ODSEY HUNDRED 



de Broke, which had been in abeyance since ijzi, 

 was allowed to Richard Verney in 1696 by the 

 decision of the House of Lords,"* and the manor 

 descended with the Lords Willoughby de Broke 

 until it was sold to Mr. Newbolt, who sold it to 

 Mrs. Campe, from whom it was bought by Mr. 

 Herbert Goode, the present owner. 89 



The church of ST. JOHN THE 

 CHURCH BAPTIST consists of chancel 3 5 ft. 6 in. 

 by 16 ft., north vestry I 3 ft. by 12 ft. 

 6 in., north chapel 22 ft. 6 in. by 13 ft., nave 60 ft. 

 by 25 ft., south porch I 1 ft. 6 in. by IO ft. 6 in., 

 and west tower 12 ft. 6 in. by 12 ft., all dimensions 

 taken internally. The walls are of flint rubble 

 covered with cement and the dressings are of stone ; 

 the north wall of the vestry is of brick. The roofs are 

 tiled and leaded. There are large blocks of flint 

 conglomerate, or ' pudding stones,' used as foundations 

 under the western angles of the tower. 



The chancel, nave, with south porch and west 

 tower, were built about 1350 ; the north chapel and 

 the roof and windows of the nave belong to the 15th 

 and the north vestry to the 16th century. 



The east window is modern. On the north side 

 of the chancel is an arcade of two arches of I 5th-cen- 

 tury work, opening into the north chapel. The 

 arches and jambs are of two continuously moulded 

 orders ; much of the work has been renewed. In 

 the south wall are two early 1 6th-century windows 

 with square heads, one of which is inserted in an 

 earlier opening, partly blocked. The south doorway 

 is blocked, and above it is a small quatrefoil light of 

 modern stonework, the jambs of which, internally, 

 are old. In the south wall is a small plain pointed 

 piscina, and adjoining it a sedile, 4 ft. 7 in. wide, 

 under a moulded arch. Both are of the 1 4th century. 

 The chancel arch, c. 1350, is of two moulded orders, 

 whose separate shafts have moulded capitals and bases. 

 The jambs have been forced out of the perpendicular. 

 The vestry has one window in the east wall, of two 

 cusped lights under a square head, of 16th-century 

 date, with the original iron stanchions ; the door is 

 original. In the north wall of the chapel are two 

 windows, each of three cinquefoiled lights with tracery, 

 under a four-centred arch ; the tracery is modern. 

 The 15th-century doorway has a modern arch. 

 There is an opening with a modern arch between 

 the chapel and the nave ; its sill is 6 ft. 4 in. above 

 the floor ; it is probably 14th-century work. There 

 is a 15th-century piscina in the south wall. 



The two eastern windows in the north wall of the 

 nave are each of three lights and are very lofty ; they 

 have a transom over cusped lights midway up, and 

 traceried head under a four-centred arch ; the two 

 opposite windows in the south wall are similar. The 

 westernmost windows in the north and south walls 

 are similar in detail, but are of two lights only, with 

 cusped arches under square heads. All the windows 

 are of 15th-century work, a good deal repaired. 

 Some fragments of 15th-century glass remain in the 

 heads of the north windows. At the north-east angle 

 of the nave, externally, is an octagonal turret contain- 

 ing the stair to the rood loft, which is continued up 

 to the roof. The upper and lower entrances, which 

 are both in the north wall of the nave, are blocked, 



COTTERED 



only the arch of the doorway remaining in the case 

 of the latter. The north nave doorway is blocked 

 and much defaced ; on the outer side the onginal 

 door still remains in situ. The south doorway is of 

 two moulded orders with the original 15th-century 

 door ; both doorways are of c. 1350. At the east 

 end of the south wall is a 14th-century piscina. 



There is an early 16th-century two-light window, 

 under a square head, on either side of the south porch ; 

 the entrance doorway is coated with cement. There 

 are remains of a stoup in the porch. 



The west tower is of three stages, with an embattled 

 parapet, and a slight, lofty spire covered with lead. 

 The tower arch is of three chamfered orders, the 

 innermost stopping on jambs with moulded capitals 

 and bases, and the two outer continuous ; the stone- 

 work has been restored. The west doorway is 

 modern, but the window over it is of c. 1350 ; it is of 

 two lights and has been repaired with cement. On 

 each face of the tower, at the belfry stage, was a two- 

 light trefoiled opening, the tracery of which is almost 

 gone. 



The roof over the nave is of 15th-century date, 

 with moulded principals and purlins. Many of the 

 corbels and carved bosses are missing. Parts of the 

 chancel roof and the beams over the north chapel 

 belong to the same period. 



The font, which dates from about 1700, is of grey 

 Derbyshire marble and has a moulded circular basin, 

 decorated with scallops, resting on a circular moulded 

 stem. 



On the north wall of the nave is a large distemper 

 painting of St. Christopher, now very indistinct. 



There is a late 16th-century chest in the vestry. 

 In the chapel is a brass inscription (partly broken) to 

 [Litton] Pulter, 1 608, in the porch are some slabs 

 with indents for brasses, and on the chapel floor are 

 several inscribed slabs of the 1 7th century to members 

 of the Pulter family. In the vestry is a 17th-century 

 table. 



There are five bells : the treble by John Briant, 

 1793; the second by Thomas Mcars, 1 84 1 ; the 

 third by Lester & Pack, 1759 ; the fourth and tenor 

 by Miles Graye, 1651 and 1650. 



The communion plate includes cup and cover 

 paten, 1711. 



The registers are in five books : (i) baptisms from 

 1563 to 1684, burials 1558 to 1686, marriages 1558 

 to 1684 ; (ii) baptisms and burials from 1688 to 

 1772, marriages 1691 to 1772; (iii) baptisms and 

 burials from 1773 to 1791 ; (iv) baptisms and burials 

 from 1792 to 18 1 2 ; (v) marriages from 1773 to 

 1812. 



The advowson of the church of 

 ADVOWSON Cottered was held in the reign of 

 Henry II by Jordan Chamberlain, 

 lord of the manor of Cottered, and he gave it in the 

 same reign to the abbey of Westwood in Lesnes, in 

 the parish of Erith, co. Kent, which was founded by 

 Richard de Lucie in 1178.^ In 1258 Martin 

 Chamberlain, son of Jordan, claimed to present, and 

 brought a suit against the abbot, but judgement was 

 given for the latter. S3a The advowson remained 

 with the abbey until the 15th century, when the 

 abbot granted it to John Fray, lord of the manor 



'» G.E.C. CompliU Pec, 



