St Nicholas Church, Thames Ditton

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St Nicholas Church in Thames Ditton is an ancient parish church that dates back to the 11th Century.

The spire of St Nicholas Church

1 History
2 Church structure and contents
3 Sources
4 Links

[edit] History

The Normans after the Conquest gave the land to the monks of Merton Priory, who planned to build a church.

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.

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.

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.

[edit] 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.

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.

The mid-16th century Forde brass

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.