ECCLESIASTICAL ARCHITECTURE 



Merton, the next in importance of the religious houses of Surrey, 

 founded in 1 1 1 5 for Augustinian canons by Gilbert the Norman, is to- 

 day little more than a name. Fragments of a late thirteenth century 

 window, probably the east window of the priory church, a gateway, 

 much altered, and parts of the enclosing walls, give little indication of 

 the former greatness of this establishment. 



Of Newark Priory, in the parish of Pirford, founded by Ruald de 

 Calva and his wife at the close of the twelfth century, large parts of the 

 walls are standing to a considerable height, but for the most part stripped 

 of their stone dressings. The style of the work, so far as it can be 

 judged from these gaunt remains, accords with the date of foundation. 



There were about twelve other religious houses in Surrey, ranging 

 in date and consequence between the little hospital founded by Robert 

 de Watteville at Sandon {temp. Henry II.) and the establishment of 

 Observant Friars at Sheen, founded by Henry VII. Amongst these 

 was the late foundation at Sheen by Henry V. of an important Carthu- 

 sian monastery. Of all these various houses, with one exception, hardly 

 a stone remains above ground, and in most cases the very sites of the 

 churches and conventual buildings are conjectural. Of the priory of 

 Augustinian canons at Tandridge (founded about the year 1200) the 

 general situation of the buildings is known, and a few tiles, grave-slabs, 

 and a very graceful little capital of early fourteenth century date still 

 remain. 



- Lingfield church, a collegiate foundation of about 1431, is the ex- 

 ception above mentioned. Although only some foundations and low 

 walls of the college are standing, the church, with its collegiate and 

 parish chancels and twin naves, happily survives, and presents us with a 

 valuable example of a somewhat rare type. Its lofty tower is probably 

 a relic of an older building. 



The great church of St. Mary Overie is thus (if we except the 

 collegiate church at Lingfield) the only church of a monastic house still 

 in use. Before the destruction, in 1830, of the so-called Bishop's 

 chapel (strictly the Lady chapel), it boasted externally a total length of 

 292I feet. It then retained examples of every phase of architecture 

 from early twelfth to mid-sixteenth century. 



Speaking generally, however, the building dates from the thirteenth 

 century, and is a noble example. The (lately rebuilt) nave, and the quire 

 with the east and west arches of the crossing, belong to the first half of 

 the century, while the Lady chapel, famed for its slender columns and 

 graceful proportions, is of about the middle of the century. The later 

 periods are also represented. Bishop Fox's great altar-screen (1520) 

 forming the latest addition before the Reformation. Of the other 

 buildings of the priory nothing now remains. 



Lambeth Palace still preserves its beautiful chapel, elevated upon a 

 crypt, both belonging to the first twenty years of the thirteenth cen- 

 tury. The proportions and details of the grouped lancets (triplets in the 

 side walls and a quintuplet in the east) and of the double doorway in 



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