ECCLESIASTICAL ARCHITECTURE 



masonry. Most of the churches of the south-western corner of Surrey 

 contain specimens of this stone, which has been in use from before the 

 Conquest to the present day.' 



Caen stone was comparatively little used in rural Surrey, owing to 

 the difficulties of carriage across country. St. Mary Overie and the 

 remains of Bermondsey Abbey and the other monastic houses show that 

 it was used to a limited extent, and it reappeared in monumental work 

 on the eve of the Restora- 

 tion. Probably it was easily 

 obtainable in London, as it 

 was brought up the Thames 

 in barges ; and nearly all the 

 mediaeval buildings of Lon- 

 don contain large quantities 

 of the stone to this day. 



The two allied marbles, 

 Sussex (or Petworth) and 

 Purbeck. were both used, 

 although sparingly, in Sur- 

 rey. The latter is found in 

 the shafts of the north 

 transept at St. Mary Overie 

 and in the doors, arches and 

 font of Shere church, per- 

 haps owing to the Hamp- 

 shire connection in both 

 cases. The Sussex marble 

 appears in the fonts of 

 Albury, Beddington, Great 

 Bookham, Merstham, Fren- 

 sham, Worplesdon, West 

 Clandon, Mickleham, Scale 

 and Chelsham ; in the pillars 

 of the under-croft at Waver- 

 ley Abbey, in the sedilia at 

 Dunsfold, in the shafts of a 

 piscina at Coulsdon, in the 

 windows and door of the 

 chapel at Lambeth Palace, 

 in the north doorway at St. 



Mary's Guildford, in the east window of Ockham, in a group of lancet 

 windows in the south chancel of Godalming church, and in numerous 

 monuments and coffin lids throughout the county. There are many 



1 The pre-Conquest work remaining in St. Mary's Guildford and Godalming church shows that 

 the stone was known during the eleventh century, and probably earlier still. The south door of Witley 

 church and the font of Thursley, both belonging to the close of the eleventh century, are good examples 

 of its lasting qualities. The stone is named after the hamlet of Bargate, or Burgate, near Godalming, 

 where it has been quarried from a very early date. 



II 433 55 



