Old St Peter and St Paul's Church, Albury
Encyclopedia
Old St Peter and St Paul's Church, Albury, is a redundant
Anglican
church near the village of Albury
, Surrey
, England. It has been designated by English Heritage
as a Grade I listed building, and is under the care of the Churches Conservation Trust
. The church stands in Albury Park
, to the northwest of Albury Hall, and between the villages of Albury and Shere.
masonry, may stand on the site of an earlier chancel, but was extended outwards and upwards in the 12th century. During the following century the chancel
and south transept
were added. The south aisle
was added in the 14th century, and the north porch in the early 16th century.
In 1819 the Albury Park estate was bought by Henry Drummond, a London banker. During the following year the spire on the tower was replaced by a cupola
(a small dome). Drummond became involved with the foundation of the Catholic Apostolic Church
in the 1830s, and built a church for this religious movement on his estate. The residents of Albury village had been coming to worship at their parish church
in the estate, and Drummond proposed to close this church and to built a new Anglican church nearer the centre of the village. Building of both the new churches began in 1839. Drummond then commissioned A. W. N. Pugin to convert the south transept of the old church into a mortuary chapel
.
ed parapet
, and a small north window. In the chancel is an east window dating from the late 13th century, and a lancet window
in the south wall. The transept has two two-light windows in its east wall, and a five-light south window. At the west end of the church are two gable
s, an arched window, and a round window. The porch is gabled and has a bargeboard
pierced with quatrefoil
s, rosettes and tracery
.
The church is constructed in ironstone
and sandstone
rubble
. The dressings are in Bargate stone
and clunch
. Part of the north wall is rendered
, and the north porch is timber-framed
. The nave is roofed with Horsham slabs
, the aisle and porch with tiles, and the transept with slate
s. The cupola is shingled
with wood, and has a metal finial
.
arcade
carried on octagonal pillars. The timber nave roof dates from the 14th century. Around the walls are monuments dating from the 17th and 18th centuries. A 14th-century marble
coffin slab is set into the floor of the aisle. In the west wall is a niche
for a statue. Over the south door is a 15th-century wall painting of Saint Christopher
. In the south wall of the aisle is a 14th-century piscina
. The south transept (later the Drummond Chapel) contains Drummond's marble chest tomb. The walls of the chapel are painted in red and gold by T. Early, and the windows contain stained glass by William Wailes
. The ceiling is panelled, and decorated in a quatrefoil
pattern.
. The tomb has been designated as a Grade II listed building.
Redundant church
A redundant church is a church building that is no longer required for regular public worship. The phrase is particularly used to refer to former Anglican buildings in the United Kingdom, but may refer to any disused church building around the world...
Anglican
Anglicanism
Anglicanism is a tradition within Christianity comprising churches with historical connections to the Church of England or similar beliefs, worship and church structures. The word Anglican originates in ecclesia anglicana, a medieval Latin phrase dating to at least 1246 that means the English...
church near the village of Albury
Albury, Surrey
Albury is a village and civil parish in the borough of Guildford in Surrey, England, about south-east of Guildford town centre. The village is within an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and Site of Special Scientific Interest....
, Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
, England. It has been designated by English Heritage
English Heritage
English Heritage . is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport...
as a Grade I listed building, and is under the care of the Churches Conservation Trust
Churches Conservation Trust
The Churches Conservation Trust, which was initially known as the Redundant Churches Fund, is a charity whose purpose is to protect historic churches at risk, those that have been made redundant by the Church of England. The Trust was established by the Pastoral Measure of 1968...
. The church stands in Albury Park
Albury Park
Albury Park is a country park and Grade II* listed historic country house in Surrey, England. It covers over ; within this area is the old village of Albury, which consists of three or four houses and a church. The River Tillingbourne runs through the grounds.-Pre-1890:The Saxon Old St Peter and...
, to the northwest of Albury Hall, and between the villages of Albury and Shere.
History
The nave of the church may date from the Saxon era but has been considerably altered from the 14th century onward. The tower, of which the lower parts contain pre-ConquestNorman conquest of England
The Norman conquest of England began on 28 September 1066 with the invasion of England by William, Duke of Normandy. William became known as William the Conqueror after his victory at the Battle of Hastings on 14 October 1066, defeating King Harold II of England...
masonry, may stand on the site of an earlier chancel, but was extended outwards and upwards in the 12th century. During the following century the chancel
Chancel
In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar in the sanctuary at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building...
and south transept
Transept
For the periodical go to The Transept.A transept is a transverse section, of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In Christian churches, a transept is an area set crosswise to the nave in a cruciform building in Romanesque and Gothic Christian church architecture...
were added. The south aisle
Aisle
An aisle is, in general, a space for walking with rows of seats on both sides or with rows of seats on one side and a wall on the other...
was added in the 14th century, and the north porch in the early 16th century.
In 1819 the Albury Park estate was bought by Henry Drummond, a London banker. During the following year the spire on the tower was replaced by a cupola
Cupola
In architecture, a cupola is a small, most-often dome-like, structure on top of a building. Often used to provide a lookout or to admit light and air, it usually crowns a larger roof or dome....
(a small dome). Drummond became involved with the foundation of the Catholic Apostolic Church
Catholic Apostolic Church
The Catholic Apostolic Church was a religious movement which originated in England around 1831 and later spread to Germany and the United States. While often referred to as Irvingism, it was neither actually founded nor anticipated by Edward Irving. The Catholic Apostolic Church was organised in...
in the 1830s, and built a church for this religious movement on his estate. The residents of Albury village had been coming to worship at their parish church
Parish church
A parish church , in Christianity, is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish, the basic administrative unit of episcopal churches....
in the estate, and Drummond proposed to close this church and to built a new Anglican church nearer the centre of the village. Building of both the new churches began in 1839. Drummond then commissioned A. W. N. Pugin to convert the south transept of the old church into a mortuary chapel
Morgue
A morgue or mortuary is used for the storage of human corpses awaiting identification, or removal for autopsy or disposal by burial, cremation or otherwise...
.
Exterior
The plan of the church consists of a nave and chancel separated by a centrally-placed tower. The nave has a south aisle and there is a south transept projecting from the tower. There is a north porch towards the west of the nave. The tower is in three stages with a battlementBattlement
A battlement in defensive architecture, such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet , in which portions have been cut out at intervals to allow the discharge of arrows or other missiles. These cut-out portions form crenels...
ed parapet
Parapet
A parapet is a wall-like barrier at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony or other structure. Where extending above a roof, it may simply be the portion of an exterior wall that continues above the line of the roof surface, or may be a continuation of a vertical feature beneath the roof such as a...
, and a small north window. In the chancel is an east window dating from the late 13th century, and a lancet window
Lancet window
A lancet window is a tall narrow window with a pointed arch at its top. It acquired the "lancet" name from its resemblance to a lance. Instances of this architectural motif are most often found in Gothic and ecclesiastical structures, where they are often placed singly or in pairs.The motif first...
in the south wall. The transept has two two-light windows in its east wall, and a five-light south window. At the west end of the church are two gable
Gable
A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of a sloping roof. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system being used and aesthetic concerns. Thus the type of roof enclosing the volume dictates the shape of the gable...
s, an arched window, and a round window. The porch is gabled and has a bargeboard
Bargeboard
Bargeboard is a board fastened to the projecting gables of a roof to give them strength and to mask, hide and protect the otherwise exposed end of the horizontal timbers or purlins of the roof to which they were attached...
pierced with quatrefoil
Quatrefoil
The word quatrefoil etymologically means "four leaves", and applies to general four-lobed shapes in various contexts.-In heraldry:In heraldic terminology, a quatrefoil is a representation of a flower with four petals, or a leaf with four leaflets . It is sometimes shown "slipped", i.e. with an...
s, rosettes and tracery
Tracery
In architecture, Tracery is the stonework elements that support the glass in a Gothic window. The term probably derives from the 'tracing floors' on which the complex patterns of late Gothic windows were laid out.-Plate tracery:...
.
The church is constructed in ironstone
Ironstone
Ironstone is a sedimentary rock, either deposited directly as a ferruginous sediment or created by chemical repacement, that contains a substantial proportion of an iron compound from which iron either can be or once was smelted commercially. This term is customarily restricted to hard coarsely...
and sandstone
Sandstone
Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...
rubble
Rubble
Rubble is broken stone, of irregular size, shape and texture. This word is closely connected in derivation with "rubbish", which was formerly also applied to what we now call "rubble". Rubble naturally found in the soil is known also as brash...
. The dressings are in Bargate stone
Bargate stone
Bargate stone is a highly durable form of sandstone, which was quarried for centuries in south west Surrey, England - particularly around Guildford and Godalming. It owes its yellow, ‘butter’ colouring to the high iron oxide content....
and clunch
Clunch
Clunch is a term for traditional building material used mainly in eastern England and Normandy. It is a term which encompasses a wide variety of materials, often locally variable....
. Part of the north wall is rendered
Stucco
Stucco or render is a material made of an aggregate, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as decorative coating for walls and ceilings and as a sculptural and artistic material in architecture...
, and the north porch is timber-framed
Timber framing
Timber framing , or half-timbering, also called in North America "post-and-beam" construction, is the method of creating structures using heavy squared off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large wooden pegs . It is commonplace in large barns...
. The nave is roofed with Horsham slabs
Horsham Stone
Horsham Stone is a type of calcerous, flaggy sandstone containing millions of minute sand grains. It is also high in mica and quartz. The rock extends in an arc-like formation for several kilometres around the West Sussex town of Horsham from which it bears its name and lies just below the Wealden...
, the aisle and porch with tiles, and the transept with slate
Slate
Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. The result is a foliated rock in which the foliation may not correspond to the original sedimentary layering...
s. The cupola is shingled
Roof shingle
Roof shingles are a roof covering consisting of individual overlapping elements. These elements are typically flat rectangular shapes laid in rows from the bottom edge of the roof up, with each successive higher row overlapping the joints in the row below...
with wood, and has a metal finial
Finial
The finial is an architectural device, typically carved in stone and employed decoratively to emphasize the apex of a gable or any of various distinctive ornaments at the top, end, or corner of a building or structure. Smaller finials can be used as a decorative ornament on the ends of curtain rods...
.
Interior
The nave is separated from the south aisle by a three-bayBay (architecture)
A bay is a unit of form in architecture. This unit is defined as the zone between the outer edges of an engaged column, pilaster, or post; or within a window frame, doorframe, or vertical 'bas relief' wall form.-Defining elements:...
arcade
Arcade (architecture)
An arcade is a succession of arches, each counterthrusting the next, supported by columns or piers or a covered walk enclosed by a line of such arches on one or both sides. In warmer or wet climates, exterior arcades provide shelter for pedestrians....
carried on octagonal pillars. The timber nave roof dates from the 14th century. Around the walls are monuments dating from the 17th and 18th centuries. A 14th-century marble
Marble
Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite.Geologists use the term "marble" to refer to metamorphosed limestone; however stonemasons use the term more broadly to encompass unmetamorphosed limestone.Marble is commonly used for...
coffin slab is set into the floor of the aisle. In the west wall is a niche
Niche (architecture)
A niche in classical architecture is an exedra or an apse that has been reduced in size, retaining the half-dome heading usual for an apse. Nero's Domus Aurea was the first semi-private dwelling that possessed rooms that were given richly varied floor plans, shaped with niches and exedras;...
for a statue. Over the south door is a 15th-century wall painting of Saint Christopher
Saint Christopher
.Saint Christopher is a saint venerated by Roman Catholics and Orthodox Christians, listed as a martyr killed in the reign of the 3rd century Roman Emperor Decius or alternatively under the Roman Emperor Maximinus II Dacian...
. In the south wall of the aisle is a 14th-century piscina
Piscina
A piscina is a shallow basin placed near the altar of a church, used for washing the communion vessels. The sacrarium is the drain itself. Anglicans usually refer to the basin, calling it a piscina. Roman Catholics usually refer to the drain, and by extension, the basin, as the sacrarium...
. The south transept (later the Drummond Chapel) contains Drummond's marble chest tomb. The walls of the chapel are painted in red and gold by T. Early, and the windows contain stained glass by William Wailes
William Wailes
William Wailes, , was the proprietor of one of England’s largest and most prolific stained glass workshops.- Biographical :Wailes was born and grew up in Newcastle on Tyne, England’s centre of domestic glass and bottle manufacturing. His first business was as a grocer and tea merchant...
. The ceiling is panelled, and decorated in a quatrefoil
Quatrefoil
The word quatrefoil etymologically means "four leaves", and applies to general four-lobed shapes in various contexts.-In heraldry:In heraldic terminology, a quatrefoil is a representation of a flower with four petals, or a leaf with four leaflets . It is sometimes shown "slipped", i.e. with an...
pattern.
External features
In the churchyard is a chest tomb inscribed "Tupper Vault", that commemorates the artists Arthur Devis and Anthony DevisAnthony Devis
Anthony Devis was an English landscape painter.Anthony Devis was born in Preston, Lancashire. His father's name was also Anthony Devis, who was a carpenter and town councillor in the town. Anthony junior was the older of two sons of his father's second marriage, to Anne Blackburne...
. The tomb has been designated as a Grade II listed building.
See also
- List of churches preserved by the Churches Conservation Trust in South East England