The Church of St Andrew, Gatton is a

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

church in Gatton, near

Reigate Reigate ( ) is a town status in the United Kingdom, town in Surrey, England, around south of central London. The settlement is recorded in Domesday Book in 1086 as ''Cherchefelle'' and first appears with its modern name in the 1190s. The earlie ...

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. It is a

Grade I listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

. The earliest record of a church on the site is in 880AD. Some fabric from the 13th century survives including a

piscina A piscina is a shallow basin placed near the altar of a church, or else in the vestry or sacristy, used for washing the communion vessels. The sacrarium is the drain itself. Anglicans usually refer to the basin, calling it a piscina. For Roman ...

and the font, but the church we see today mostly dates from an idiosyncratic restoration by Frederick, Baron Monson, and his architect E. Webb in 1834.

Location

The church sits in

Gatton Park Gatton Park is a country estate set in parkland landscaped by Capability Brown at Gatton, near Reigate in Surrey, England. Now owned by The Royal Alexandra and Albert School, Gatton Park comprises of manor and parkland. The property is G ...

(landscaped by

Capability Brown Lancelot Brown (born c. 1715–16, baptised 30 August 1716 – 6 February 1783), more commonly known as Capability Brown, was an English gardener and landscape architect, who remains the most famous figure in the history of the English la ...

), and next to Gatton Hall, the former home of the Barons Monson. St Andrew's served as much as the family's private chapel as the parish church. The last private owners of Gatton Hall moved out after 1945 and the Hall has since been acquired by

The Royal Alexandra and Albert School The Royal Alexandra and Albert School is an all-through co-educational boarding school near Reigate, Surrey. The headmaster as of 2022 is Morgan Thomas. The Royal Alexandra and Albert School Act, of 1949, united The Royal Alexandra School, whi ...

Interior

The interior is laid out like a collegiate chapel rather than a parish church, with pews facing each other across the central aisle. There area an unusual number of high-quality antique fittings collected by Frederick, 5th Baron Monson from around Europe and installed in the church which was next to his residence at Gatton Hall. These include a pulpit and altar from

Nuremberg Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ...

, carved doors from

Rouen Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine in northern France. It is the prefecture of the Regions of France, region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy and the Departments of France, department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one of ...

, presbytery stalls from a disestablished monastery in

Ghent Ghent ( nl, Gent ; french: Gand ; traditional English: Gaunt) is a city and a municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the East Flanders province, and the third largest in the country, exceeded in ...

, altar rails from

Tongeren Tongeren (; french: Tongres ; german: Tongern ; li, Tóngere ) is a city and municipality located in the Belgian province of Limburg, in the southeastern corner of the Flemish region of Belgium. Tongeren is the oldest town in Belgium, as the onl ...

and stained glass from

Aarschot Aarschot () is a city and municipality in the province of Flemish Brabant, in Flanders, Belgium. The municipality comprises the city of Aarschot proper and the towns of Gelrode, Langdorp and Rillaar. On January 1, 2019, Aarschot had a total popul ...

. Some of the carvings on the altar and pulpit appear to come from a lost altarpiece from the workshop of Jan Genoots, perhaps dating from circa 1525–30. The

Pevsner Architectural Guides The Pevsner Architectural Guides are a series of guide books to the architecture of Great Britain and Ireland. Begun in the 1940s by the art historian Sir Nikolaus Pevsner, the 46 volumes of the original Buildings of England series were published b ...

describe this as "perhaps the best example in the country of the tendency for the church to become an extension of the landlord's parlour or sculpture gallery".

Family pew

The Monson family pew is particularly unusual. It occupies the north transept and has its own private entrance connected to the hall by a covered walkway. It contains a fireplace and is furnished with upholstered chairs and benches. The

describe it as "the perfect example of the English nobleman's wish to worship in comfort... With its atmosphere of being a sumptuous private chapel that has somehow got detached from the house, it is among the best in the country."Nairn, Pevsner and Cherry 1971, pp. 250–251.

Gallery

Gatton St Andrews - Interior 2.jpg, Interior St Andrew's, Gatton Family Pew.jpg, Monson family pew St Andrew's, Gatton - Baptistry.jpg, Baptistry: C13 font; stained glass probably c.1830

References

Sources

*{{Cite book , first1=Ian , last1=Nairn , author1-link=Ian Nairn , last2=Pevsner , first2=Nikolaus , author2-link=Nicholas Pevsner , first3=Bridget , last3=Cherry , author3-link=Bridget Cherry , title=Surrey , series=The Buildings of England , location=London , publisher=Penguin Books , edition=2nd , year=1971 , isbn=0140710213 , pages=250–251 Listed churches in England