A HISTORY OF SURREY 



former of which were appointed a constable and an 

 ale-taster for each of the tithings of Pyrford, Horsell, 

 Sithwood, and Woodham." 



The church of ST. NICHOLAS 

 CHURCH remains very much as it was erected 

 in about 1140-50, both as to general 

 form and its principal features ; and the exception- 

 ally sympathetic restoration which it underwent in 

 1869 at the hands of Mr. T. G. Jackson, R.A., has 

 enhanced its archaeological interest, by bringing to 

 light paintings and other things. 



It is built of conglomerate, or pudding-stone, with 

 sandstone rubble and heterogeneous materials, the 

 walling being finished, as was commonly the case, with 

 a rough daubing of sandy mortar which has worn off 

 in places. The external dressings are mostly of clunch 

 and firestone, with some Bargate stone in the later 

 work, but internally it is a somewhat remarkable fact 

 that the original dressings, such as in the doorways, 

 the chancel arch and windows, are of Caen stone, pre- 

 sumably brought by water to London, and thence by 

 the Thames and the Wey. The beautiful north porch 

 (c. 1 500) is of oak framework, the sides filled in with 

 plaster. In Cracklow's view (c. 1 824) some Horsham 



DATES- 



PLAN OF PYRFORD CHURCH 



slabs are shown on the roof of the nave, and these no 

 doubt formed the original covering, but the roofs are 

 now tiled. The western bell-turret, with graceful 

 spirelet, is covered with oak shingles. 



In plan, save for the timber north porch, and the 

 modern vestry that balances it on the south side of the 

 nave, the church has preserved unaltered the propor- 

 tions of the 12th-century building, having escaped 

 the almost invariable addition of aisle, chapel, or 

 tower. It consists of a nave 3 8 ft. by 1 6 ft. 7 in., 

 and a chancel 1 9 ft. 8 in. by 13 ft., the south wall 

 being 4 inches shorter than the north. The nave 

 walls vary in thickness from 2 ft. 9 in. (S.) to 2 ft. 6 in., 

 while those of the chancel are 2 ft. 3 in., except the 

 east, which is 2 ft. 6 in. They are unusually low for 

 an aisleless building about 8 ft. from the nave floor 

 level to the wall-plate giving the building a long 

 drawn-out appearance : and the roofs are of steep pitch, 

 especially that of the nave. 



The west wall retains its two original round-headed 

 windows of firestone, and between them a large 

 buttress has been added, probably about 1500. The 

 north and south doorways also date from about 1150, 

 the latter, quite plain and narrow, giving access to 

 the modern vestry, while the north doorway, which 



has always served as the principal entrance, is some- 

 what richly ornamented. It is of two orders, with a 

 hood-moulding of chamfered section, having a border 

 of little pellets between the chamfer and the square 

 outer edge. The outer order is decorated with zigzag 

 mouldings, and is carried upon nook-shafts, one with a 

 scalloped capital, and the other a capital having broad 

 angle-leaves, with a row of punched holes up the 

 centre. The inner order is plain, with a narrow chamfer 

 carried round the arch and jambs. The right-hand 

 shaft has been cut away to allow the insertion of a 

 holy-water stoup, probably when the porch was 

 made ; the base of the shaft below this remains in a 

 very perfect state. By a curious arrangement, the 

 later timber porch is placed considerably to the west 

 of the centre of this doorway, so that the eastern jamb 

 is partly hidden by the post carrying the wall-plate. 



The chancel arch is of two plain orders, the inner 

 having only a narrow chamfer, with a pyramidal stop 

 beneath the imposts, which are hollow-chamfered. 

 The crown of the arch is somewhat depressed by a 

 settlement of old date, so that it has assumed an ellip- 

 tical shape, and the piers, from the same cause, are out 

 of the upright. The hatched tool-marks on the 

 Caen stone and firestone of this arch are remark- 

 ably sharp. In the east wall of the nave, on the 

 north of the arch, is a rudely-formed pointed- 

 headed niche, semicircular in plan, and evidently 

 intended to hold a somewhat tall image. As this 

 niche is not in wrought stone, but merely scooped 

 out of the rubble wall and plastered, it is probably 

 a century or so later in date than the arch, and 

 indicates the existence of an altar at the rood- 

 screen. 



In the chancel two of the original windows 

 remain the only ones in the north and south 

 walls that in the north wall having a short and 

 broad round-headed aperture, 10 in. by 2 ft. 6 in., 

 chamfered externally, on which face clunch has 

 been used, while on the inside the round arch and 

 jambs of the splays are worked in Caen stone. 



The opposite window in the south wall is similar, 

 so far as the interior face is concerned, but about 

 1 1 80 the external aperture was widened and changed 

 to a depressed pointed shape, with a curious hood- 

 moulding of acutely pointed form over it, leaving a 

 large unpierced tympanum between the two arches. 

 Neither piscina nor aumbry is now visible in the 

 church. Fortunately, the external quoins of nave and 

 chancel, in clunch, and in a somewhat crumbling 

 state, were suffered to remain at the restoration, 

 although the angles of nave and chancel were buttressed. 

 A recess in the south wall of the chancel at its western 

 end is of modern date, and apparently meant to give 

 more room in a confined space. 



At a period between about 1380 and the close of 

 the 1 5 th century the little chapel appears to have under- 

 gone a general restoration and re-fitting. The two- 

 light east window, with cinquefoil heads and a quatre- 

 foil over, suggests the earlier date, while the two-light 

 windows of the nave, with square heads, devoid of 

 arch or cusping, would seem to belong to the later 

 date, to which also the porch, the roof panelling over 

 the rood, and the nave seating may be referred, but in 

 work of such plain character it is difficult to speak 

 certainly. These square-headed windows are found 

 in the low aisle walls of several Sussex churches, such as 



44 Manning and Bray, op. cit. i, 153. 



434 



