St John the Baptist's Church | |
---|---|
50°54′38″N0°09′12″W / 50.9105°N 0.1534°W | |
Location | Underhill Lane, Clayton, West Sussex BN6 9PJ |
Country | United Kingdom |
Denomination | Church of England |
History | |
Status | Parish church |
Founded | 11th century |
Dedication | John the Baptist |
Architecture | |
Functional status | Active |
Heritage designation | Grade I |
Designated | 28 October 1957 |
Style | Anglo-Saxon |
Administration | |
Province | Canterbury |
Diocese | Chichester |
Archdeaconry | Horsham |
Deanery | Rural Deanery of Hurst |
Parish | Clayton with Keymer |
Clergy | |
Vicar(s) | Rev. Alexander Baxter |
St John the Baptist's Church is the Church of England parish church of the village of Clayton in Mid Sussex District, one of seven local government districts in the English county of West Sussex. The small and simple Anglo-Saxon building is distinguished by its "remarkable" and extensive set of wall paintings, dating from the early 12th century and rediscovered more than 700 years later. Much of the structural work of the church is 11th-century and has had little alteration. The church, which stands in the middle of a large churchyard and serves the small village of Clayton at the foot of the South Downs, is part of a joint parish with the neighbouring village of Keymer—an arrangement which has existed informally for centuries and which was legally recognised in the 20th century. English Heritage has listed the church at Grade I for its architectural and historical importance.
The ancient village of Clayton, situated where the main route from London to Brighton crossed an east–west track at the foot of the South Downs, [1] existed at the time of the Domesday survey in 1086, when it was called Claitune or Claitona. [2] [3] It was at the southern end of the parish of the same name, which covered 1,414 acres (572 ha) of mostly rural land running north (and downhill) from the summit of the South Downs. The manor of Clayton was held at that time by William de Watevile for William de Warenne, who built the nearby Lewes Castle. The church was in the possession of Lewes Priory, which had been given it by de Warenne in 1093. [3] The manor and church in the neighbouring parish of Keymer had the same ownership. [4] The original dedication of St John the Baptist's Church was All Saints—a common dedication during the Anglo-Saxon era. [5]
The standard layout of Anglo-Saxon churches was a tall nave without aisles linked to a smaller, square-ended (not apsidal) chancel by a chancel arch. [6] St John the Baptist's Church follows this form; and the nave and chancel arch, along with parts of the north and south chancel walls, survive from the 11th century. [2] On the north side of the nave, fragmentary remains of a 12th-century porticus (a low side chapel, similar to a transept) can be seen: on the inside, there is a blocked round-headed opening, while on the outside a roofline is visible. A similar porticus of the 13th century existed on the south side; its remnants can still be seen. [3] [7] [8] [9]
The entrance porch on the north wall was erected in the 15th century, [10] but the heavy oak door dates from the Norman era. [5] [11] The entrance was originally on the south side; suggested reasons for its move include avoiding the prevailing wind, which blows off the hills straight into the south wall, or a change in the location of the nearby road in medieval times. [5] The squat wooden belfry at the west end of the nave is also 15th-century, [10] as are two of the three bells. [3] The path leading to the porch is unusually made of "ripplestone"—Horsham sandstone taken from a nearby riverbed. [5] [11]
The chancel was rebuilt in the 19th century, [8] [9] and a vestry was added on the northwest side. [3] [12] Minor restoration work was carried out in the 20th century. A blocked window, discovered in the north wall of the chancel, was found be an original Anglo-Saxon window. [8] [13] The former side-chapel on the north side was discovered during excavation work in 1918. [10] The lychgate at the entrance to the churchyard was built in the early 1920s by Philip Mainwaring Johnston [14] and serves as Clayton's war memorial. A Falklands War casualty is commemorated, and there is also a military grave from that conflict in the churchyard, where American theatrical producer Marc Klaw is also buried. To commemorate the Millennium, new stained glass was inserted in the west window of the nave; the design received considerable praise. [5]
The most famous feature of St John the Baptist's Church [8] is the array of well-preserved and ancient wall paintings in the nave and on the chancel arch. They are part of a series painted by monks from Lewes Priory; this was the first Cluniac house in England and had close links to its mother priory at Cluny in Burgundy, and the art techniques developed at Cluny from the mid-10th century were very influential. [15] [16] Murals from the same school—known as the Lewes Group—can also be seen at Coombes Church near Shoreham-by-Sea, St Botolph's Church at Hardham and St Michael and All Angels Church at Plumpton, [17] [18] and were once visible at the church in Westmeston as well. [16] The examples at Clayton have been described as "some of the most important in the country", [5] "remarkable", [3] [11] [19] "a fine set", [13] "amazing", [1] "unique in England for their extent, preservation and date", [17] and "graphically representing ... the terrors of Judgment Day". [20] They are also some of the oldest surviving murals in England, [1] although their age is not known for certain. Historians have variously dated them to the 11th century, [5] c. 1080, [21] between 1080 and 1120, [16] c. 1100, [11] "later than 1125", [22] c. 1140, [13] [17] c. 1150 [23] or late 12th century. [24]
The murals cover the chancel arch and the east, south and north walls of the nave, [13] [19] and were uncovered between 1893 and 1895 when Charles Eamer Kempe was restoring the interior. [3] [13] More were uncovered during subsequent alterations between 1917 and 1919. [25] Nikolaus Pevsner believed that the west wall would have had similar paintings as well. [17] Most authorities agree that they are frescoes—painted directly on wet plaster. [5] [8] [19] Like the other Lewes Group paintings, they feature a very small range of local pigments in shades of yellow and red (leading to the nickname "bacon-and-egg"). [1] [16]
The main subject of the murals is the Day of Judgment, making them an early example of the "Doom" paintings seen in medieval churches across England. [5] [15] Pevsner noticed that the figures had characteristic features: "extremely long and lean, with heavy ... garments, exceedingly small heads ... [and] strange headgear". [17] Centrally placed above the chancel arch is an image of Christ in Majesty in a mandorla held by angels and with apostles on each side. Flanking this are Christ giving the Keys of Heaven to Saint Peter (to the left) and a book to Saint Paul. [26] On the north wall of the nave, a procession (led by bishops) approaches the Heavenly Jerusalem, watched by angels and saints, and the defeat of the Antichrist. [18] [26] Scenes on the south side include angels, one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, worshipping saints [3] [26] and another procession, this time of the damned: in this dramatic composition, "a spike-heeled devil riding a large beast separates the doomed from the blessed". [18] An angel is also depicted at each corner of the nave: this is another reference to the Day of Judgment, when, according to the Gospel of Mark, "shall He send His angels, and shall gather together His elect from the four winds, from the uttermost part of the Earth to the uttermost part of Heaven" (Mark 13:27). [27] The paintings are heavy with symbolism, [27] and "give a full interpretation of the Last Judgment": [1] in medieval times such paintings were the most important way of conveying information and narratives to worshippers, many of whom could not read. [28]
In 2010, it was reported that the murals were threatened with damage from bat faeces. [29] A colony of bats—a protected species—were roosting in the church, and church staff had to remove droppings from the walls before each service. Bat urine was also harming the timbers of the roof. A survey by specialists indicated that although the paintings were still "in good condition", their age and fragility increased the risk of damage. [29]
St John the Baptist's Church is a typical example of the simple two-cell (nave and chancel) layout found at many pre-Norman Conquest churches in Sussex. [6] The plan consists of a square-ended chancel, a much taller nave, a porch on the north side, a vestry on the south side and a west-end belfry of timber and shingles. [3] [6] The "tall, thin walls" of the nave give the church a "heartfelt piety". [6] The church is built of flint with some sandstone dressings and quoins, covered with cement in places. The roof is laid with a mixture of red tiles and Horsham Stone slabs. [1] [3]
The "bold", [1] "impressive", [25] "solid and powerful" [11] chancel arch is the principal structural feature inside. It dates from the 11th century and is flanked by a pair of arched recesses, one of which retains some original plasterwork. [3] These may have served as squints originally. [5] The structure dominates the nave through its sheer height, the use of massive square stone blocks with a smooth, plain finish, [30] and the three 10-inch (25 cm) moulded shafts on each side. [3] [31] The jambs terminate in bulky chamfered imposts. [3] [11] The arch has been compared to that of another Grade I-listed Anglo-Saxon church in West Sussex—the slightly older St Nicholas' Church at Worth. [9] [31] Its three bells date from the early 15th century (by Richard Hille), the 1470s (Henry Jurdan) and 1713 (Samuel Knight). [3] Hille owned a foundry in London; his bells are found at several other churches throughout Sussex. [32]
The chancel, renewed in the 19th century, [9] measures 19.5 by 13.25 feet (5.94 m × 4.04 m). The east window is a three-light lancet with mullions, set below a segmental-arched hood mould. There are two narrow lancets in the south and north walls as well, and a blocked window of Anglo-Saxon origin on the latter. [3] [13] The walls are just over 2 feet (0.61 m) thick. [10]
The nave formerly had a pair of porticus-style side chapels, but little trace of these remains—although blocked windows and fragments of archways and gabled roofs have been visible since 1918, when they were excavated. [3] [11] The nave's dimensions are 43 by 22.5 feet (13.1 m × 6.9 m), and the walls are about 2.5 feet (0.76 m) thick. [10] The Norman doorway, reset on the north side in its 15th-century porch, have jambs with five stones of irregular length and a five-stone arch. The belfry, at the west end of the nave, sits on top of the roof with no structural link to the inside of the building. It has a shallow pyramid-shaped roof. [10]
Other than the wall paintings, the interior is plain. [8] The ceiling has panelling and simple timberwork, and walls with no murals are plastered. [3] [19] There are some 18th-century Eucharistic objects and a 17-inch (43 cm) brass memorial to Richard Idon, a parson, who died in 1523. [5] [26] He is shown holding a Communion wafer and chalice and clad in vestments. [25] Another brass, slightly older (1508) but consisting solely of an inscription to Thomas a Wode, is hidden under a carpet. [3] [5]
St John the Baptist's Church was listed at Grade I by English Heritage on 28 October 1957. [23] Such buildings are defined as being of "exceptional interest" and greater than national importance. [33] As of February 2001, it was one of 16 Grade I listed buildings, and 1,028 listed buildings of all grades, in the district of Mid Sussex. [34]
The ecclesiastical parish of Clayton with Keymer covers three villages, each with one Church of England parish church, and surrounding rural areas towards Burgess Hill, Ditchling and Hurstpierpoint. [35] Keymer is served by St Cosmas and St Damian Church, which also has Anglo-Saxon origins but was rebuilt in 1866. [36] Hassocks, now linked to Keymer by postwar residential expansion, was served from St Cosmas and St Damian until 1975, when St Francis of Assisi Church was built. [37] The parishes of Clayton and Keymer, previously separate legal entities, were united from 25 July 1978 by means of an Order in Council. [38]
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St Peter's Church is an Anglican church in the West Blatchington area of Hove, part of the English city of Brighton and Hove. Although it has 11th- and 12th-century origins, the church was rebuilt from a ruined state in the late 19th century and extended substantially in the 1960s, and little trace remains of the ancient building. The church serves the parish of West Blatchington, a residential area in the north of Hove near the border with Brighton.
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St Cosmas and St Damian Church is an Anglican church in the village of Keymer, in the Mid Sussex district of West Sussex, England. Rebuilt in 1866 in a style similar to the Saxon building it replaced, it is the parish church of Keymer and now lies within a combined parish serving three villages in Mid Sussex. The church bears a very rare dedication to the twin Saints Cosmas and Damian, Christian martyrs of the 4th century. It is a grade II listed building.
St Peter's Church is a former Anglican church in the Preston Village area of Brighton, in the English city of Brighton and Hove. The 13th-century building, standing on the site of two older churches, was restored in the late 19th century and again after a serious fire in 1906. It was the parish church of Preston until 1908, when the newly built St John the Evangelist's Church gained this status. The Diocese of Chichester declared St Peter's redundant in 1990, and it is now owned by the Churches Conservation Trust. It has Grade II* listed status, reflecting its architectural and historical importance.
St. George's Church is an Anglican church in Trotton, a village in the district of Chichester, one of seven local government districts in the English county of West Sussex. Most of the structure was built in the early 14th century. However, some parts date to around 1230, and there is evidence suggesting an earlier church on the same site. In 1904, a largely intact and unusually detailed painting was found on the west wall depicting the Last Judgment as described in Matthew 25:31–46.
Coombes Church is a Church of England parish church in the rural hamlet of Coombes in the Adur District of West Sussex, England. It has served the rural parish, northwest of Shoreham-by-Sea and next to the River Adur, since the 11th century. Despite several re-buildings, some structural elements remain from that period. An important series of wall paintings, dating from the 12th to the 18th century, were uncovered in 1949. English Heritage has listed the church at Grade I for its architectural and historical importance.
Holy Trinity Church is an Anglican church in the village of Cuckfield in the district of Mid Sussex; one of seven local government districts in the English county of West Sussex. It was founded in the 11th century and was in the possession of Lewes Priory by 1090. The present structure dates from the mid-13th century but was extended in the 14th century and heavily altered and restored during the Victorian period, with much interior work by Charles Eamer Kempe and stained glass by both Kempe and the Clayton and Bell firm. The church's spire was replaced in 1981 following a fire. Former chapels of ease in outlying hamlets have closed, and the church now serves a large rural area in the centre of Sussex. It is protected as a Grade I listed building.
St Mary's Church is an Anglican church in the village of Slaugham in Mid Sussex, one of seven local government districts in the English county of West Sussex. The 12th- and 13th-century church, restored in the Victorian era, serves a large rural area of the Sussex Weald, covering three villages as well as the ancient settlement of Slaugham. It also controlled the church in the market town of Crawley—now one of the area's largest towns—for the first few centuries of its existence. A locally important family built a private chapel in the church in the 17th century, and a series of memorials to deceased family members are considered to be excellent examples of their type. English Heritage has listed the building at Grade II* for its architectural and historical importance.
All Saints Church is an Anglican church in the hamlet of Buncton in the district of Horsham, one of seven local government districts in the English county of West Sussex. Built in the 11th or 12th century as a small chapel of ease to a nearby parish church, and hardly changed or restored since, the stone chapel stands behind a "delightful ... wooded ravine" beneath the South Downs and has been called "a real piece of hidden Sussex". The chancel arch, between the nave and chancel which made up the simple two-room building, had a bizarre 12th-century carving of a person of indeterminate sex exposing their genitalia—until 2004, when an unknown vandal destroyed it with a chisel. The church is still used for Christian worship, and English Heritage has listed it at Grade I for its architectural and historical importance. The church is also known as Buncton Chapel.
North Stoke Church, rededicated in 2007 to St Mary the Virgin after its medieval dedication was unexpectedly rediscovered, is a former Church of England parish church in the riverside hamlet of North Stoke in the Horsham District of West Sussex. The partly 11th-century cruciform building, set in an almost deserted village in a loop of the River Arun, is mostly unrestored and stands on an ancient earthwork which has pre-Christian origins. The building has architectural features and internal fittings spanning hundreds of years, including some very old stained glass and wall paintings, although there are few memorials compared with other Sussex churches of a similar age. The church, "movingly eloquent of centuries of remote Sussex agricultural life", is no longer used for worship: it was declared redundant in 1992, after which it was entrusted to the Churches Conservation Trust. English Heritage lists the church at Grade I for its architectural and historical importance.
St Mary Magdalene's Church is the former Anglican parish church of the hamlet of Tortington in the district of Arun, one of seven local government districts in the English county of West Sussex. Founded in the 12th century to serve a priory and villagers in the riverside location, it has experienced little change despite a 19th-century restoration. Its ancient chancel arch and doorway have remarkable carvings with "grotesque, boggle-eyed monsters", rare beakhead figures and chevron ornamentation. Standing in a picturesque setting behind a farm, the flint and Caen stone building was used for worship until 1978, when it was declared redundant. It is now cared for by the Churches Conservation Trust, and English Heritage has listed it at Grade II for its architectural and historical importance. The church is dedicated to Jesus's companion Mary Magdalene.
St Botolph's Church is the Church of England parish church of Hardham, West Sussex. It is in Horsham District and is a Grade I listed building. It contains the earliest nearly complete series of wall paintings in England. Among forty individual subjects is the earliest known representation of St George in England. Dating from the 12th century, they were hidden from view until uncovered in 1866 and now "provide a rare and memorable impression of a medieval painted interior". The simple two-cell stone building, with its original medieval whitewashed exterior, has seen little alteration and also has an ancient bell.
The Grade I listed Saxon church of St Botolph's at Botolphs, West Sussex, England, is situated in the valley of the River Adur and is now part of the Church of England parish of Beeding and Bramber with Botolphs. An earlier dedication to St Peter de Vetere Ponte is now lost, like the bridge over the Adur from which it took this ancient name. The church serves the mostly depopulated hamlet of Botolphs in the Horsham district of West Sussex. The church has fragments of medieval wall paintings. Architectural historian Ian Nairn comments that the Jacobean pulpit is "notable in a county which is poor in 17th century fittings".
St Mary's Church is the Grade I listed Anglican parish church of West Chiltington, a village in the Horsham district of West Sussex, England. The 12th-century building, described as a "showpiece" and "the most attractive part" of the Wealden village, retains many features of historical and architectural interest. These include an exceptionally long hagioscope or squint from the south aisle into the chancel, a porch which may be Sussex's oldest, and a well preserved and extensive scheme of wall paintings. In the Sussex volume of The Buildings of England, Ian Nairn says that the appearance of the church gives "a very happy, unexpected effect, like a French village church".
St Mary Magdalene's Church is an Anglican church in the village of Bolney in Mid Sussex, one of seven local government districts in the English county of West Sussex. The parish church, which is dedicated to Jesus' companion Mary Magdalene, serves a large rural parish centred on a village straddling the ancient London–Brighton road and apparently dates from about 1100, and an older origin has been suggested. Many structural additions have been made over the centuries—including a tower built solely using the labour of villagers—and at the entrance to the churchyard is a "magnificent" 20th-century lychgate made of local materials including Sussex Marble. The church is protected as a Grade I Listed building.
St Margaret's Church is an Anglican church in the village of West Hoathly in Mid Sussex, one of seven local government districts in the English county of West Sussex.
St George's Church is an Anglican church in the village of Eastergate in West Sussex, England. It is the ancient parish church of Eastergate, although since 1992 it has been administered as part of a joint ecclesiastical parish with the churches in neighbouring Barnham and Aldingbourne. As part of this group, the building is still in regular use for worship on Sundays and weekdays. Eastergate village school has links with the church, and pupils regularly attend services.
St Giles' Church is an Anglican church in the village of Horsted Keynes in Mid Sussex, one of seven local government districts in the English county of West Sussex. Serving an extensive rural parish in the Sussex Weald, it stands at the north end of its village on the site of an ancient pagan place of worship. The present building succeeds the original wattle and daub church, its wooden successor and a Saxon stone building—although the Norman architects who erected the cruciform structure in the 12th century preserved parts of the Saxon fabric.
St Peter's Church is a Church of England parish church in the large village of Henfield, West Sussex. Placed on the site of an 8th-century Saxon church also dedicated to St Peter, it was built in the 13th, 14th and 15th centuries, but was heavily restored and partially rebuilt in the 19th century. English Heritage has listed it at Grade II* for its architectural and historical importance. Services for the parish continue and also cover the parishes of St Giles', Shermanbury and St. Peter's, Woodmancote, which form its united benefice.