Page:The Victoria History of the County of Surrey Volume 3.djvu/390

 A HISTORY OF SURREY

��the arcades Are clearly pierced in an older wall, which was leaning outwards, especially on the south side, at the time. To counteract this lean the inner order of the south arcade is built as nearly vertically as the conditions allow, while the outer order has of necessity to follow the line of the wall above, giving a curious twisted effect to the arches. That this is not a late alteration is shown by the fact that it occurs in the western arch of the arcade, which is partly buried in .the west tower, an addition of c. 1500 ; it is of course possible that it may have been done between the 1 3th and the 1 6th century, but it is perhaps more likely to be an original expedient. The north arcade is of somewhat earlier character than the south, dating from the opening years of the 1 3th century, and was originally of three bays only. It does rjt, however, seem likely that the nave was any shorter at the time of its building than when the south arcade was set up. In the first half of the 14th century the church was

��have been added to this tower before the 14th-cen- tury alterations, and preserved its plan, though appar- ently rebuilt with the rest of the eastern parts of the church. Manning and Bray record that when Leeds Priory obtained the advowson of the church in 1 346 they rebuilt the tower, transepts, and chancel ; the chancel looks some twenty years earlier than this date, but ' restorations ' may account for this. The exist- ing tower is of much later date.

The aisles of the nave seem to have been widened in the ijth century, being made equal in width to the transepts, and the west tower belongs to the end of this century or the early years of the next. Its oblong plan and the violent angle at which it is set to the nave are evidently due to the necessity of pre- serving space for a procession path round the church- yard, the boundary of which comes close to the west end of the church, and the builders did not hesitate to cut into the west bay of the south arcade in order

��in"* Cenfuiy. I Circa 1200- 5O

���5ca|c of Fccr. PLAN OF LETHERHEAD CHURCH

��considerably enlarged on the east, the old chancel giving place to a larger one flanked by transepts on the north-west and south-west, and with a north-east vestry, its axis being deflected northward from that of the nave. It is to be noted that the east wall of the nave is not at right angles to the north and south arcades, but this may be due to an irregularity in the original setting out. The transepts also are not of equal width with each other, and while the north transept is set at right angles with the chancel, the south transept follows rather the lines of the nave. There is also a break in the chancel wall near its junction with this transept, and while it is clear that the chancel and north transept are of one build, it is quite possible that the plan of the south transept is of earlier date. There may, indeed, have been a church here in the I zth century of the same kind of plan as Charlwood, with a tower between nave and chancel, and the thickness of the existing east wall of the nave points in this direction. The south transept may

��to effect their purpose ; the west respond of the arcade is to be seen on the west side of the south-east buttress of the tower, in which it is partly buried.

A general repair was carried out in 1701-2, and in later times a great deal of restoration work to the windows and external stonework, so that the only windows retaining their original external stone are one of the 1 5th century in the north aisle, and a later one in the porch. The tower was plastered over in 1 766, but has been stripped and the flintwork pointed ; the north transept has been lengthened to take an organ, and other work has been done to the roofs, &c.

The east window of the chancel is a modern one of three cinquefoiled lights under a pointed head with net tracery. In the north wall are two windows with modern tracery of two cinquefoiled lights, and 14th-century jambs and rear arches ; in the south wall are two similar windows, the western of which is entirely modern, while the other has old jambs. At the north-east of the chancel there has been a

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