COPTHORNE HUNDRED 



contemporary vestry, 8 ft. square, the blocked door- 

 way of which remains. It seems to have been of two 

 stories, and a shallow cupboard recess remains in the 

 outer face of the chancel wall at some height from 

 the ground. A wide arched recess on the inner face 

 of the wall, now mnch modernized, has served as a 

 cupboard and probably as an Easter sepulchre. Two 

 pieces of dog-tooth ornament are built into the wall 

 above the site of the destroyed vestry. In the south 

 wall of the chancel are a modern trefoiled piscina and 

 three sedilia with marble shafts. 



A scroll-moulded string-course runs round the 

 chancel below the windows, much repaired, but some 

 of the original work remains. In the north-west 

 corner is cut a double squint from the transept at a 

 very acute angle ; it has two openings separated by a 

 mullion towards the chancel, and the eastern opening 

 commands the site of the high altar, while the other 

 gives a view of the sedilia. There are no arches 

 across the openings to the transepts, but they were 

 doubtless inclosed by screens in former times. The 

 north transept has an inserted 1 5th-century east 

 window of three lights under a traceried head, the 

 tracery and outer stonework being modern, while the 

 inner jambs and hollow-chamfered rear arch are old ; 

 between it and the squint is a small square recess with 

 chamfered edges, and north and south of the window, 

 but below the level of its sill, are plain chamfered 

 image-brackets. The modern extension of the tran- 

 sept is used as a vestry. 



The south transept has a modern east window of 

 three lights resembling that of the chancel, and a 

 south window of four lights with a four-centred head 

 and moulded label, also modern ; and there are 

 14th-century arches opening to the aisles from both 

 transepts, each of two wave-moulded orders. The 

 chancel arch is of 1 3th-century date, with two moulded 

 orders and a string at the springing, the chamfers of 

 the western jambs being stopped below the string 

 with a pretty shell ornament ; the wall is very thick 

 and probably older than the arch, but the ashlar 

 courses on its west face run through from the arch to 

 the respond of the south arcade of the nave at the 

 level of its capital ; the broken courses below are 

 probably due to the former existence here of a recess 

 behind the south nave altar. To the north of the 

 chancel arch the facing ranges neither with the jambs 

 of the arch nor with those of the north arcade, but 

 appears to be of later date than the latter, against 

 which it ends with a straight joint. Above the 

 springing level of the chancel are shallow arched 

 recesses to the north and south, now apparently quite 

 modern, but perhaps representing entrances to the 

 rood-loft. They now contain painted figures of our 

 Lady and the Angel of the Annunciation. 



The north arcade of the nave has four bays, the 

 western bay being modern, cut through a wall which 

 was previously blank. The other three bays are early 

 1 3th-century work, the east and west responds being 

 semi-octagonal with moulded bases and capitals, while 

 the first pillar is round with a moulded base, and a 

 capital enriched with a line of beautiful trefoil foliage; 

 the second pillar is octagonal and has a moulded 

 capital without carving. All the bases are modern, 

 but the rest of the arcade is old, the arches being 

 two-centred, with a chamfered inner order, and an 

 outer order with an undercut keeled roll towards the 

 nave, and a chamfer towards the aisle, hollow in the 



LETHERHEAD 



eastern bay. The levels of the bases rise from west 

 to east in this and the south arcade, following the 

 rise of the ground, as commonly happens in old 

 churches, the necessity of a level floor being a tenet 

 of the modern ' restorer ' only. 



The south arcade is of four bays ; the responds are 

 semi-octagonal, the middle pillar octagonal, and the 

 other two circular ; all have moulded bases and 

 capitals, the former renewed in modern times ; the 

 arches are pointed and of a slightly more elaborate 

 section than those of the other side, the edge roll of 

 the outer order having a side fillet and an additional 

 small roll or bead. The west respond and part of the 

 arch are partly buried in the stonework of the tower 

 which cuts into it, and are somewhat distorted, per- 

 haps by a settlement of the newer work. The curious 

 treatment of the inner order of the arches has been 

 already remarked upon. Of the three north windows 

 in the north aisle only the middle one is old, of 

 I 5th-century date, with two cinquefoiled lights, and 

 the north doorway is modern or modernized, with 

 mouldings of 1 5th-century style. 



The north porch appears to be of the late I 5th or 

 1 6th century, and has a pointed archway and a plain 

 square-headed west window ; the lower part of the 

 porch is of brick, the rest of flint and stone. In the south 

 aisle only the doorway is old, of simple 15th-century 

 style, and there is a modern vestry at the west end of 

 the aisle. 



The tower is of three stages, the western angles 

 are strengthened by pairs of deep buttresses, and the 

 stair rises on the north-east corner ; at the south-east 

 a buttress cuts into the south arcade, and the tower 

 arch has a low four-centred head with jambs of two 

 orders, and moulded with a series of rolls and hollows 

 of very dry detail. In the wall south of the arch is a 

 large recess 1 4 in. deep with a four-centred arch, and 

 a seat or ledge about 3 ft. above the floor. The stair 

 is entered through a four-centred doorway within the 

 tower, opening to a rib-vaulted passage leading to the 

 stair foot. 



The west doorway is a modern one with a four- 

 centred arch in a square head, and over it outside is 

 an inscription in memory of Edward Rickards, 1893. 

 The window above is of four lights divided by a 

 transom, the lights below the transom and also in the 

 head are cinquefoiled ; the arch is four-centred and 

 filled with perpendicular tracery ; it is all now of 

 modern stone except the rear arch and jambs. In 

 the north wall inside, higher up, is a wide recess 

 with a rough four-centred arch, entered from the 

 stair, and showing marks of use as a ringing-gallery. 

 In the second stage is a modern west window of two 

 trefoiled lights under a square head ; the bell cham- 

 ber is lighted by windows of three plain lights with 

 four-centred heads ; the parapet is embattled and the 

 roof pyramidal ; the stair turret stands up above the 

 parapet and has a pointed roof. 



The chancel has a modern open-timbered cradle 

 roof covered with tiles ; at the crossing the roof is 

 of collar-beam type. The transepts have panelled 

 ceilings ; the north transept is covered with Horsham 

 stone slabs and tiles, the southern with tiles only. 

 The nave has a modern collar-beam roof with trusses, 

 the king-posts of which have capitals and bases ; in it, 

 on the north side, are two gabled dormer windows, 

 each of three lights, and one on the south side. The 

 aisles have lean-to roofs, that on the north covered 



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