St Nicholas Church
From Dittopedia
St Nicholas Church *** (U)
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 St Nicholas Church is first mentioned in the 12th century, although it is probable that there was a chapel earlier. The original Norman building was a long, narrow structure, from the bell tower (with its lancet window) to the chancel (also with a lancet window to the left of the altar). In the 14th century, a chapel was built on the northern side of the chancel. In the following century, a narrow north aisle and arcade were erected, which was extended to its present width with a wooden gallery in 1826. The south aisle, designed by Benjamin Ferrey, was added in 1864. The Norman font is dated to around 1120 and is one of the finest in Surrey, with sculptures round the bowl whose symbolism has never been fully understood. The panel paintings over the chancel were painted in the 16th century and survived the Reformation. As the subject is the Day of Judgement, they are often referred to as the Doom Paintings. Guidebooks and leaflets can be found in the church, where several fine floor brasses can be found. The sedilia-like monument to the left of the chancel was at one time thought to have been commissioned in 1531 by Erasmus Forde (who died in 1533) as a tomb. But it is now thought to data from at least 50 years before then, and to have been used for an entirely different purpose. |
St Nicholas Church in Thames Ditton is an ancient parish church that dates back to the 11th century.
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History
The Normans after the Conquest gave the land to the monks of Merton Priory, who planned to build a church. [1]
During the reign of Henry I (1100-1135), Gilbert the Norman, High Sheriff of Surrey, gave the advowson of Kingston -- i.e. the right to appoint the incumbent of a church -- together with four chapelries (at Thames Ditton, East Molesey, Sheen and Petersham) to Merton Priory.[1]
Gilbert died in 1125, so this implies a functional chapelry at Thames Ditton around 1120, with higher levels of ecclesiastical control at Kingston Church and Merton Priory. A certain William was Vicar at Thames Ditton from 1179.[1]
After the Dissolution, the advowson of St Nicholas passed into private patronage, and so from 1538 the canons of Merton Priory ceased to have the patronage of Thames Ditton Church. For centuries, the great tithes rested with Kingston rectory. But from the 16th century, the principal beneficiaries tended to be the landowners who owned Imber Court. [1]
Church structure and contents
The building of St Nicholas Church has undergone a great many changes, and very little of the original structure survives. The oldest elements are likely to be the north wall of the chancel and the walls of the broad and low tower. St Nicholas Church was originally a long narrow Norman building from the Bell Tower to the Chancel. The tower walls and the north wall of the chancel are part of the original Norman structure and contain lancet windows. Additions came with a 14th century chapel on the north and a 15th century north aisle. The vestry was originally a burial vault built in 1676. The north aisle was enlarged in 1836 and a south aisle added in 1864.[1]
- The church has one of the finest fonts in Surrey, dated around 1120 and having unique sculptures. On the four faces of the Norman font are depicted an Agnus Dei, a goat, a star and an unusual cross. A pillar piscina -- 72cm high -- also dating to the first half of the 12th century, was dug from the floor of the chancel when the foundations for a new south aisle were made in 1864.
- Above the chancel arch are painted boards depicting the Day of Judgement known as Doom Pictures, dated around 1570, a rarity as very few survived the Reformation. It consists of 11 oak panels of different sizes and shapes, crudely painted in tempera in red, green, black and white. A central crucifix, among other parts, is missing. They were discovered in about 1893 when a Mr Birtles bought them from a carpenter's yard in Kingston. At the time they were obscured by whitewash and paint. They were further restored in the 20th century by Alastair Stewart. The church would have been full of colour at the time the rood was painted, with striped and chevroned columns, and walls with paintings of the Passion and other religious subjects.
- St Nicholas contains a fine monument and brass to Erasmus Forde. The monument is of stone, with two bays in the forms of a six-poster, possibly designed to contain two kneeling effigies. The Forde brass was previously attached to the monument but is now alongside it. It depicts the kneeling figures of Erasmus Forde in armour, his wife Julyan, and their 12 daughters and six sons.
- In 1676, William Hatton, a would-be patriarch and village squire, had a family burial chapel built alongside St Nicholas Church. It was boldy labelled DORMITORIUM HATTONIANUM, and some of the Thames Ditton Hattons were buried in it. But it decayed and was rebuilt as a vestry in 1781. A Hatton bequest gave financial support to several vicars of Thames Ditton.
- The bells were mentioned in an inventory of 1552 and were increased to six in number in 1753. They were recast in 1962 and re-hung in a new frame in 1981.
- The East Window is 20th century, set in 14th century tracery by Geoffrey Webb and depicts St Nicholas. [1]
See also
St Nicholas Churchyard ** (T)
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 One of the more interesting monuments in the graveyard is that of the tragic Lady Pamela FitzGerald (La Belle Pamela), the ostensible daughter of the Duke of Orleans and Madame de Genlis, and widow of Lord Edward FitzGerald, the Irish patriot and martyr. Her father was guillotined by the French; her husband shot by the English; and her half-brother became King of France, later to be exiled to Claremont. She died in Paris in 1831 and was originally buried in Montmartre cemetrery, where her tomb was rudely shattered by a German shell during the siege of 1870, and the coffin exposed. Her relatives, who lived in Thames Ditton, then had her remains re-interred in their final resting place here. |
References
- 1. Wikipedia
- 2. Burchett, P. 1984. A Historical Sketch of THAMES DITTON. Surrey: Thames Ditton and Weston Green Residents' Association. ISBN 0-904-81120-4.
Links
Categories: 1676 | 1179 | 1781 | 1864 | Religion | Norman | Plantagenet | Restoration | Modern | 1538
