St. Nicolas' Church, North Stoneham
Encyclopedia
St. Nicolas' Church is an Anglican
parish church
at North Stoneham
, Hampshire
which originated before the 15th century and is known for its "One Hand Clock" which dates from the early 17th century, and also for various memorials to the famous.
and Lloyd, in their Buildings of England
: Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, described the setting: "The church is in rural isolation on the edge of the former park, in the midst of a narrow but effective green belt between Eastleigh
and Southampton
".
at Winchester
. At this time, the parish extended from the River Itchen
in the east towards Chilworth
and Bassett Green
in the west with its neighbouring parish, South Stoneham, to the south and east. After the dissolution of the monasteries
in the 1540s, the manor was acquired by Thomas Wriothesley
, Earl of Southampton
. In 1599, the Wriothesley family sold the estate to Sir Thomas Fleming
, whose descendants held the advowson
until 1997.
There was never a village of "North Stoneham", but a few hamlets built on the estate; about half a mile north of the church was the little hamlet of Middle, consisting of a farm and a few cottages, the Cricketer's Arms Inn and the post office. In the early twentieth century, the parish covered approximately 5000 acre (20 km²; 8 sq mi) between the neighbouring towns of Southampton and Eastleigh.
Today, the parish is part of the combined parish of North Stoneham and Bassett
, and St. Nicolas' is one of three churches serving the parish, the others being St. Michael & All Angels
, in Bassett Avenue, and All Saints in Winchester Road.
According to Pevsner, the church was rebuilt at some time between 1590 and 1610 (about the time that the estate was sold to the Fleming family) in an "interesting Gothic survival manner", but incorporating older features (not necessarily from the previous church on the site). It was restored in 1826 by Thomas Hopper, and restored
again (by George Bodley
) in the late nineteenth century.
The new vestry was completed in 2008.
, the then Bishop of Southampton
. It was designed by Isle of Wight
architect Percy Stone, and built of oak timber taken from HMS Thunderer
which took part in the Battle of Trafalgar
.
The church has ashlar
walling stepped buttress
es, diagonally placed on the corners, comprising a high plinth with late moulded step. Set in the western wall, in the tower, is a 13th century window of three lancets
, the centre one higher. According to Pevsner, "It was probably the east window of a church of some pretension", which was re-used when the tower was built in the sixteenth century. The window has been dated from 1230.
The east window of the chancel is fifteenth-century in style, with three cinquefoiled lights with tracery. Pevsner described the east and west aisle windows as: "three-light Perpendicular in arched frames, but differing in details and looking, for the most part, authentically medieval; all or some of them are probably re-used."
The north and south aisle windows are late Gothic in character, from the sixteenth century, although they have been repaired several times, modern cusping
being inserted. In the north aisle there are four windows, the eastern of two cinquefoiled lights with tracery under a pointed head, the next two square-headed, of three and four cinquefoiled lights respectively, and the fourth also square-headed, of three cinquefoiled lights. Between the third and fourth windows is a round-headed north doorway with a plain quarter-round moulding of uncertain but not ancient date; Pevsner described the porch
as "Elizabethan-looking".
The south aisle windows are all square-headed, of three or four lights. The details of the windows are not uniform, the west window of the south aisle, and the four-light window in the north aisle, "being of better style than the rest".
The roof is in three sections with red tiles, finials and raised coping to the gables. The vestry
, which was built in 2008, is situated at the south-west corner of the church.
, in two tall stages, with plain double bell-openings in arched frames on three sides, battlements, and thin crocket
ed pinnacles, with an octagonal stair turret on the north-east corner, and dates from about 1600.
The church has a long history of bell ringing and the current ring of ten bells was once the lightest ten in the country. The ring is accommodated on two frames one above the other, with the lower frame partly made up of the 17th century frame from the earliest recorded installation of bells in St. Nicolas. In his 1908 "A History of the County of Hampshire", William Page reported:
In 2006, the parish launched an appeal to raise £15,000 in order to stabilise the bell-frame and improve the bell handling. The fund-raising activities included a Teddy bear parachute jump
.
and Donhead St Mary.
At the time the clock was installed, "time was counted in hours, not minutes".
The clock has had to be restarted a number of times in its history, the movement being renovated most recently in 1995, when members of the local Concorde Club, among others, helped to restore and maintain the clock by giving some "time", i.e. £2.50 per minute, the target being £150.
25 ft (7.6 m) long and 15 ft (4.6 m) wide, with a nave
of 35 in 9 in (10.9 m) and aisles which run the full length of the nave and chancel, 11 in 5 in (3.48 m) and 11 in 2 in (3.4 m) wide respectively. The tower is 10 ft (3 m) by 9 in 6 in (2.9 m).
The aisle walls are made of ashlar
, mainly perpendicular in character. The east wall of the chancel is built of rubble, and is earlier than the ashlar walls of the aisles and chapels, believed to be part of the medieval church. The nave arcades, of three bays with octagonal pillars and arches of two chamfered orders, are probably fifteenth-century, while the two bays on either side of the chancel are of pseudo-Gothic character, and apparently of late eighteenth or early nineteenth-century date. Two of the pillars are Early English.
The organ is situated at the east end of the north chancel aisle and was originally manufactured in about 1935 by the Positive Organ Company of north-west London and renovated in 1974 and 1993.
The fifteenth-century font, which has an octagonal bowl of Purbeck marble
on a modern stone stem, is under the east arch of the tower.
, were removed from the Stoneham War Shrine and located in the church porch. It is intended that they will be reinstated to their original position when the restoration of the shrine is completed in 2010.
n merchants. The tombstone is bluish limestone slab, 6 in 8 in (2.03 m) by 3 in 8 in (1.12 m) bearing a shield charged with a double-headed eagle surrounded by Gothic foliage; round the edge of the slab runs a marginal inscription with the evangelistic symbols at the four angles — "Sepultura De La Schola De Sclavoni Año Dñi MCCCCLXXXXI" ("The Burial Place of the Guild of Slavonians").
The tomb originated in the fifteenth century when a fair was held at Winchester
starting on St. Giles' Day in early September. The fair was held on St. Giles' Hill to the east of the city centre. At the time, this was the largest fair in Europe; for the sixteen days of the fair, all other trading at Southampton and at every place within seven leagues of Winchester was prohibited, and the Bishop of Winchester
received the revenues normally due to the King.
Among the many foreigners who attended the fair were some who formed themselves into a guild — the "Schola dei Sclavoni" or Guild of Slavonians. Their business was so great that in 1491 they purchased a vault in North Stoneham church where they might inter any of their guild who should chance to die in England. The need for their vault soon arose, for in 1499 highwaymen attacked their trade convoy between Southampton and Winchester and killed two of their number.
, with a detailed depiction of the Battle of Quiberon Bay
(20 Nov 1759). Lord Hawke was the First Lord of the Admiralty who lived at Swaythling House. He died in Sunbury-on-Thames
in 1781 and although he had not lived in Swaythling for some time, he chose to be buried with his wife. His son the second baron
, erected the magnificent memorial to him, carved in white marble, in 1783, the work of sculptor John Francis Moore. It includes a bas-relief of the painting of "The Battle of Quiberon Bay" by Dominic Serres, the Elder.
Over the weekend of 20 November 2009, the church was the focus of special events held to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the Battle.
In addition to the memorial to the admiral, the church has another to his wife, Catherine: "the best Wife, the best Mother and the best of Friends".
, Lord Chief Justice, who was one of the judges at the trial of Guy Fawkes in 1605 and died in 1613. This memorial is known locally as "the floating Flemings", depicting Lord and Lady Fleming in their scarlet and blue court robes, lying on their sides, with kneeling figures of the six sons and two daughters who survived him. The inscription is in two panels on the base, and above the effigies are the arms of the Fleming and James families. The inscription reads:
There are many other memorials to members of the Fleming family including a monument to John Fleming (d.1802), and a portrait tablet to John Willis Fleming
(d.1844) by the Chilworth
sculptor, Richard Cockle Lucas
.
, St. Nicolas and All Saints'. The Reverend Stephen Holmes was invested as the Priest-in-Charge of the Parish of North Stoneham and Bassett by The Right Reverend The Lord Bishop of Winchester
, Michael Scott-Joynt
, on 16 January 2010. A new Motet
, "The Spirit of the Lord God is upon thee", was composed by Roger Steptoe
specially for this occasion. Revd. Holmes was previously Vicar of St. Luke's, Bournemouth.
.
The former gateway to the rectory in Stoneham Lane is also listed, Grade II.
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
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....
at North Stoneham
North Stoneham
North Stoneham is a settlement and ecclesiastical parish in south Hampshire, England. It was formerly an ancient estate and manor. Until the nineteenth century, it was a rural community comprising a number of scattered hamlets, including Middle Stoneham, North End, and Bassett Green, and...
, Hampshire
Hampshire
Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...
which originated before the 15th century and is known for its "One Hand Clock" which dates from the early 17th century, and also for various memorials to the famous.
Location
The church is situated on Stoneham Lane, on the edge of the former Stoneham Park. PevsnerNikolaus Pevsner
Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner, CBE, FBA was a German-born British scholar of history of art and, especially, of history of architecture...
and Lloyd, in their Buildings of England
Pevsner Architectural Guides
The Pevsner Architectural Guides are a series of guide books to the architecture of the British Isles. Begun in the 1940s by art historian Sir Nikolaus Pevsner, the 46 volumes of the Buildings of England series were published between 1951 and 1975. The series was then extended to Scotland and...
: Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, described the setting: "The church is in rural isolation on the edge of the former park, in the midst of a narrow but effective green belt between Eastleigh
Eastleigh
Eastleigh is a railway town in Hampshire, England, and the main town in the Eastleigh borough which is part of Southampton Urban Area. The town lies between Southampton and Winchester, and is part of the South Hampshire conurbation...
and Southampton
Southampton
Southampton is the largest city in the county of Hampshire on the south coast of England, and is situated south-west of London and north-west of Portsmouth. Southampton is a major port and the closest city to the New Forest...
".
North Stoneham parish
The original parish of North Stoneham can be traced back to the early ninth century when it was known as "Stonam Abbatis" or "Abbots Stoneham" and was attached to Hyde AbbeyHyde Abbey
Hyde Abbey was a medieval Benedictine monastery just outside the walls of Winchester, Hampshire, England. It was dissolved and demolished in 1538....
at Winchester
Winchester
Winchester is a historic cathedral city and former capital city of England. It is the county town of Hampshire, in South East England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government district, and is located at the western end of the South Downs, along the course of...
. At this time, the parish extended from the River Itchen
River Itchen, Hampshire
The River Itchen is a river in Hampshire, England. It flows from mid-Hampshire to join with Southampton Water below the Itchen Bridge in the city of Southampton. The river has a total length of , and is noted as one of England's - if not one of the World's - premier chalk streams for fly fishing,...
in the east towards Chilworth
Chilworth
Chilworth is a village in Hampshire, UK, very close to the city of Southampton. Good travel connections and restricted development have led to the village becoming particularly affluent...
and Bassett Green
Bassett Green
Bassett Green is a suburb of Southampton, which has grown from the original small village of Basset. It remains part of the electoral ward of Bassett. The area is mainly residential, with a mixture of Herbert Collins-designed houses and recent council built estates known as the Flowers Estate and...
in the west with its neighbouring parish, South Stoneham, to the south and east. After the dissolution of the monasteries
Dissolution of the Monasteries
The Dissolution of the Monasteries, sometimes referred to as the Suppression of the Monasteries, was the set of administrative and legal processes between 1536 and 1541 by which Henry VIII disbanded monasteries, priories, convents and friaries in England, Wales and Ireland; appropriated their...
in the 1540s, the manor was acquired by Thomas Wriothesley
Thomas Wriothesley, 1st Earl of Southampton
Thomas Wriothesley, 1st Earl of Southampton, KG , known as The Lord Wriothesley between 1544 and 1547, was a politician of the Tudor period born in London to William Wrythe and Agnes Drayton....
, Earl of Southampton
Earl of Southampton
Earl of Southampton was a title that was created three times in the Peerage of England. The first creation came in 1537 in favour of the courtier William Fitzwilliam. He was childless and the title became extinct on his death in 1542. The second creation came in 1547 in favour of the politician...
. In 1599, the Wriothesley family sold the estate to Sir Thomas Fleming
Thomas Fleming (judge)
Sir Thomas Fleming was an English member of Parliament and judge, whose most famous case was the trial of Guy Fawkes in relation to the Gunpowder Plot...
, whose descendants held the advowson
Advowson
Advowson is the right in English law of a patron to present or appoint a nominee to a vacant ecclesiastical benefice or church living, a process known as presentation. In effect this means the right to nominate a person to hold a church office in a parish...
until 1997.
There was never a village of "North Stoneham", but a few hamlets built on the estate; about half a mile north of the church was the little hamlet of Middle, consisting of a farm and a few cottages, the Cricketer's Arms Inn and the post office. In the early twentieth century, the parish covered approximately 5000 acre (20 km²; 8 sq mi) between the neighbouring towns of Southampton and Eastleigh.
Today, the parish is part of the combined parish of North Stoneham and Bassett
Bassett
- Academia :* John Spencer Bassett , American professor at Trinity College * Joshua Bassett , English academic at Cambridge- Arts and entertainment :* Angela Bassett , American actress...
, and St. Nicolas' is one of three churches serving the parish, the others being St. Michael & All Angels
St. Michael and All Angels Church, Bassett
St. Michael and All Angels Church, Bassett, Southampton is an Anglican parish church which dates from the late 19th century.-Location:The church is situated on the eastern side of Bassett Avenue, Southampton, described by Pevsner & Lloyd as "part of the splendid tree-lined route into Southampton...
, in Bassett Avenue, and All Saints in Winchester Road.
The church
St. Nicolas' is medieval in origin, and has probably been the site of a place of worship for 1,000 years. The church is a Grade II* listed building, and the listing states that the church was "built on (the) site of a 13th century Church and possibly a Saxon Chapel".According to Pevsner, the church was rebuilt at some time between 1590 and 1610 (about the time that the estate was sold to the Fleming family) in an "interesting Gothic survival manner", but incorporating older features (not necessarily from the previous church on the site). It was restored in 1826 by Thomas Hopper, and restored
Victorian restoration
Victorian restoration is the term commonly used to refer to the widespread and extensive refurbishment and rebuilding of Church of England churches and cathedrals that took place in England and Wales during the 19th-century reign of Queen Victoria...
again (by George Bodley
George Frederick Bodley
George Frederick Bodley was an English architect working in the Gothic revival style.-Personal life:Bodley was the youngest son of William Hulme Bodley, M.D. of Edinburgh, physician at Hull Royal Infirmary, Kingston upon Hull, who in 1838 retired to his wife's home town, Brighton, Sussex, England....
) in the late nineteenth century.
The new vestry was completed in 2008.
Lych gate
The lych-gate was built in 1909 in memory of Emily Macarthur, the wife of James MacarthurJames Macarthur
James Macarthur was an Anglican Bishop in the late 19th and early 20th century.Born on 7 June 1848, Macarthur was educated at the University of Glasgow and studied for ordination at Ripon College Cuddesdon. From 1878 he was Curate at St Mary Redcliffe in Bristol before Incumbencies in Lamplugh...
, the then Bishop of Southampton
Bishop of Southampton
The Bishop of Southampton is an episcopal title used by a suffragan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Winchester, in the Province of Canterbury, England. The title takes its name after the city of Southampton in Hampshire. The current bishop is The Rt Revd Jonathan Frost, who became bishop...
. It was designed by Isle of Wight
Isle of Wight
The Isle of Wight is a county and the largest island of England, located in the English Channel, on average about 2–4 miles off the south coast of the county of Hampshire, separated from the mainland by a strait called the Solent...
architect Percy Stone, and built of oak timber taken from HMS Thunderer
HMS Thunderer (1783)
HMS Thunderer was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built at the Wells brother's shipyard in Rotherhithe and launched on 13 November 1783...
which took part in the Battle of Trafalgar
Battle of Trafalgar
The Battle of Trafalgar was a sea battle fought between the British Royal Navy and the combined fleets of the French Navy and Spanish Navy, during the War of the Third Coalition of the Napoleonic Wars ....
.
The church exterior
Pevsner described the church as:an intriguing and problematical building, with a three-gabled east termination and a west tower, looking like a Devon church. Nave, chancel, and aisles continuing into chapels; a rectangle except for the tower and north porch.
The church has ashlar
Ashlar
Ashlar is prepared stone work of any type of stone. Masonry using such stones laid in parallel courses is known as ashlar masonry, whereas masonry using irregularly shaped stones is known as rubble masonry. Ashlar blocks are rectangular cuboid blocks that are masonry sculpted to have square edges...
walling stepped buttress
Buttress
A buttress is an architectural structure built against or projecting from a wall which serves to support or reinforce the wall...
es, diagonally placed on the corners, comprising a high plinth with late moulded step. Set in the western wall, in the tower, is a 13th century window of three lancets
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...
, the centre one higher. According to Pevsner, "It was probably the east window of a church of some pretension", which was re-used when the tower was built in the sixteenth century. The window has been dated from 1230.
The east window of the chancel is fifteenth-century in style, with three cinquefoiled lights with tracery. Pevsner described the east and west aisle windows as: "three-light Perpendicular in arched frames, but differing in details and looking, for the most part, authentically medieval; all or some of them are probably re-used."
The north and south aisle windows are late Gothic in character, from the sixteenth century, although they have been repaired several times, modern cusping
Cusp (singularity)
In the mathematical theory of singularities a cusp is a type of singular point of a curve. Cusps are local singularities in that they are not formed by self intersection points of the curve....
being inserted. In the north aisle there are four windows, the eastern of two cinquefoiled lights with tracery under a pointed head, the next two square-headed, of three and four cinquefoiled lights respectively, and the fourth also square-headed, of three cinquefoiled lights. Between the third and fourth windows is a round-headed north doorway with a plain quarter-round moulding of uncertain but not ancient date; Pevsner described the porch
Church porch
A church porch is a room at a church's main entrance.In Scandinavia the porch of a church is often called by names meaning weaponhouse. Visitors stored weapons there because of a prohibition against carrying weapons into the sanctuary, or into houses in general....
as "Elizabethan-looking".
The south aisle windows are all square-headed, of three or four lights. The details of the windows are not uniform, the west window of the south aisle, and the four-light window in the north aisle, "being of better style than the rest".
The roof is in three sections with red tiles, finials and raised coping to the gables. The vestry
Vestry
A vestry is a room in or attached to a church or synagogue in which the vestments, vessels, records, etc., are kept , and in which the clergy and choir robe or don their vestments for divine service....
, which was built in 2008, is situated at the south-west corner of the church.
The tower and bells
The tower is built of ashlarAshlar
Ashlar is prepared stone work of any type of stone. Masonry using such stones laid in parallel courses is known as ashlar masonry, whereas masonry using irregularly shaped stones is known as rubble masonry. Ashlar blocks are rectangular cuboid blocks that are masonry sculpted to have square edges...
, in two tall stages, with plain double bell-openings in arched frames on three sides, battlements, and thin crocket
Crocket
A crocket is a hook-shaped decorative element common in Gothic architecture. It is in the form of a stylised carving of curled leaves, buds or flowers which is used at regular intervals to decorate the sloping edges of spires, finials, pinnacles, and wimpergs....
ed pinnacles, with an octagonal stair turret on the north-east corner, and dates from about 1600.
The church has a long history of bell ringing and the current ring of ten bells was once the lightest ten in the country. The ring is accommodated on two frames one above the other, with the lower frame partly made up of the 17th century frame from the earliest recorded installation of bells in St. Nicolas. In his 1908 "A History of the County of Hampshire", William Page reported:
"There are six bells by Taylor of Loughborough, 1893. The former ring was of three, by I H., 1651, Antony Bond, 1623, and a Salisbury founder, c. 1400."Of the present bells, three were cast by Taylor in 1931 and the remaining seven in 1956.
In 2006, the parish launched an appeal to raise £15,000 in order to stabilise the bell-frame and improve the bell handling. The fund-raising activities included a Teddy bear parachute jump
Teddy bear parachuting
Teddy bear parachuting , sometimes referred to as parafauna, is a game in which teddy bears equipped with parachutes are dropped from a height. It is increasing in popularity as a charity fundraiser, and competitions based on the descent time are also common.A typical teddy bear parachute may be...
.
The clock
On the eastern face of the tower is the church clock, which has only one hand, pointing to the hour. The "One Hand Clock" was originally installed in the early 17th century; the movement is by William Monk (died 1753) of Berwick St. JohnBerwick St. John
Berwick St John is a village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England. Its nearest town is Shaftesbury in Dorset, which lies approximately east from the village. The 2001 census recorded a parish population of 398.-External links:*...
and Donhead St Mary.
At the time the clock was installed, "time was counted in hours, not minutes".
The clock has had to be restarted a number of times in its history, the movement being renovated most recently in 1995, when members of the local Concorde Club, among others, helped to restore and maintain the clock by giving some "time", i.e. £2.50 per minute, the target being £150.
The church interior
The church has a chancelChancel
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...
25 ft (7.6 m) long and 15 ft (4.6 m) wide, with a nave
Nave
In Romanesque and Gothic Christian abbey, cathedral basilica and church architecture, the nave is the central approach to the high altar, the main body of the church. "Nave" was probably suggested by the keel shape of its vaulting...
of 35 in 9 in (10.9 m) and aisles which run the full length of the nave and chancel, 11 in 5 in (3.48 m) and 11 in 2 in (3.4 m) wide respectively. The tower is 10 ft (3 m) by 9 in 6 in (2.9 m).
The aisle walls are made of ashlar
Ashlar
Ashlar is prepared stone work of any type of stone. Masonry using such stones laid in parallel courses is known as ashlar masonry, whereas masonry using irregularly shaped stones is known as rubble masonry. Ashlar blocks are rectangular cuboid blocks that are masonry sculpted to have square edges...
, mainly perpendicular in character. The east wall of the chancel is built of rubble, and is earlier than the ashlar walls of the aisles and chapels, believed to be part of the medieval church. The nave arcades, of three bays with octagonal pillars and arches of two chamfered orders, are probably fifteenth-century, while the two bays on either side of the chancel are of pseudo-Gothic character, and apparently of late eighteenth or early nineteenth-century date. Two of the pillars are Early English.
The organ is situated at the east end of the north chancel aisle and was originally manufactured in about 1935 by the Positive Organ Company of north-west London and renovated in 1974 and 1993.
The fifteenth-century font, which has an octagonal bowl of Purbeck marble
Purbeck Marble
Purbeck Marble is a fossiliferous limestone quarried in the Isle of Purbeck, a peninsula in south-east Dorset, England.It is one of many kinds of Purbeck Limestone, deposited in the late Jurassic or early Cretaceous periods....
on a modern stone stem, is under the east arch of the tower.
Windows
A series of heraldic windows (1826) illustrated the ancestry of the Fleming family, but were shattered by a bomb blast in the Second World War. The fragments have been reset in the windows.The porch
The two First World War Roll of Honour memorial panels in lead, fashioned by the controversial artist, Eric GillEric Gill
Arthur Eric Rowton Gill was a British sculptor, typeface designer, stonecutter and printmaker, who was associated with the Arts and Crafts movement...
, were removed from the Stoneham War Shrine and located in the church porch. It is intended that they will be reinstated to their original position when the restoration of the shrine is completed in 2010.
Slavonian tomb-stone
On the chancel floor is a gravestone inscribed to SlavoniaSlavonia
Slavonia is a geographical and historical region in eastern Croatia...
n merchants. The tombstone is bluish limestone slab, 6 in 8 in (2.03 m) by 3 in 8 in (1.12 m) bearing a shield charged with a double-headed eagle surrounded by Gothic foliage; round the edge of the slab runs a marginal inscription with the evangelistic symbols at the four angles — "Sepultura De La Schola De Sclavoni Año Dñi MCCCCLXXXXI" ("The Burial Place of the Guild of Slavonians").
The tomb originated in the fifteenth century when a fair was held at Winchester
Winchester
Winchester is a historic cathedral city and former capital city of England. It is the county town of Hampshire, in South East England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government district, and is located at the western end of the South Downs, along the course of...
starting on St. Giles' Day in early September. The fair was held on St. Giles' Hill to the east of the city centre. At the time, this was the largest fair in Europe; for the sixteen days of the fair, all other trading at Southampton and at every place within seven leagues of Winchester was prohibited, and the Bishop of Winchester
Bishop of Winchester
The Bishop of Winchester is the head of the Church of England diocese of Winchester, with his cathedra at Winchester Cathedral in Hampshire.The bishop is one of five Church of England bishops to be among the Lords Spiritual regardless of their length of service. His diocese is one of the oldest and...
received the revenues normally due to the King.
Among the many foreigners who attended the fair were some who formed themselves into a guild — the "Schola dei Sclavoni" or Guild of Slavonians. Their business was so great that in 1491 they purchased a vault in North Stoneham church where they might inter any of their guild who should chance to die in England. The need for their vault soon arose, for in 1499 highwaymen attacked their trade convoy between Southampton and Winchester and killed two of their number.
The monument to Lord Hawke
In the south aisle there is an elaborate wall memorial to Admiral Lord HawkeEdward Hawke, 1st Baron Hawke
Admiral of the Fleet Edward Hawke, 1st Baron Hawke KB, PC was an officer of the Royal Navy. He is best remembered for his service during the Seven Years' War, particularly his victory over a French fleet at the Battle of Quiberon Bay in 1759, preventing a French invasion of Britain...
, with a detailed depiction of the Battle of Quiberon Bay
Battle of Quiberon Bay
The naval Battle of Quiberon Bay took place on 20 November 1759 during the Seven Years' War in Quiberon Bay, off the coast of France near St. Nazaire...
(20 Nov 1759). Lord Hawke was the First Lord of the Admiralty who lived at Swaythling House. He died in Sunbury-on-Thames
Sunbury-on-Thames
Sunbury-on-Thames, also known as Sunbury, is a town in the Surrey borough of Spelthorne, England, and part of the London commuter belt. It is located 16 miles southwest of central London and bordered by Feltham and Hampton, flanked on the south by the River Thames.-History:The earliest evidence of...
in 1781 and although he had not lived in Swaythling for some time, he chose to be buried with his wife. His son the second baron
Martin Hawke, 2nd Baron Hawke
Martin Bladen Hawke, 2nd Baron Hawke was a British peer and politician.-Background:Hawke was the son of Admiral Edward Hawke, 1st Baron Hawke, and Catherine, daughter of Walter Brooke. He was educated at the University of Oxford.-Political career:Hawke sat as Member of Parliament for Saltash from...
, erected the magnificent memorial to him, carved in white marble, in 1783, the work of sculptor John Francis Moore. It includes a bas-relief of the painting of "The Battle of Quiberon Bay" by Dominic Serres, the Elder.
Over the weekend of 20 November 2009, the church was the focus of special events held to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the Battle.
In addition to the memorial to the admiral, the church has another to his wife, Catherine: "the best Wife, the best Mother and the best of Friends".
The Sir Thomas Fleming monument
At the east end of the south aisle, on the south side, is the monument to Sir Thomas FlemingThomas Fleming (judge)
Sir Thomas Fleming was an English member of Parliament and judge, whose most famous case was the trial of Guy Fawkes in relation to the Gunpowder Plot...
, Lord Chief Justice, who was one of the judges at the trial of Guy Fawkes in 1605 and died in 1613. This memorial is known locally as "the floating Flemings", depicting Lord and Lady Fleming in their scarlet and blue court robes, lying on their sides, with kneeling figures of the six sons and two daughters who survived him. The inscription is in two panels on the base, and above the effigies are the arms of the Fleming and James families. The inscription reads:
In most Assvred Hope of A Blessed Resvrection, Here Lyeth Interred ye Bodie of Sir Thomas Flemyng, Knight, Lord Chief Jvstice of England; Great Was His Learning, Many Were His Virtves. He Always Feared God & God Still Blessed Him & ye Love & Favour Both of God & Man Was Daylie Upon Him. He Was In Especiall Grace & Favour With 2 Most Worthie & Virtvovs Princes Q. Elizabeth & King James. Many Offices and Dygnities Were Conferred Upon Him. He Was First Sargeant At Law, Then Recorder of London; Then Solicitor Generall to Both ye Said Princes. Then Lo: Chief Baron of ye Exchequer & after Lo: Chief Jvstice of England. All Which Places He Did Execvte With So Great Integrity, Justice & Discretion that Hys Lyfe Was Of All Good Men Desired, His Death Of All Lamented. He Was Borne at Newporte In ye Isle Of Wight, Brough Up In Learning & ye Studie Of ye Lawe. In ye 26 Yeare Of His Age He Was coopled in ye Blessed State of Matrimony To His Virtvovs Wife, ye La: Mary Fleming, With whom He Lived & Continewed In that Blessed Estate By ye Space Of 43 Yeares. Having By Her In that Tyme 15 Children, 8 Sonnes & 7 Davghters, Of Whom 2 Sonnes & 5 Davghters Died In His Life Time. And Afterwards In Ripeness of Age and Fulness of Happie yeares yt Is to Saie ye 7th Day of Avgvst 1613 in ye 69 Yeare Of His Age, He Left This Life For a Better, Leaving Also Behind Him Livinge Together With His Virtvovs Wife 6 Soones & 2 Davghters.
There are many other memorials to members of the Fleming family including a monument to John Fleming (d.1802), and a portrait tablet to John Willis Fleming
John Willis Fleming
John Willis Fleming was an English landed proprietor and Conservative Member of Parliament.He was born at Bletchley in Buckinghamshire. He was educated at Eton College. He was the great grandson of the antiquary Browne Willis...
(d.1844) by the Chilworth
Chilworth
Chilworth is a village in Hampshire, UK, very close to the city of Southampton. Good travel connections and restricted development have led to the village becoming particularly affluent...
sculptor, Richard Cockle Lucas
Richard Cockle Lucas
Richard Cockle Lucas was an English sculptor and photographer.-Career:Lucas was born in Salisbury, Wiltshire, the son of Richard Lucas and his wife, Martha Sutton ....
.
The church today
Although situated in a rural area, not in the centre of a housing development, the church has a faithful congregation, some of whom travel many miles to attend services. Worship is strongly Eucharistic, with a regular Sunday morning service.Clergy
The clergy are shared between the three churches of the Parish: St. Michael and All AngelsSt. Michael and All Angels Church, Bassett
St. Michael and All Angels Church, Bassett, Southampton is an Anglican parish church which dates from the late 19th century.-Location:The church is situated on the eastern side of Bassett Avenue, Southampton, described by Pevsner & Lloyd as "part of the splendid tree-lined route into Southampton...
, St. Nicolas and All Saints'. The Reverend Stephen Holmes was invested as the Priest-in-Charge of the Parish of North Stoneham and Bassett by The Right Reverend The Lord Bishop of Winchester
Bishop of Winchester
The Bishop of Winchester is the head of the Church of England diocese of Winchester, with his cathedra at Winchester Cathedral in Hampshire.The bishop is one of five Church of England bishops to be among the Lords Spiritual regardless of their length of service. His diocese is one of the oldest and...
, Michael Scott-Joynt
Michael Scott-Joynt
Michael Charles Scott-Joynt is an English ecclesiastic and prelate of the Order of the Garter. He was appointed Bishop of Winchester, one of the five senior bishoprics in the Church of England, in 1995. He had previously served as Bishop of Stafford in the Diocese of Lichfield from 1987 and before...
, on 16 January 2010. A new Motet
Motet
In classical music, motet is a word that is applied to a number of highly varied choral musical compositions.-Etymology:The name comes either from the Latin movere, or a Latinized version of Old French mot, "word" or "verbal utterance." The Medieval Latin for "motet" is motectum, and the Italian...
, "The Spirit of the Lord God is upon thee", was composed by Roger Steptoe
Roger Steptoe
Roger Steptoe is an English composer and pianist born in 1953.Steptoe studied music at the University of Reading before becoming a post-graduate student at the Royal Academy of Music, London, from 1974 to 1977...
specially for this occasion. Revd. Holmes was previously Vicar of St. Luke's, Bournemouth.
Stoneham Rectory
The nineteenth century rectory, which stands on the opposite side of Stoneham lane, is a Grade II listed building. It is now part of an office complex for Mott MacDonaldMott MacDonald
The Mott MacDonald Group is an employee-owned company management, engineering and development consultancy serving the public and private sectors world-wide...
.
The former gateway to the rectory in Stoneham Lane is also listed, Grade II.