; Captain William Templer †1805 and his brother, both also drowned at sea, have only the signed tablet, a fat weeping angel by an urn above a Gothic fan coving, by Coade and Sealy.—The Nelson memorial, of 1805, is also of Coade stone. It has the unusual form of a figure of Fame above a globe, inscribed “slain in battle”.—James Templer †1813 has another Coade monument: a female figure reclining on an urn, a standard type.—other simpler tablets include two naval associates, Cornwallis, Viscount Hawarden † 1803 and Captain Richard Dalling Dunn †1813 , both with chaste urns, and one to the Rev. John Templer † 1832 (the first of the two Templer rectors) with draped urn on sarcophagus.”
The picture of interest in the church is the large Pieta used as an Altar piece. This seems to have been in position since the church was rebuilt. Previously it has been attributed to James Barry, the Irish artist, and some sources have said it is a copy of Van Dyck’s Pieta found in the Antwerp museum. The first attribution dates to the publication of Lyson’s Magnus Brittanica in 1822, only 35 years after the rebuilding. The states that the painting is “ a painting of Our lady of Pity, by Barry”. No mention is made of it being a copy, and indeed, if you look at Van Dyck’s work it is completely different.
The organ was installed in the tower with the rebuilding of the church and is one of only two in the country in it’s very nearly original condition. It is attributed by the West Country Organ database to James Davis, with additions by George Hawkins in 1885. Its unique feature is its original “nag’s head shutter”.
My good friend and EA church expert and all round good bloke, Simon K, www.flickr.com/photos/norfolkodyssey/, provided me a list of fine churches to visit in the Dedham Vale which I should visit if the planned trip to Suffolk ever came off.
I left Dover early on the Thursday morning, and mixed it with the rush hour traffic at Dartford before turning up the A12 and away from the craziness. And into the driving craziness that is Essex. But that's another story.
I turned off just after crossing the border into Suffolk at Stratford St Mary, and then got lost. I was trying to get to Stoke by Nayland, but I found no signs for it, and had to pull the sat nav out to find my way.
In preparing the list, I noted the name of Boxted, as it was nearly the same name as my first employer, Buxted, so when I saw a sign for Boxted, I followed it.
I thought I was in Suffolk still, but somewhere along the line I must have crossed back into Essex, as there are villages in both counties, very near each other, called Boxted.
Boxted village has two netres, the new part down in the valley, and the old part around the church up the hill. The church took some finding, but along and up Church Hill (always a giveaway), there it was.
I couple were preparing to do some pruning of the brambles growing out of the wall near the gate, and they gave me a disdainful look, but were pleasant enough when I left as I remarked what a wonderful church it is.
In fact, this might be one of my favourite churches I have visited, maybe even the favourite. I was surprised that Simon says so little about it, I found it a delight. The gallery so steeply raked the church felt like a theatre, and I am sure services here are special.
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There are two settlements in the parish, a large village a mile away down in the valley, and this smaller, older hamlet around the church.
While I was photographing the exterior, a rather brusque, rude woman asked me to move my bike so she could reverse up to the church because she was 'doing the flowers'. She then parked directly in front of the porch. She must have known her car would spoil my photographs. She got out and took - I kid you not - a single leafy branch from the back of her car and went into the church. I took as long as I could before joining her, by which time she was just leaving, thankfully. She had the grace to say goodbye.
This is a nice interior, full of light, curious pointed arcades punched through thick Norman walls, and a large west gallery raked so steeply that one has the impression of being in a cinema or theatre. An 18th Century memorial has an angel and a skeleton arm-wrestling over a corpse. I liked this one a lot, despite the rude woman.
Simon Knott, October 2012
www.essexchurches.org.uk/boxted.htm
In the early years of the 11th century a Saxon lord named Edwin built a church at Boxted, on the southern slopes of the Dedham Vale. The site chosen by Edwin for his church is rumoured to have been occupied by the ruins of a Roman villa destroyed by Queen Boudicca in her rebellion against the Romans in 61AD. Certainly the Saxon church was built using Roman bricks, mixed with local rubble.
Early historical studies of Boxted church suggest that Edwin's church used septaria stones, of the sort used to build the town walls of Colchester a few miles to the south.
In the late 11th century Edwin's church was replaced with a grand new building in stone. The builders were Robert de Horkesley and his wife Beatrice. The building was begun sometime around 1090 and completed by 1130. The church was dedicated to St Mary, and that dedication held true until sometime around the Reformation - perhaps when nearby Little Horkesley Priory was dissolved, at which point the church was rededicated to St Peter. The first priest was a monk from Little Horkesley Priory named Roberto. The material was a mix of puddingstone, rubble, and Roman brick, but the upper part of the tower was rebuilt in the 16th century with brick, and brick buttresses added. At the same time a timber porch was added.
he church was always kept in good repair; following the Reformation the locals complained that the chancel was in such poor condition that the vicar refused to hold services there. The church was heavily repaired in 1870 by AW Blomfield, one of the most active Victorian church architects. During a subsequent restoration in 1930 medieval wall paintings were uncovered, then just as quickly painted over again.
Historical Highlights
Interior features include a series of 17th century floor slabs to members of the Maidstone family, and to two servants of the Earl of Oxford. A painted and gilded royal coat of arms to George III are hung on the north wall of the nave. There is a 17th centuiry oak chest and several 12th century windows set high above the north arcade. The simple chancel arch is also 12th century. The nave roof is an intriguing crown-post design. On the wall is an attractive early 17th century memorial to Nathaniel Bacon.
Summming up Boxted church
I'd call St Peters an attractive church, not blessed with an enormous number of historic features, but a church with an ancient and interesting history nonetheless. Rather than making a special trip to see it I'd suggest seeing St Peters as part of a longer outing visiting several of the fascinating historic churches in Dedham Vale, like those at Little Horkesley, Wormingford, and Langham. To the best of my knowledge the church is normally open daylight hours.
A short drive from Wootton is Swingfield, which lies near the Folkestone to Canterbury road, the A260. In fact beside that road is St John's, a preceptory, that I will endeavour to see inside of during the summer months.
In fact, I thought St John was the sole ecclesiastical building in the parish, but in fact there is a grand church in the centre of the village, opposite what used to the village pub.
The church has a grand tower with an even grander staircase turret running up one side, and in the porch I could see the 'church open' board, all packed away, It did not look good.
But it was open, but the first thing that struck me was the fine porch, apparently 14thC.
The church is a large two cell construction, with simple box pews in the nave, with wooden pews in the chancel.
It's walls are plain with few memorials, considering its history with the Knights of St John.
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This church is built in flint and rubble construction and the west tower has a remarkably wide stair turret. As one enters through the south porch one can see the remains of two mass dials made redundant by the construction of the porch itself. By the pulpit is a most unusual feature - the south-east window of the nave has had its sill cut away to provide space for a wooden ladder to give access to the rood loft. This window now contains a lovely stained glass representation of the Crucifixion with a charming little sun and moon at the top. At Swingfield the nineteenth-century north aisle detracts from the thirteenth-century nave; its scale, materials and lumpy effect do nothing to complement this charming church. It is currently (2005) under threat of conversion to a house.
www.kentchurches.info/church.asp?p=Swingfield
SWINGFIELD is within the ECCLESIASTICAL JURISDICTION of the diocese of Canterbury, and deanry of Dover.
¶The church, which is dedicated to St. Peter, consists of one isle and one chancel, having a square tower, with a beacon turret at the west end, in which is one bell. In the chancel are several memorials for the Pilchers, tenants of St. John's. In the isle are memorials for the Simmons's, of Smersall; arms, parted per fess and pale, three trefoils slipt. One of them, John Simmons, gent. obt. 1677, was great-grandfather of James Simmons, esq. alderman of Canterbury; memorials for the Pilchers; against the north wall is a monument for Mary, widow of Richard Pilcher, gent. of Barham, obt. 1775; arms, Pilcher, argent, on a fess dancette, gules, a fleur de lis, between three torteauxes. In the south-west window is this legend, Ora p aiabs Willi Smersolle & Margarete uxon is sue & paia Saundir Goldfiynch; above were formerly these arms, A cross impaling on a bend, cotized, a mullet between six martlets. Weever says, p. 274, there was an antient faire monument, whereon the portraiture of an armed knight, crosse legged, was to be seen, and only His jacet remaining of the inscription, and that there was this legend in a window: Orate p aia Willi Tonge & Johannis filii ejus qui banc fenestram fieri fecerunt; he died in 1478, and was buried here. And there was formerly in the windows, a figure of a knight of St. John's, habited in his furcoat of arms, a plain cross, and having his sword and spurs, and kneeling on a cushion, in a praying posture, and in one of the windows were these arms, Quarterly, first and fourth, Azure, a square castle, sable; second and third, Or, on a chevron, vert, three bawks heads erased, argent; on a chief, gules, a cross, argent; but there is nothing of these remaining now.
The rectory of this church was early appropriated to the hospital of St. John, which continued in the possessions of all the profits of it, till the dissolution of the hospital in the 32d year of king Henry VIII. After which it was granted, with the preceptory here, to Sir Anthony Aucher, who sold it to Sir Henry Palmer, in whose descendants it continued down to Sir Thomas Palmer, bart. after whose death in 1725 it passed, in manner as before-mentioned, to the Rev. Dr. Thomas Hey, of Wickham, who sold it, with St. John's, and the rectory as before-mentioned, to Mr. Brydges, of Denton, the present owner of it.
This church is now a perpetual curacy, of the yearly certified value of twenty pounds, which stipend is paid by the owner of the rectory, who has the nomination of the curate. In 1640 here were communicants one hundred and twenty-seven.
St Peter and St Paul Church Fareham. Small churchyard I walked through this morning when out for my morning exercise.
St Peter and St Paul Church Fareham. Small churchyard I walked through this morning when out for my morning exercise.
St Peter's, South Newington, the earliest part of which is the late Norman north arcade, whilst much of the present building is the result of alterations carried out c1300s, with later 15th century clerestorey and south porch.
The real treasures here that make this church so noteworthy are the mid fourteenth century wall paintings in the north aisle, some of the best extant examples in England.
Just along from East Malling is Ditton, now just a part of the urban sprawl that is East and West Malling.
Pronounced Mauling, apparently.
Last January when we were here, people where here, but there was a "church closed" sign and clearly visitors were not welcome.
Come September, and the welcome could not have been warmer.
Four wardens / volunteers were cleaning the church, and they were only too happy to show me round, and the memorial to a member of the Golding family, after which the variety of hops is named, hence the hop motif in much of the carvings around the church.
I had seen the sign pointing to Ditton as I turned up to East Malling, so it seemed natural to go there next.
From the main road the sat nav took me through a housing estate, until I came to the familiar green with the school and parish offices opposite the church.
Would it be open?
It would, although that was not confirmed until I walked along the north side of the church to the west door, which was open and inside, a welcoming warm light.
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In a picturesque position to the west of a large green, this is a tiny two-cell church of twelfth-century date with a fourteenth-century tower. There is much use of tufa in the quoins and some very clear herringbone masonry on the south side. The church was restored in 1859 by Sir George Gilbert Scott which has given the building a distinctive 'cleaned out' feeling inside. The north nave window has fragments of fourteenth-century glass, including two very stilted angels swinging censers. The nave has a good selection of hanging wall monuments and a very elegant benefactions board. An unusual sight is the lead plaque on the nave wall that was removed from the tower roof in 1859. It has a picture of a ship of Nelson's time scratched on it - a very crude representation at that - and is probably not by a seaman returned home as local legend asserts. The good east window of 1910 is by C.E. Kempe and Co. Ltd.
www.kentchurches.info/church.asp?p=Ditton
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Ditton
WESTWARD from Allington lies the parish of Ditton, called in antient records, Dictune. It takes its name from the Saxon words dic and tune, which signify the village situated on the dike, or trench of water.
THE SITUATION and soil of this parish is much the same as that of Allington, last described. The high road from London, through Wrotham, to Maidstone, crosses the middle of it, at the thirty-first mile stone; the village stands on it, and the church about a quarter of a mile further southward, on an ascent, beyond which, the parish reaches into the large tract of coppice woods, which extends as far as Teston and Barming. The stream, from Bradborne park runs through this parish and village, across the above road, and having turned two mills, one above and the other below it, runs on to the river Medway, which is the northern boundary of this parish, near the north-west extremity of which, on the road leading from Larkfield to Newhith, and not far distant from that hamlet and the river, is Borough court. This parish is rather an obscure place, and has nothing further worthy of notice in it.
This parish, among others, was antiently bound to contribute to the repair of the fifth pier of Rochester bridge.
IN THE WOODS, at the southern part of this parish, are many trees of the mountain ash, with berries, called in Gerarde, Sorbus silvestris, five fraxinus bubula, the quicken tree, wild ash, or service tree; (fn. 1) and by Miller, Sorbus aucuparea, the wild service, or quicken tree.
THIS PLACE, at the time of the taking of the survey of Domesday, in the reign of the Conqueror, was part of the possessions of Odo, bishop of Baieux and earl of Kent, the king's half brother, under the general title of whose lands it is thus described in it.
Haimo the sheriff holds of the bishop (of Baieux) Dictune. It was taxed at one suling. The arable land is four carucates. In demesne there are two, and 20 villeins, with five borderers, having three carucates. There is a church and 6 servants, and one mill of 10 shillings, and eight acres of meadow, and 35 acres of pasture. Wood for the pannage of six hogs. In the time of king Edward the Confessor it was worth 8 pounds, when he received it 100 shillings, now 8 pounds. Sbern held it of king Edward.
There was at the above time in this parish likewise another estate, called SIFLETONE, part of the possessions also of the bishop of Baieux, which is thus entered in the same book, immediately after that above described.
Vitalis holds of the bishop (of Baieux) Sifletone. It was taxed at three yokes. The arable land is one carucate. In demesne there is one caracate and an half, and six villeins, with one borderer, having half a carucate. There are six servants, and one mill of 10s. There are ten acres of meadow, and thirty acres of pasture. In the time of the Confessor it was worth 40 shillings, when he received it four pounds, now 100 shillings. In the time of king Edward the Confessor, two men, Leuuin and Uluuin, held this land in coparcenary, and could turn themselves over with this land to whomever they would.
The estate first described appears to have been what has since been known by the name of the MANOR of DITTON, with the appendant MANOR of BRAMPTON.
On the disgrace of the bishop of Baieux, Ditton became confiscated to the crown; after which it appears to have been held of the Clares, earls of Gloucester, by a family who assumed their surname from it.
In the reign of king Edward I. William de Ditton held the manor of Ditton of the earl of Gloucester, at which time the manor of Brampton, once part of it, was held by William de Brampton of the above Wm. de Ditton, and by him of the earl of Gloucester. (fn. 2) In the beginning of the next reign of king Edward II. Ralph de Ditton and Joan de Lewkenore were owners of these manors; after which they both passed into the name of Aldon, and Thomas de Aldon, in the 20th of king Edward III. paid aid for both of them, held in manner as above mentioned.
THE MANOR OF SIFLETONE came to the crown likewise on the disgrace of the bishop of Baieux, and was afterwards held by a family who took their name from it. In the reign of king Henry III. and beginning of that of king Edward I. William de Sifleston held it of Wm. Ditton above mentioned, as he again did of the earl of Gloucester; from which name it passed into that of Burghersh, and Robert de Burghersh, constable of Dover-castle, warden of the five ports, and a baron of this realm, died possessed of this manor, in the 34th year of king Edward I. anno 1305, (fn. 3) whose son and heir, Stephen, in the 1st year of Edward II. obtained a charter of free warren for all his demesne lands within it. He was succeeded, in the 3d year of king Edward II. by Bartholomew lord Burghersh, from whom this manor seems to have passed to Tho. de Aldon, who, in the 20th year of king Edward III. was likewise possessed of the manor of Ditton, with that of Brampton, as has been already mentioned. He died in the 35th year of that reign, anno 1360, and these manors came into the family of Paveley, from which they passed to that of Windlesor, or Windsor, in the 1st year of king Richard II. in which name they continued till the 15th year of that reign, when they were conveyed by sale to Sir Lewis Clifford, K.B. descended from the Cliffords, of Clifford castle, in Herefordshire, whose son, Wm. Clifford, of Bobbing, esq. in Kent, sold them in Henry V.'s reign to Sir Wm. Colepeper, whose son, Sir Rich. Colepeper, (fn. 4) of Oxenhoath, sheriff in the 11th year of king Edward IV. died possessed of these manors in the 2d year of king Richard III. and leaving no issue male, his three daughters, Margaret, married to William Cotton, of Oxenhoath; Joyce to Edmund lord Howard; and Elizabeth to Henry Barham, esq. became his coheirs. They, in the next reign of king Henry VII. joined in the sale of these manors to Thomas Leigh, of Sibton, in Liminge, who left a son and heir, John Leigh, alias a Legh, esq. of Addington, in Surry; (fn. 5) and he, in the 35th year of king Henry VIII. exchanged these manors with the king for other lands elsewhere, (fn. 6) who next year granted, among other premises, his lordships or manors of Dytton, Syfflyngton, and Brampton, with all their appurtenances, in Dytton, Syfflyngton, Est Malling, Maidstone, and Brampton, to Sir Thomas Wriothesley, lord Wriothesley, or Wriseley, as the name was usually pronounced, to hold for his life, without any rent or account whatsoever; and the year afterwards he granted to him the fee of these manors and their appurtenances, to hold in capite by knights service, and the next year he had a grant of the tenths reserved by it.
This nobleman was descended from John Wryothesley, commonly called Wrythe, garter king at arms in the reigns of king Edward IV. and king Henry VII. who left issue two sons, Thomas, likewise garter on his father's death; and William, York herald, whose son was Thomas, lord Wriothesley, above mentioned. He had been, in the 35th year of that reign, created a baron, by the title of lord Wriothesley, of Titchfield, in the county of Southampton, and next year made lord chancellor, in the room of lord Audley, deceased, and a privy counsellor, and shortly afterwards knight of the Garter; (fn. 7) and anno 1 Edward VI. being three days before the coronation, he was created earl of Southamp ton, bearing for his arms, Azure, a plain cross or, between four falcons closed, argent. Soon after which, that same year, he alienated these manors, with their appurtenances, to Sir Robert Southwell, of Mereworth, who in the 1st and 2d year of king Philip and queen Mary, conveyed them to Sir Tho. Pope, in which name they remained till the next reign of queen Elizabeth, when they were alienated to Wiseman; and in the 24th year of it, these manors were the joint property of William, George, and Philip, and John Wiseman, brothers, as I conjecture, which Philip, having purchased the shares of the others, appears the next year, to have been in the possession of the whole see of them. (fn. 8)
From the name of Wiseman these manors were conveyed, in the reign of king James I. to Sir Oliver Boteler, of Teston, knight, in this county, who died possessed of them in 1632. His eldest son, Sir John Boteler, of Teston, died without issue, upon which his next brother, Sir William Boteler, became his heir, and was created a baronet in 1640. His great grand son, Sir Philip Boteler, bart. of Teston, died in 1772, without surviving issue, (fn. 9) and by will gave one moiety of his estates to Mrs. Elizabeth Bouverie, of Chart Sutton, and the other moiety to Elizabeth, viscountess dowager of Folkestone, and William Bouverie, earl of Radnor, since deceased; and on a partition of these estates, the manor of Ditton, with Brampton and Sysleston, or Sifflington, as it is now called, and the appurtenances belonging to them, was allotted to the Rt. Hon. lady dowager Folkestone, who died in 1782, and was succeeded by her only son, the Hon. Philip Bouverie, the present possessor of them, who has since taken the name of Pusey, and is the present owner of this estate.
BOROUGH COURT, the proper name of which is Brooke-court, is a manor which lies at the northern extremity of this parish, at no great distance from New hith, and the river Medway. It was part of the possions of the eminent family of Colepeper, so early as the reign of Edward III. in the first year of which, Walter Colepeper, esq. was found to die possessed of it; in whose descendants it afterwards continued down to Richard Colepeper, esq. afterwards knighted, who was of Oxenhoath, in this county; and died possessed of this manor in the 2d year of king Richard III. anno 1484, leaving his three daughters his coheirs; Margaret, married to William Cotton, of Oxenhoath; Joice to Edmund lord Howard; and Elizabeth to Henry Barham, of Teston.
After which it was alienated to Francis Shakerly, of Lancashire, the second son of Peter Shakerly, of Shakerly, in that county, who bore for his arms, Argent, a chevron, vert between three tufts, or mounts of grass of the second; who upon this removed into Kent, and resided at Brooke-court. He had six sons, of whom Richard, the eldest, was his heir; Thomas, the second son, was of Wrotham; the third son was of Otham; and by Elizabeth, daughter of Edward Darel, of Scotney, left a son Francis, who was elected fellow of All Souls college, in 1620.
Rich. Shakerley, esq. the eldest son, was of Brookecourt, and had issue a son John, born about the year 1600; and a daughter Mary, who was married to Mr. Peter Bewley, descended from those of Bewley court, in Woldham; and she, on her brother's death, without issue, entitled her husband to this manor. They had two daughters, Elizabeth, who died unmarried, in 1638; and Mary, who became her father's heir, and carried this manor in marriage to Mr. Basse, of Suffolk, who, in the beginning of the reign of king Charles II. alienated it to Sir Thomas Twisden, one of the judges of the court of King's bench.
He was second son of Sir William Twysden, bart. of East Peckham, by Anne his second wife, daughter of the first countess of Winchelsea, and was created a baronet in 1666. He afterwards seated himself at Bradborne, in the adjoining parish of East Malling; and in his descendants it has continued down to Sir John Papillon Twisden, bart. of Bradborne, the present owner of it.
There is a court baron held for this manor.
DITTON-PLACE is a mansion in this parish, which was, in the beginning of king James I.'s reign, the residence of the family of Brewer, many of whom lie buried in this church, and it continued with them till the beginning of this century, when, by mortgage or purchase, it came into the possession of Thomas Golding, esq. of Leyborne, sheriff in 1703, who gave it by will to his nephew, Mr. Thomas Golding, of Ryarsh, who sold it to John Brewer, esq. counsellor at law, whose neice, Mrs. Carney, of West Farleigh, about 1735, reconveyed it back again to Mr. Tho. Golding, whose son, Mr. John Golding, is now in the possession of it.
CHARITIES.
THOMAS GOLDING, gent. by will in 1704, gave a rent charge of 10s. to be paid yearly out of a house vested in admiral Forbes, in St. Leonard's-street, in Town Malling, to be distributed to the poor on Easter and Christmas days, and now of that annual product.
THE REV. THOMAS TILSON, by will in 1750, gave 100l. in money; the yearly produce to be distributed annually on the feasts of All Saints and the Purification, in wood and wheat to the poor, vested in Sir John Twisden, and of the annual produce of 3l.
DITTON is within the ECCLESIASTICAL JURISDICTION of the diocese of Rochester, and deanry of Malling.
The church, which is dedicated to St. Peter, is a small building, with a square tower at the west end.
The church of Ditton was given, in the reign of king Henry II. by William, whose surname is not mentioned, though it appears that he was lord of this parish, in free and perpetual alms, to the canons of the priory of Ledes, which was confirmed by Hamo his son, likewise lord of Ditton, and by Gualeran, at that time bishop of Rochester.
¶Gilbert de Glanvill, the successor of bishop Gualeran, further granted to the prior and canons, the par sonage of this church, in perpetual alms, and assigned to them, in the name of the parsonage, one bezant. In Latin bezantus. This was a piece of money coined by the western emperors at Constantinople, or Byzantium; of this there were two sorts, gold and silver, both which passed in England; the latter was worth two shillings, of which kind was that above-mentioned. It was to be received yearly from this church for ever, by the hand of the vicar of it, to be presented by them, and instituted by the bishop. Bishop Richard de Wendover, in the reign of king Henry III. confirmed the same, and granted that the religious should possess the parsonage and two shillings per annum, as a pension to be paid by the vicar, who being by them presented to the bishop, should possess the residue of this church, in the name of the vicarage of it. (fn. 10) By which it appears that this church was a vicarage endowed with the parsonage of it, held of the religious, by the yearly pension of two shillings, how it came since to be esteemed a rectory I know not.
It is valued in the king's books at 11l. 15s. and the yearly tenths at 1l. 3s. 6d.
The patronage of this rectory, (for such it seems to have been accounted at the dissolution of the priory of Leeds, in the reign of king Henry VIII.) was, together with the pension of two shillings, and the rest of the possessions of that house surrendered into the king's hands, and became part of the possessions of the crown.
In the reign of king James I. Richard Shakerley, esq. was patron of this church. The present patron is the right hon. Heneage, earl of Aylesford, in whose family it has been some time.
The pension of two shillings yearly, payable to the priory of Leeds, as above-mentioned, was settled by king Henry VIII. in his 33d year, by his dotation charter, on his new-sounded dean and chapter of Rochester, who now enjoy it.
n the 1970s, when I used to stay at my Grandparent's house when my Mum and Dad went disco dancing, or whatever they called it before disco dancing was a thing, there was a TV series they used to watch called "How Green was my Valley". I remember little of it, except Granddad saying the valley was go green because of all the rain.
So, on Sunday, the rain was due to fall in the valleys, the hills and all else between.
What to do when we had come away without coasts and umbrella?
Churchcrawling.
And thanks to the Church Conservation Trust, you ban fairly reply on those under their care to be open. I made a list of their churches in Shropshire, and after breakfast we set off for the first one, passing through the village of Knockin.
I kid ye not.
Where the village shop is called, of course, The Knockin Shop.
I also kid ye not.
Rain fell, roads were nearly flooded, so we splish-splashed our way across the county, down valley and up hills until we came to the entrance of an estate.
Here be a church.
Not sure if we could drive to it, I got out and walked, getting damp as the rain fell through the trees.
But the church was there, and open, if poorly lit inside. And I was able to get shots before walking up the hill to the car.
Two more churches tried, but they were locked and no keyholder about. So onto Wroxter, where a large and imposing church towered over the road. And to get there we passed through a former Roman settlement from which the modern town too its name. Most impressive was a reconstruction of a villa.
But we did not stop.
The church was open, light and airy even on a gloomy and wet day. I got loads of shots, especially of the fine tombs.
The final church was one not under the CCC, but one I had seen shots of online earlier in the week.
It took half an hour to drive to Diddlebury.
I kid ye not. Again.
And up the hill was the church, with a huge squat Saxon, or early Norman tower, and insode both the north and west walls were Saxon, with the north wall being made of dressed stone laid in a herringbone style.
It is an incredible survivor, and glad that I made the effort to come, as the church is amazing.
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St. Peter’s church, known by this dedication since at least 1322, is one of four churches in Shropshire with substantial Anglo-Saxon remains. The original building consisted of a nave with a west tower which was subsequently rebuilt in Norman times. The north wall, with its characteristic small double-splayed window and blocked door is the most visible surviving feature and dates from the eleventh century. The combination of dressed square ashlar masonry on the outside with herringbone work on the interior is most unusual, and has been the subject of much academic controversy.
Other Anglo-Saxon work includes some herringbone work in the North West corner, and fragments of sculpture, one of which predates the building by a century.
The chancel was added in the twelfth century, and some of the original windows survive. The tower was rebuilt in Norman times, and the later buttresses show that the structure had been unstable from an early date. The large blocked western arch is unusual, and its original purpose is unclear. The tower also features animal heads on the west face, and two sheila-na-gigs (obscene female figures) on the south side.
The south aisle originally dated from the fourteenth century, but was rebuilt in 1860. Inside the church, few furnishings survived Nicholson’s restoration in 1883, but the Royal Arms of William III on the west wall, painted in 1700, are worthy of note, as are the Jacobean corbels retained when the old ceiling was replaced in 1860.
Monuments in the church are mostly small mural tablets commemorating local gentry families of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Note the two
fourteenth century tomb recesses in the chancel, one of which contains a later heraldic brass to Charles Baldwyn (1674), and also the small brass high on the north wall of the Vestry (formerly the Baldwyn family aisle of 1609). This commemorates Thomas Baldwyn (1614), who had earlier been imprisoned in the Tower of London for involvement with Mary Queen of Scots. There is good Victorian glass in the chancel.
www.diddleburychurch.com/history.html
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DIDDLEBURY
SO58NW Church of St Peter
1943-1/2/35
12/11/54
GV II*
Parish church. Saxon, restored C19. Dressed and rubble
sandstone; plain tile roofs. Nave, chancel, west tower, south
aisle and north transept.
EXTERIOR: long and short quoins to base of chancel; Decorated
east window; mid C19 south wall and porch; restored tower with
Norman superstructure over infilled Saxon arch; weather-vane.
Tall narrow north doorway, blocked C19, with semi-circular
arch on chamfered impost blocks.
INTERIOR: good herringbone masonry to north wall; fragments of
interlacing sculpture and piscina; 2 canopies with ballflower
ornament; font; tablets: Cornwall, d.1756; Powell, d.1769;
Fleming, d.1650; Bawdewyn, d.1674; Fleming, d.1761; some early
wood figure-head corbels to roof; funeral hatchments.
Listing NGR: SO5084385372
britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/101269882-church-of-st-peter...
St Peter Hungate sits at the southern end of the historic Elmhill which curves away forth, and the churchyard looks over it.
As before, I had noticed St Peter many times, and when visiting the city for the beer festival, I would hope to find it open. I don't think I tried hard enough, but it was made for a day like this.
I had walked past it twice already that day, but was not going to be open before time, a sandwich board was outside tempting the passerby in.
It is a redundant church, and has been thus since the first world war. Simon Knott tells it used to be a unique museum, which has sadly now closed, but now is open three days a week as a museum to the Norwich stained glass industry.
A young lady sat on watch as visitors milled around, admonishing anyone who said they remembered this being a church or even worshiping here, they would have to have been over 100 years old that to make that claim.
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At the time of the 16th Century protestant Reformation, Norwich had 36 parish churches, and many of these buildings survive today. A handful are still in use for the congregational worship of the Church of England, for which they were never designed of course. Others have found uses as concert venues, artist workshops, day centres and offices. One houses the Norwich Probation Servce, another is even a Pregnancy Advisory Centre. Some stand empty, but far more are in use now than were ten years ago. It is the largest collection of urban medieval buildings in any one city north of the Alps.
Although St Peter Hungate is right in the heart of the urban area, its setting is idyllic; 16th and 17th century cottages flank the north and east sides, and then beautiful Elm Hill drops away below it. To the west is the magnificent chancel window of the Blackfriars church, while to the south are grand 19th century commercial buildings, full of Victorian confidence. Hungate itself no longer exists, but was formerly 'houndsgate', the street of dogs. In this conservation area the roads are cobbled, and it is an oasis of charm in the middle of East Anglia's biggest city. St Peter is that rare beast in Norwich: a cruciform church. It looks older than it actually is; the primitive capped tower is actually a tall 15th century one that was truncated in 1906 for safety reasons. In fact, the whole church was completely rebuilt during the middle thirty years of the 15th century. The chancel collapsed after the Reformation, and was rebuilt by the Laudians in the early 17th century. It is a blessing that they reused the 15th century windows, and in fact most of the window tracery in the church is still original.
In the 19th century, St Peter Hungate was one of the highest of Norwich's many Anglo-catholic churches; it was the first to use vestments, the first to use incense, the first to use candles on the altar. However, as with St Simon and St Jude at the other end of Elm Hill, St Peter has long been redundant, last being used as a church before the First World War. When, in the 1930s, the Norwich Society went on their pioneering crusade to save this area of the city, there was a renewal of interest in finding appropriate uses for the old churches, and in 1936 St Peter Hungate became a museum of church furnishings. The fixtures and fittings from other redundant churches were brought here for display, and the collection was augmented by items from the Norwich and Norfolk museums, as well as by other churches wanting to find a safe home for their treasures.
It was a superb museum, the only one of its kind in England. From a church explorer's point of view, it was a priceless resource; you could read about things, and then go and see them in real life, all in one place: rood screens, bench ends, reredoses, corbels, pyxes and pyx cloths, all at first hand. St Peter Hungate Museum of Church Art lasted until the late 1990s, when a reorganisation of the museum service in Norwich killed it off. All the exhibits were removed, and most went into storage under the Castle. For nearly ten years, the building was completely empty, and can be seen as it was in 2005 in these photographs.
St Peter Hungate, Norwich
angel At the time of the 16th Century protestant Reformation, Norwich had 36 parish churches, and many of these buildings survive today. A handful are still in use for the congregational worship of the Church of England, for which they were never designed of course. Others have found uses as concert venues, artist workshops, day centres and offices. One houses the Norwich Probation Servce, another is even a Pregnancy Advisory Centre. Some stand empty, but far more are in use now than were ten years ago. It is the largest collection of urban medieval buildings in any one city north of the Alps.
Although St Peter Hungate is right in the heart of the urban area, its setting is idyllic; 16th and 17th century cottages flank the north and east sides, and then beautiful Elm Hill drops away below it. To the west is the magnificent chancel window of the Blackfriars church, while to the south are grand 19th century commercial buildings, full of Victorian confidence. Hungate itself no longer exists, but was formerly 'houndsgate', the street of dogs. In this conservation area the roads are cobbled, and it is an oasis of charm in the middle of East Anglia's biggest city. St Peter is that rare beast in Norwich: a cruciform church. It looks older than it actually is; the primitive capped tower is actually a tall 15th century one that was truncated in 1906 for safety reasons. In fact, the whole church was completely rebuilt during the middle thirty years of the 15th century. The chancel collapsed after the Reformation, and was rebuilt by the Laudians in the early 17th century. It is a blessing that they reused the 15th century windows, and in fact most of the window tracery in the church is still original.
In the 19th century, St Peter Hungate was one of the highest of Norwich's many Anglo-catholic churches; it was the first to use vestments, the first to use incense, the first to use candles on the altar. However, as with St Simon and St Jude at the other end of Elm Hill, St Peter has long been redundant, last being used as a church before the First World War. When, in the 1930s, the Norwich Society went on their pioneering crusade to save this area of the city, there was a renewal of interest in finding appropriate uses for the old churches, and in 1936 St Peter Hungate became a museum of church furnishings. The fixtures and fittings from other redundant churches were brought here for display, and the collection was augmented by items from the Norwich and Norfolk museums, as well as by other churches wanting to find a safe home for their treasures.
It was a superb museum, the only one of its kind in England. From a church explorer's point of view, it was a priceless resource; you could read about things, and then go and see them in real life, all in one place: rood screens, bench ends, reredoses, corbels, pyxes and pyx cloths, all at first hand. St Peter Hungate Museum of Church Art lasted until the late 1990s, when a reorganisation of the museum service in Norwich killed it off. All the exhibits were removed, and most went into storage under the Castle. For nearly ten years, the building was completely empty, and can be seen as it was in 2005 in these photographs.
ewg empty view out of the south door
In 2006, a small group of people came together in an attempt to get Hungate open and in use again. Their plan was to use it as an interpretation centre for Norfolk's medieval heritage, with a particular emphasis on the medieval stained glass artists of the city of Norwich. St Peter Hungate is a good place to do this, as it has the best collection outside of the cathedral in the whole city. This glass, largely of the 15th century, is partly from St Peter Hungate originally, and partly a consequence of the medievalist enthusiasms of the 19th Century, when much was collected and brought here. It includes a sequence of the Order of Angels, other angels holding scrolls, the Evangelists, the Apostles, and much else besides. Here are some highlights.
There are squints into the transepts, and image niches in the east walls of both; the south transept, which was a chapel for the guild of St John the Baptist, was the burial place of Sir John Paston. High above, the corbels to the roof are finely gilded; they depict the four evangelists, St Matthew, St Mark, St Luke and St John, and the four Latin Doctors of the Church, St Augustine, St Ambrose, St Gregory and St Jerome. This is the only known example of these eight Saints as roofpost stops. There is a central boss of Christ in Judgement.
The fixtures and fittings of the new Hungate Centre are much less intrusive than those of the old museum, allowing a sense of space and light. Display cases down the sides of the nave explain and interpret the history of Norwich's stained glass industry, and between them are the lovely benches from Tottington, which I had last seen marooned within the fences of the Battle Training Area. There are temporary exhibitions which use the transepts and chancel, and regular activities for adults and children. The Centre is currently open three days a week, and you can read more about it on its website.
If you go out through the north door, you find yourself in the former graveyard, now a pleasant garden overlooking the rooftops of Elm Hill. The 15th century building immediately to the north, now a restaurant, was once a beguinage, a retreat house for nuns. The lawn is surrounded by lavender and rosemary, and it is all very well kept. All in all, this beautiful space, now once again in safe hands, is much to be celebrated.
Simon Knott, November 2005, revised and updated February 2011
www.norfolkchurches.co.uk/norwichpeterhungate/norwichpete...
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The tower is square, and built of black flints in 1431, by Thomas Ingham. Its unusual pyramid cap was put on in 1906, when the tower had become so unsafe that the battlemented belfry stage was demolished.
The south porch was added in 1497, by Nicholas Ingham, who is buried in it. It has angle buttresses and a niche for a statue over the door. Its ceiling has four bosses –one for each Evangelist.
The nave and transepts were totally rebuilt, as ‘a neat building of black flint’, by John and Margaret Paston in 1458, after they had acquired the advowson from St Mary’s College. A stone in a buttress near the north door records this – it shows a tree trunk without branches (= decay of the old church) with a new shoot (= the new building), together with the date of completion – 1460. The windows are uniformly Perpendicular, and allow much light into the building.
The chancel had been rebuilt in 1431 by Thomas Ingham and was rebuilt again in 1604 after it had collapsed: it is of rough rubble, plastered over, contrasting with the nave and transepts. Its windows are of an older pattern and have trefoil tracery in the heads. It is covered with peg-tiles, which date from the 1604 rebuilding.
Both the north and the south doors are original – of about 1460 – and have tracery which is similar to that in the windows.
The nave has wall - arcading, to frame each window. The nave roof is of low pitch, and angels with scrolls adorn it. There is a central boss, of Christ in Judgment.
The font is fifteenth-century, and its cover, with an open-work steeple, is dated 1605.
There are two squints which give a view from the nave into the transepts. In the south transept is a niche for a statue of St John the Baptist, and John Paston was buried in front of it. The headstops on the window in the south transept are supposed to represent him and his wife
In the north transept the doors to the rood-stair can be seen. The collapse of the chancel in 1604 demolished the rood-screen, and it was never replaced.
The east window is filled with pieces of mediæval glass. Blomefield, writing in 1741, says that much of the original glass survived in the chancel, but much was later lost through neglect. What remains has been assembled in this window.
There is one monument – on the west wall, to Matthew Goss, who died in 1779.
The church was one of the earliest to be affected by the Oxford Movement. The square pews were replaced by chairs, and the services took on a very ritualistic character, with candles, incense, and banners, and was ‘one of the most fashionable places of worship in Norwich’.
By the end of the century it was again in a bad way: in 1888, the tower was so dangerous an order was served on the churchwardens. In 1897, a large hole in the chancel roof was covered only by a tarpaulin.
Although restored in 1906, the church was in bad state again by 1931, and was threatened with demolition. The Norfolk Archæological Trust raised money to repair it, and it was used as a museum of church art from 1936 until 1995
The church contains beautiful stained glass. To see magnified pictures and information on all the stained glass in this and other churches across Norfolk visit www.norfolkstainedglass.co.uk
www.norwich-churches.org/St Peter Hungate/home.shtm