Church of St. Mary & St. Nicholas, Leatherhead

The Church of St. Mary & St. Nicholas, Leatherhead, is an Anglican parish church. Dating originally to around the 11th Century,^[1] it remains a place of worship to this day.

Architecture

The body of the church mostly dates to the early 13th century (Nikolaus Pevsner dating the nave to c. 1210): the nave arcades are typical of the French late-Transitional style then sweeping south-east England. The tower was built in the late 15th century: its large-scale angle buttresses, flattened perpendicular arches and windows (with their cinquepartite cusping) and carved spandrels above the West Door mark it out from the rest of the building, as (with the exception of the south transept window) all other perpendicular details are small and simple, without any of the splendour of those on the tower. Many of them were heavily restored in the 19th century by Arthur Blomfield, having been plastered over in the 17th century - some of this plaster can still be seen on the South wall of the South aisle. The stained glass windows in the church date back to the mid 19th century. ^[2]

Music

St. Mary & St. Nicholas is home to a restored English pipe organ based on 18th Century pipework. The original instrument - built by the builder Thomas Parker, one of whose instruments was said to be a favourite of Handel's - was brought from a church in Watford in 1846 and installed on the West-end gallery under the tower. In 1872, it was removed from there to the North Transept as all the galleries which had filled the church were being removed. Here it was rebuilt in a new case and enlarged to three manuals by the firm of J. W. Walker of Ruislip. This instrument was overhauled twice, in 1927 and 1956, but by the time it was last heard in 1983 its state of repair was such that it had to be taken out of use. The organ remained in the North Transept, and an Allen electronic imitation organ was installed. An electrical fault within the Allen started a fire in the North Transept which destroyed the Allen and badly damaged the Transept and the pipe organ. The J. W. Walker organ was then dismantled, leading to the discovery of the surviving Parker material, including the original keyboards. The usable 19th Century material was sold to Norway and the remainder stored, while another Allen was installed: it remains in situ. A grant in 2006 from the Heritage Lottery Fund allowed the reconstruction of the 18th Century pipe organ by the Northamptonshire firm of Goetze & Gwynn. The restored - but effectively new - instrument was installed in Leatherhead in September 2007 and is regularly used in services and for recitals. Further details will be found on the church's music website:^[3]

Memorials

There is a memorial to Admiral Sir James Wishart, who died in 1723, erected by his brother William Wishart. The memorial features a good biography and models of ships.^[4] Anthony Hope, author of The Prisoner of Zenda, is buried in the graveyard.

Photo gallery

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  The West face of the 15th Century tower.

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  The Church from the North/North-East.

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  The North side of the Nave.

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  The War Memorial Cross

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  The North side of the Chancel.

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  The East window of the Chancel.

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  The South side of the Chancel.

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  The South side of the Chancel, showing a blocked aperture through which an anchorite would once have received the Blessed Sacrament.

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  The South Transept's Decorated East window

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  The corner of the South Transept, showing the Perpendicular South window contrasted with the earlier Decorated East window.

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  The South side of the Nave. Note the higgledy-piggledy appearance of the dormer windows and gables

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  The West end of the South Aisle, showing two very obviously Victorian windows.

See also

• List of places of worship in Mole Valley

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Church of St. Mary & St. Nicholas, Leatherhead.

• Map sources for Church of St. Mary & St. Nicholas, Leatherhead

District of Mole Valley Towns Villages Abinger Ashtead Beare Green Betchworth Box Hill Brockham Buckland Capel Charlwood Coldharbour Dorking Fetcham Friday Street Goodwyns Great Bookham Headley Holmbury St Mary Holmwood Leatherhead Leigh Little Bookham Mickleham Newdigate Ockley Pixham Westcott Westhumble Wotton Parks Ashtead Common Bookham Commons Glover's Wood Holmbury Hill Leith Hill Oxmoor Copse Norbury Park Polesden Lacey Places of worship Church of St Nicholas, Charlwood St Joseph's Church, Dorking St Martin's Church, Dorking Church of St. Mary, Fetcham Church of Our Lady and St Peter, Leatherhead Church of St. Mary & St. Nicholas, Leatherhead Education The Ashcombe School Box Hill School City of London Freemen's School Downsend School Manor House School The Priory School St Andrew's Catholic School St John's School St Teresa's School Therfield School Transport Railway stations Ashtead Betchworth Bookham Box Hill & Westhumble Dorking Dorking Deepdene Dorking West Holmwood Leatherhead Ockley Buildings and structures Betchworth Castle Bocketts Farm Burford Bridge Hotel Cherkley Court Denbies Wine Estate Dorking Caves Fetcham Park House Gatwick Aviation Museum Headley Court Juniper Hall Lowfield Heath Windmill Mullard Space Science Laboratory Wotton House Sport Football clubs Bookham Dorking Dorking Wanderers Leatherhead