Page:The Victoria History of the County of Surrey Volume 3.djvu/286

 A HISTORY OF SURREY

��two-centred arch and jambs. The porch is compara- tively modern. Just west of it is the junction of the old walling with the new, although the old nave was some I o ft. or 12 ft. longer than this. The south-west window is a new two-light one, similar to that opposite.

The arch dividing off the western portion of the nave has old stones re-used, and is of like detail to the chancel arch, except that the bases have a plain hollow chamfer. The space to the west of it has a three-light square-headed south window and a west doorway ; on the north side is a stair to the gallery, which contains the organ ; this gallery has a modern panelled traceried front. Over it the bell-turret rises ; it has battering sides covered with oak shingles, and the bell-chamber is lighted on each side by two-light windows. Over it is an octagonal spire also covered with shingles, the whole being of modern construction.

Both the roofs are modern, and are covered with Horsham stone slabs. All the furniture is modern. The font has an octagonal bowl of grey marble with shallow trefoiled panels in 13th-century style, carried on a central stone stem and a cluster of shafts.

There are three monumental brasses in the chancel ; the slab on the north side of the altar has the figures of John Arderne and Elizabeth his wife ; he wears a long cloak with a high collar and loose sleeves gathered in close at the wrists, and his tunic underneath is held by a waistbelt enriched with rosettes. She wears a mantle fastened across the breast by a cord which descends below her waist and finishes with tasselled ends, and a close-fitting gown with a high belt. A shield above the man is charged with a fesse cheeky between three crescents, for Arderne, that above the woman is missing, as is also the main inscription. Below are the mutilated figures of three sons and the inscription : 'Thomas Johnes et Henricus, filii Johis Arderne Armig'i et Elizabeth ux'is sue,' and the figures of three daughters inscribed ' Anna, Birgitta, et Susanna filiae Johis Arderne et Elizabeth ux'is sue.'

Between the figures is a shield with the Arderne arms impaling a quarterly coat, of which the first and fourth are blank and the second and third paly of six.

The slab south of the altar has lost the brass figures of a man and woman, but the inscription below remains intact and reads : ' Orate pro Animabus Ricardi Ardern Gentilman et Johanne uxoris ejus qui quidem Ricardus obiit xxii die Mensis Novembris Anno Dm Millrno cccc 1 xxxxix Quoru Animabus Propiciet' deus Amen." From the woman's mouth issues a scroll inscribed ' Fill redemptor mfldi deus miserere nobis,' and from the man's, 'Ut videntes Ihum semper Colletemur.' Above is a small repre- sentation of the Trinity between two shields, the first Arderne as before, and the second with the same impaling a cheveron between three harts tripping. These two shields also occur in reverse order at the bottom.

The third brass is a small one west of the. com- munion rail, and is to Susanna the daughter of John Arderne, and shows her whole-length figure. It is undated, but she is doubtless the same lady as the

��third daughter on the John Arderne slab ; a scroll above her head is inscribed ' Mercy Jhu et graunt m'cy.'

The stained glass in the windows is modern, but in the vestry are preserved a few fragments of old glass, chiefly borders of three cinquefoiled heads, with red roses and jessant de lys repeated continuously.

There are five bells, all cast by Mears & Stain- bank in 1889 ; the second was formerly by Lester & Pack, 1756 ; the third by William Eldridge, 1687 ; and the fourth by Bryan Eldridge, 1638.

The communion plate includes a cup of 1606 with an egg-and-tassel ornament around the foot ; below the top edge is pricked the inscription 'TEH PARICH OF LEIGH + cc + WN.' There are also a standing paten of 1773, a flagon of 1899, both of silver, a small modern plate of base metal, a large plated flagon (now used to serve the font), a pewter plate, and a pewter bowl.

The first book of the registers has paper leaves and begins in 1579. The entries are much mixed up, but the baptisms appear to run from 1579 to 1703, the marriages from 1584 to 1643, and 1648 to 1653, and burials from 1584 to 1670 and 1674 to 1675. There are also some churchwardens' accounts dating from 1 5 86 in the same volume. The second book con- tains baptisms from 1702 to 1800, marriages 1704 to 1754, and burials 1704 to 1800. The third book has the marriages from 1754 to 1812, and the fourth baptisms and burials from 1801 to 1812.

The advowson of the church was ADVQWSON granted to the priory of St. Mary Overy, Southwark, by charter of Hamelin de Warenne in 1202 ; w it is not evident when it ceased to belong to this priory, but the church was in the hands of the Prior and convent of Newark next Guildford by 1262," and so remained until the Dissolution. 6 * The cure of the parish was habitually served by one of the canons, the successive priors thus ' saving to themselves the stipend of a curate.' 63 Richard Arderne of Leigh Place, who died in 1499, expressed a desire in his will to be buried before the image of St. Katherine in the parish church of Leigh. 64 John Grave, elected prior in 1534, demised the rectory for ninety-nine years to Edward Shelley of Leigh Place, who afterwards granted his term of years to Edmund Saunders. 64 By the terms of the lease, according to Manning, the tenant of the rectory was to find a priest, provide wine and wax, to repair the parsonage and the chancel, and to find food for men and horses when the prior's servants came to collect rent. 66

At the Dissolution, when the property came to the Crown, there seems to have been some uncertainty regarding the benefice of Leigh, as the advowson of the ' vicarage' was granted apart from the rectory to Sir Thomas Nevile, with remainder to his daughter Margaret, wife of Sir Robert Southwell ; 67 the latter conveyed it to Henry Lechford, 68 from whom it passed to Richard his son. 69 Henry son of Richard in 1 599- 1600, during his father's lifetime, joined with Robert Casey in purchasing the rectory of Leigh ' with the mansion there,' &c., from the Crown for themselves

��y.C.H. Surr. ii, 10 ; Pat. 3 Edw. IV, pt. iii, m. 21 61 V.C.H. Surr. ii, 103.

yahr Ecd. (Rec. Com.), ii, 33 ; Dug- dale, Man, vi, 383-4.

Chan. Proc.(Ser. 2), bdle. 154, no. 14..

��M P.C.C. 5 Moone. His tomb it on the south side of the chancel.

s See n. 63.

66 Manning and Bray, Hist, of Surr. ii, .84,

212

��"I Pat. 30 Hen. VIII, pt. vii, m. 7 ; Pat. 42 Eliz. pt. xr, m. 34.

68 Chan. Proc. (Ser. 2), bdie. 154, 34 ; Feet of F. Surr. Trin. i Edw. VI.

69 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cxlv, 13.

�� �