Page:The Victoria History of the County of Surrey Volume 3.djvu/673

 KINGSTON HUNDRED

��St. James, and was pulled down in 1730 after a partial fall of the walling when the sexton was killed. There is nothing left to show its exact position, nor are any of its details remaining except perhaps the few stones which were discovered during the igth- century restoration and which stand on the window- ledge east of the north chapel ; these include a piece of a 12th-century scalloped capital, a piece of stiff foliage of the same period, a 13th-century moulded base to a shaft, some grotesque corbel heads, probably of the izth century, and a small corbel head with a wimple ; a fragment of stonework with some Saxon interlacing pattern carved upon it probably formed no part of the fabric. In a view shown by Manning and Bray 6301 from 'a draught taken in 1726" it appears that the lower parts of the walls were of 1 2th-century date, with a wide round-headed west doorway above which was a string running round the building and over two 1 3th-century lancet windows at the west end and five at the side ; the doorway and two end lancets were filled in when a large window was inserted in the 141!! century; this window had three lights under a net-traceried head. In the 1 5th century a large window was inserted in the east wall, an earlier bull's-eye gable- light being preserved but filled in. A south porch with an embattled parapet was added later in the century. Whether this chapel was connected with the earlier parish church is uncertain ; it is shown quite independent of the church in Manning and Bray's view, but obviously because they had no information on the point. The dimensions given by them are 60 ft. by 25 ft. outside, and 55 ft. by 20 ft. inside.

The earliest visible portion of the present structure is the lower half of the central tower, which dates from the i^th century. There is little detail to give its exact date, but it was rebuilt (or the older tower encased) probably early in the century. At the north-east corner it has a vice which has an early piscina in its north-west face ; this piscina, which served a transept chapel, is probably contemporary with the rebuilding or casing of the tower.

About 1400, aisles were added to the nave, their widths being governed by the depths of the pre-exist- ing transepts, into which arches were made to open from the aisles. That into the south transept is of the same date as the arcades. The arch on the east side of the transept opening into the south chapel is some twenty years later, and it is probable that the chapel of St. James was then added, but less in length than the present south chapel. At the modern restoration it was discovered that this archway had another in line with and to the south of it, of which the springing stones still remain. Whether the original span of this second arch was as now restored is uncertain, but there is little doubt that it was inserted to open into the chapel of St. Mary. Pre- sumably the transept was lengthened when the two arches were inserted ; and if the present end wall marks the limit of the lengthening, the modern inserted archway would appear to be of the correct span, just enough to make a comfortable opening into the earlier chapel, that is, assuming that the west wall of St. Mary's Chapel was in a line with the two

��KINGSTON- UPON-THAMES

arches, and the north wall of the same chapel formed the south wall of St. James's Chapel.

In February 1444-5 William of Worcester records that the church suffered from a fire (probably caused by a stroke of lightning) when a good part of the town was also destroyed. 431 The effects of this fire are not now evident, and it is uncertain whether it extended beyond the tower.

In 1459 licence was granted to William Skerne of Downhall to found a chantry in honour of the Blessed Virgin and the most Holy Body of Christ at the altar of St. James in Kingston. 631 From this it would appear that the altar of St. James was already in existence, and it is probable that the chapel was then lengthened to its present size with its east wall in line with that of the chancel, and that the arcade of three bays between the chancel and the chapel was then inserted. The archway in the south wall of this chapel at the west end also appears to be con- temporary with the arcade, and was probably inserted then to enlarge the opening into the chapel of St. Mary. On 14 May 1477 Edward IV granted letters patent to Robert Bardsey for the foundation of a fraternity of the Holy Trinity in Kingston-on-Thames. The fraternity was to consist of two wardens and of clerks or laymen, both men and women. An annuity of 6 I3/. ifd. was left by Bardsey to maintain a priest to sing mass in Trinity Chapel, this rent being collected from the tenants of Bardsey and his successors by the two wardens. After the Dissolution this rent was paid to the king. 533 Robert Bardsey was one of the feoffees of the property given for the endow- ment of the Skerne chantry ; it was therefore natural for him to copy as exactly as possible the detail of the south chancel arcade in the archway between the Trinity Chapel and the chancel. He retained the west jamb of the arch opening into the earlier chapel, of which his was an enlargement, but evidently widened the arch eastwards. There is some doubt as to the respective situations of the two chapels of the HolyTrinityand St. James, but we have adopted the late Major Heales' SM suggestion that the former was on the north side and the latter on the south on the evidence of two wills. Clement Mylan in his will of 1496 directed his body to be buried in ' the trinitie chauncell on the north side of the church by the wall ' ; there are several sepulchral recesses in the north wall of the Trinity Chapel. William Skerne, the founder of the chantry in St. James's Chapel, by his will of 1463 directs his burial to be juxta ossa Roberti Skern his uncle. Manning and Bray** 5 describe the brass of the latter as being at the east end of the south chapel. The vestry was probably added subsequently to the enlargement of the north chapel near the end of the I5th century. A porch was removed in 1530 according to the church- wardens' accounts. The tower seems to have fallen into a bad state by the beginning of the 1 6th century and needed considerable repair ; it was again much out of repair in 1699 when a levy of 6J. in the l was made to put it into order, but this did little good, as in 1708 its timbers were so rotten and it was in such great decay and danger that is was necessary to take it down, when the present brick superstructure

��Mto Op. cit. i, 370.

WI See Major Heales' article on the church in the Surr. Arch. Coll. viii.

��' M Surr. Arch. Call, viii, 57. 638 See Cat. Pat. 1471-85, p. 43 ; Cal. S.P. Dem. 1595-7, pp. 336, 337 ; Chant.

507

��Cert. Surr. 48, no. 9 ; cf. Pat. 34 Eliz. pt. viii, m. 31.

Surr. Arch. Coll viii, 48.

"* Hi,t. if Surr. i, 374.

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