A HISTORY OF SURREY 



the arcades Are clearly pierced in an older wall, 

 which was leaning outwards, especially on the south 

 side, at the time. To counteract this lean the inner 

 order of the south arcade is built as nearly vertically 

 as the conditions allow, while the outer order has of 

 necessity to follow the line of the wall above, giving a 

 curious twisted effect to the arches. That this is not 

 a late alteration is shown by the fact that it occurs in 

 the western arch of the arcade, which is partly buried 

 in .the west tower, an addition of c. 1500 ; it is of 

 course possible that it may have been done between 

 the 1 3th and the 1 6th century, but it is perhaps more 

 likely to be an original expedient. The north arcade 

 is of somewhat earlier character than the south, dating 

 from the opening years of the 1 3th century, and was 

 originally of three bays only. It does rjt, however, 

 seem likely that the nave was any shorter at the time 

 of its building than when the south arcade was set up. 

 In the first half of the 14th century the church was 



have been added to this tower before the 14th-cen- 

 tury alterations, and preserved its plan, though appar- 

 ently rebuilt with the rest of the eastern parts of the 

 church. Manning and Bray record that when Leeds 

 Priory obtained the advowson of the church in 1 346 

 they rebuilt the tower, transepts, and chancel ; the 

 chancel looks some twenty years earlier than this date, 

 but ' restorations ' may account for this. The exist- 

 ing tower is of much later date. 



The aisles of the nave seem to have been widened 

 in the ijth century, being made equal in width to 

 the transepts, and the west tower belongs to the end 

 of this century or the early years of the next. Its 

 oblong plan and the violent angle at which it is set 

 to the nave are evidently due to the necessity of pre- 

 serving space for a procession path round the church- 

 yard, the boundary of which comes close to the west 

 end of the church, and the builders did not hesitate 

 to cut into the west bay of the south arcade in order 



in"* Cenfuiy. 

 I Circa 1200- 5O 



5ca|c of Fccr. 

 PLAN OF LETHERHEAD CHURCH 



considerably enlarged on the east, the old chancel 

 giving place to a larger one flanked by transepts on 

 the north-west and south-west, and with a north-east 

 vestry, its axis being deflected northward from that of 

 the nave. It is to be noted that the east wall of the 

 nave is not at right angles to the north and south 

 arcades, but this may be due to an irregularity in the 

 original setting out. The transepts also are not of 

 equal width with each other, and while the north 

 transept is set at right angles with the chancel, the 

 south transept follows rather the lines of the nave. 

 There is also a break in the chancel wall near its 

 junction with this transept, and while it is clear that 

 the chancel and north transept are of one build, it is 

 quite possible that the plan of the south transept is of 

 earlier date. There may, indeed, have been a church 

 here in the I zth century of the same kind of plan as 

 Charlwood, with a tower between nave and chancel, 

 and the thickness of the existing east wall of the nave 

 points in this direction. The south transept may 



to effect their purpose ; the west respond of the arcade 

 is to be seen on the west side of the south-east buttress 

 of the tower, in which it is partly buried. 



A general repair was carried out in 1701-2, and 

 in later times a great deal of restoration work to the 

 windows and external stonework, so that the only 

 windows retaining their original external stone are one 

 of the 1 5th century in the north aisle, and a later one 

 in the porch. The tower was plastered over in 1 766, 

 but has been stripped and the flintwork pointed ; the 

 north transept has been lengthened to take an organ, 

 and other work has been done to the roofs, &c. 



The east window of the chancel is a modern one 

 of three cinquefoiled lights under a pointed head 

 with net tracery. In the north wall are two windows 

 with modern tracery of two cinquefoiled lights, and 

 14th-century jambs and rear arches ; in the south 

 wall are two similar windows, the western of which 

 is entirely modern, while the other has old jambs. 

 At the north-east of the chancel there has been a 



298 



