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Norman church which succeeded the Saxon, only a few doubtful 

 pieces of masonry remain worked into the church which still exists, 

 but a charter of Richard de Redvers executed betwixt noo and 

 1 107 distinctly confers Sopley Church on Twynham Monastery, and 

 this first deed of gift was confirmed by successive de Redvers, Earls 

 of Devon, etc., and the living was amongst the properties surren- 

 dered to Henry VIII by Twynham Priory at the dissolution in 1539. 



Before, however, proceeding to an examination of the interior of 

 the building, we must just glance at its outside. We have here 

 obviously a cruciform church with a nave, chancel, transepts and a 

 west but no central tower. We again notice the buttresses of the 

 nave are many and strong for so small a church, the western ones 

 being placed diagonally at the corners — a feature not found before 

 the 14th century. From these and other structural peculiarities of 

 the roof and the central (inside) columns, we expect that the central 

 tower either collapsed or had to be taken down at an early date to 

 prevent destruction of the entire church. The north porch is the 

 chief entrance, and over its arch in a niche is a figure of St. Michael 

 holding a staff or spear and apparently standing on a corbel head. 

 There is no trace of a dragon under the saint of church dedication, 

 so it probably indicates St. Michael in victory. The western tower 

 is of the Perpendicular type and is surmounted by a low timbered 

 and slated spire. On the east and north gables are two ancient 

 crosses (of an older church ?) Entering the church by the north 

 porch, wall paintings and frescoes are seen. Over the south door 

 the faded figure of St. Christopher and the infant Christ may still 

 be traced, and in the nave and north transept relics of inscriptions 

 and paintings indicate that Sopley had an ancient polychromatic 

 church. 



In the nave the pillars are octagonal and standing on square 

 plinths with capitals of rounded and simple mould. A rood loft 

 formerly existed between the east piers of the crossing, and traces 

 of access to it still remain and portions of the old screen are said to 

 be preserved in the reading desks. The ancient wooden roof of the 

 nave was cleared from its ugly plaster ceiling in 1868, and it was 

 then seen to be a trussed roof and an excellent example of 15th 

 century work. The wall posts of the nave roof rested on corbels — 

 two of these representing members of the angel choir still remain, 

 one playing the double pipe and the other the viol. There are also 

 two mutilated corbels supporting the arch leading from the north aisle 

 into the transept. These have been supposed to represent Edward 

 II or III and their Queens, but they do not correspond with their 

 effigies in other places and being uncrowned may be manorial 

 personages associated with the church. The north transept was an 

 ancient chapel, and in the south transept was and still is an excellent 

 hagioscope. The pulpit is Jacobean and bears the date 1604. On 

 entering the chancel we notice in the south wall a low side window 

 or lynchnoscope — one of the great puzzles in ecclesiastical archae- 

 ology. Its use is said to be either for the relief of travellers or 

 lepers, for ventilation, for the ringing of the sanctus bell, doles to 

 the poor, etc. 



