A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE 



9 ft. 3 in. and 8 ft. wide respectively ; a south-west 

 tower 7 ft. 3 in. square, and a south porch, all measure- 

 ments being internal. Previous to the I4th cen- 

 tury the church appears to have consisted of an 

 aiseless nave and a chancel of the same size as 

 at present, or nearly so. Aisles were added to 

 the nave in the 1 4th century, between 1325 and 

 1350, the north aisle being probably the first to be 

 built. If they had predecessors no trace of them is 

 now visible. The lower part of the tower, which 

 carries on the lines of the south aisle and practically 

 forms its western bay, belongs to the same period. 

 The upper stages are of later date, and it may be that 

 the work here was interrupted by the Black Death. 

 The chancel arch was inserted towards the end of the 

 1 4th century, and at the beginning of the I ;th cen- 

 tury another scheme of enlargement was taken in 

 hand. The tower was completed, a clearstory added 

 to the nave, and the north wall of the north aisle 

 was taken down and the aisle widened, the junction 

 of the 1 4th and 15th-century work being still clearly 

 visible at both ends of the aisle. Up to this time the 

 aisles were probably roofed by an extension of the 

 high-pitched nave roof, the line of which is to be 

 seen on the east wall of the tower ; but at the date 

 of the widening of the north aisle, the new north 

 wall of which was built higher than the old one, a 

 low-pitched roof was put on the aisle, and at the same 

 time the south aisle walls were raised and a similar 

 roof constructed on this side of the church. The 

 chancel seems to have been rebuilt or remodelled about 

 the same time, and its windows and those of the aisles 

 belong to this date. In modern times the tower has 

 been largely restored and an outer steep-pitched roof 

 put on the nave, but traces of both the older gables 

 are to be seen on the west wall of the nave and less 

 clearly on the east wall. 



The chancel is lit by five three-light 15th-century 

 windows, one to the east and two in the north and 

 south walls. On either side of the east window is a 

 modern canopied image niche designed from frag- 

 ments found here and now preserved in a glass case 

 in the north aisle. At the east end of the south wall 

 is a small I 5th-century piscina, and in the western jambs 

 of the north-west and south-west windows are the 

 openings of squints from both aisles. The chancel 

 arch is of two orders, continuously moulded with a 

 hollow chamfer and a double ogee and irregular half- 

 octagonal moulded capitals. 



The nave is of four bays. The north arcade, 

 earlier in date than the other, has piers of four half- 

 round shafts with hollow chamfers between and 

 moulded capitals and bases. The arches are two- 

 centred and of two moulded orders, with labels having 

 grotesque drips over the piers, while at a considerable 

 height above the crown of each arch is a two-light 

 clearstory window of 15th-century date with a seg- 

 mental head, trefoiled lights, and a deep external 

 splay, the glass line being nearly in the middle of the 

 wall. The south arcade is of the same detail, except 

 in regard to the capitals, which are deeper and of a 

 somewhat later section. This arcade is of three bays 

 only, on account of the position of the tower at the 

 west end of the south aisle, and there are also only 

 three south clearstory windows. The west window 

 of the nave is of 14th-century date, with three tre- 

 foiled lights and flowing tracery of late and rather 

 clumsy design. 



The north aisle has a three-light 15th-century east 

 window, of the same design as those of the chancel, 

 and two similar windows in the north wall, between 

 which is the north door. This is of 14th-century 

 detail, and must have been moved outwards when the 

 aisle was widened. There is no west window to this 

 aisle. 



The south aisle has an east and a south window 

 like those of the north aisle. At the east end of the 

 south wall is a 14th-century piscina with a cinque- 

 foiled head of two orders and a shelf. The south 

 door is of the same date, with plain chamfered jambs 

 and two-centred head, and opens to a contemporary 

 south porch with a moulded outer arch, small square- 

 headed windows on east and west, and stone benches. 



In the western bay of the south aisle stands the 

 tower, its eastern arch being of two wave-moulded 

 orders which die into widely chamfered responds. The 

 tower has, in its lowest stage, two small lancets very 

 much modernized, and is of three stages with an 

 embattled parapet, its external masonry being in great 

 measure modern. The two-light belfry windows are 

 very small, and have above them two quatrefoiled 

 openings on each face, which are entirely in modern 

 stonework. 



The woodwork of the church is of no special in- 

 terest. The nave roof, resting on stone corbels carved 

 with shield-bearing angels, is of 15th-century style, 

 with moulded tie-beams and carved brackets beneath 

 them, and in the south porch is a good roof with 

 1 5th-century detail, ornamented with roses and a 

 shield of the Hampden arms. 



There is also a I yth-century Communion table, and 

 within the altar rails two handsome carved oak chairs 

 of about the same date. The font, in the north aisle, 

 is circular and of 1 3th-century date with a circular 

 moulded stem and cup-shaped fluted bowl, with a 

 band of ornament round the upper edge. It belongs 

 to a type developed from the local 12th-century form. 



On the south wall of the chancel is a Purbeck slab 

 to Elizabeth wife of John Hampden, 1634, daughter 

 and sole heiress of Edmund Symeon of Pyrton in 

 Oxfordshire. In the south aisle is a wall monument 

 to Richard Hampden, 1662, and his wife Anne 

 Lane, 1674, with a shield bearing the Hampden 

 arms, impaling Party azure and gules three saltires 

 argeni, which are the arms of Lane. 



In the chancel floor are the following brasses : 



The figures of John Hampden, esq., 1496, and his 

 wife Elizabeth Sidney, with four sons and six daughters. 

 On the slab are five shields : (i) Quarterly, 1st Hamp- 

 den, 2nd and 3rd, Argent a chief gules and therein 

 two harts' heads caboshed or, for Popham, 4th, Six 

 lions ; (2) Hampden impaling Or a pheon azure, for 

 Sidney ; (3) and (4) Sidney ; and (5) Hampden. 



Griffith Hampden, 1591, and Anne Cave his 

 second wife, 1594. An inscription plate without 

 figures. On a shield are the following coats : Quar- 

 terly, 1st, Hampden ; 2nd, Popham ; 3rd, Six lions ; 

 4th, Hampden with a border azure for Hampden of 

 Great Kimble ; impaling : Quarterly, 1st and 4th 

 Azure fretty argent, for Cave ; 2nd and 3rd Ermine 

 a bend" with three boars' heads razed thereon. 



William Hampden, 1597, son of Griffith Hampden, 

 and Anne his wife ; no figures. On a shield of 

 twelve quarters: 1st, Hampden; 2nd, Popham ; 3rd, 

 Six lions ; 4th, A lion ; 5th, Three spear-heads ; 

 6th, A cheveron between three fleurs-de-lis ; 7th, 



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