A HISTORY OF SURREY 



impost, and the capitals carved with early stiff-leaf 

 foliage. All the remainder is delicately wrought in 

 clunch, both orders of the arch displaying an enriched 

 cheveron on the face, with a roll moulding on the 

 angle, and a plain cheveron on the soffits. The en- 

 riched cheverons have foliage patterns within them. 

 The hood-moulding has a small half-moon sinking 

 carried as a pattern round its outer member, and at- 

 the top a head, now defaced, is inserted. The 

 masonry is fine-jointed and fine-axed, both marks of 

 the date. The dials and other scratchings on the 

 stonework are noted later. On the inside is a plain 

 circular arch, much loftier than that of the outer 

 opening. There must have been a doorway or an 

 arch of this same enriched cheveron pattern at 

 Merstham Church, abouf 1 5 miles to the eastward 

 along the same road, judging from the voussoirs now 

 lying loose in the north chapel. 1 * 7 



The next period is that of about 1200, when the 

 aisle was thrown out on the south of the nave, and 

 an arch pierced in what had been the west wall 

 of the south transept or chancel aisle. The three 

 flat buttresses, of three stages, at the west end of the 

 aisle, belong to this date. The west doorway of the 

 nave is of the same period, and has a richly-moulded 

 arch of two orders, acutely pointed, with Sussex or 

 Purbeck marble capitals and shafts to the outer order. 

 The inner order of the jambs is square on plan, with 

 a square capital, this and the other having square 

 abaci and crochet foliage. The arch at the east end 

 of the aisle has two orders, richly moulded, with 

 similar capitals, and among the mouldings of both is 

 the keel-shaped moulding. The jambs, with their 

 delicate shafts, bases, and capitals, are entirely of 

 marble, four shafts to each side. The light and 

 fragile character of this arch gives a clue to the entire 

 disappearance of the corresponding arcade, which has 

 been replaced by the three existing ugly pointed 

 arches on octagonal piers. They are cased all over in 

 plaster, both piers and arches (as was also the arch at 

 the end of the aisle), and possibly the remains of the 

 original work are still in existence beneath the 

 plaster. Three of the lancets of this date remain, 

 two in the aisle and one in the west wall of the nave. 

 They are in Bargate stone, with broad chamfers to 

 the outside opening. A lancet and a curious pointed 

 arched recess " 8 in the north wall of the nave, at its 

 eastern end, are of about the same date. A pair of 

 lancets in the western bay of the chancel aisle, broad 

 openings with flat internal arches, would appear to be 

 later c. 1250. 



At the eastern end of the south chancel south wall 

 is a two-light tracery window of graceful and some- 

 what unusual design. It is of two trefoiled lights, 

 with a small trefoil in the head, the tracery and arch 

 being worked on three distinct planes : externally 

 there is a hood-moulding of scroll and bead section. 

 The east window of the same south chancel is of 

 similar character and has three trefoil-headed lights, 

 the central wider than the others, the spaces over 



being occupied by two irregular trefoils and four small 

 quatrefoils within a large circle. There are two coeval 

 buttresses at the south-east angle of the rectangular east 

 end of the south chancel. Probably this square-ended 

 chapel, which is referred to in wills as the Lady 

 Chapel, superseded the apse about 1 300, at which date 

 it became necessary to rebuild the tower arches, an 

 additional archway being pierced between the new 

 square-ended chapel and the chancel. The lofty 

 octagonal timber spire 57 ft. in height from the 

 nave floor a magnificent piece of mediaeval car- 

 pentry, was also probably added then or soon after- 

 wards. It would appear to have been covered with 

 lead originally, and retained a part of the ancient lead 

 work until the middle of the last century, together 

 with oak shingles. 



These extensive alterations were probably under- 

 taken at the instance of the rich abbey of Netley, to 

 whom the advowson of Shere was sold by Roger de 

 Clare in 1243. To Netley Abbey, therefore, is 

 probably due the rebuilding of the chancel in its 

 present form, with its beautiful tracery windows 

 executed in hard chalk, between 1300 and I32O. 1IS 

 The details of the work show that it was begun 

 shortly after the square east end of the Lady Chapel, 

 and the new windows of the chancel were made to 

 harmonize with the recently completed tracery win- 

 dows of the chapel. This is very noticeable in the 

 case of the great east window, which, with minor 

 variations, is almost a replica of that in the east wall 

 of the Lady Chapel. Its central light is of ogee 

 form, cinquefoiled, and the side lights have rather 

 ugly flat trefoiled heads with a cinquefoiled figure 

 above, but the same circle, filled with four quatrefoils, 

 which is the chief feature in the other, appears in this 

 window also. The diagonal buttresses of the east 

 wall and the buttress on the north side are of this 

 date. The side windows, of two lights, have tracery 

 of the ordinary net type. A piscina of this date, 

 with ogee trefoiled head and credence shelf, remains 

 in the south wall. In the western bay of the north 

 wall are two curious squints, one with a quatrefoil 

 aperture and the other, close by to the eastward, 

 a square opening. Both communicated with an 

 anchorite's cell, or a sacristy, whichever it may have 

 been, which stood on this side, and was probably 

 built at the same time as the chancel. Its roof was a 

 lean-to, but its area is uncertain. 1 * The oblique 

 squint with the square head must have been used, in 

 any case, for commanding a view of the high altar ; 

 while the quatrefoil may have served the purpose of 

 communicating the recluse. 



Slightly later again, in c. 1330, the north transept 

 was shortened and brought to its present form of a 

 mere recess between the enlarged buttresses of the 

 tower, which at this time superseded the flat buttresses 

 of c. ii 50. The beautiful four-light window, of 

 flowing tracery, executed in hard chalk, which has 

 weathered admirably, has no hood-moulding exter- 

 nally, unlike the others, and bears other traces of 



"7 At at Canterbury Cathedral (the 

 Aquae Cattellum of the monastery), the 

 arched recesses in the east wall of the nave 

 at Barfreston Church, and the chapel in 

 Dover Castle. In the last-named the same 

 stiff-leaf capitals, of somewhat French cha- 

 racter, occur. Cf. also the capitals in the 

 wooden screen at Compton Church, Surrey. 



las This recess and its little window 

 were probably made for the double pur- 

 pose of inclosing a tomb and giving 

 space for an altar flanking the earlier 

 west arch of the tower. 



129 It is possible, however, that the 

 chancel had been rebuilt in the I jth 

 century, and that the monks of Netley 



118 



only remodelled it and put in tracery 

 windows. 



180 Other possible anchorites' cells, 

 which may have been either sacristies or 

 chambers for the display of relics to the 

 Canterbury pilgrims in some cases, ex- 

 isted, or can be traced, at Blechingley, 

 Chessington, Compton, and Letherhead. 



