St John the Baptist's Church is the
Church of England parish church
A parish church in the Church of England is the church which acts as the religious centre for the people within each Church of England parish (the smallest and most basic Church of England administrative unit; since the 19th century sometimes ca ...
of the village of
Clayton in
Mid Sussex District
Mid Sussex is a local government district in the English non-metropolitan county of West Sussex, within the historic county of Sussex. It contains the towns of East Grinstead, Haywards Heath and Burgess Hill.
The district was created on 1 A ...
, one of seven local government districts in the English county of
West Sussex
West Sussex is a county in South East England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the shire districts of Adur, Arun, Chichester, Horsham, and Mid Sussex, and the boroughs of Crawley and Worthing. Covering an ar ...
. The small and simple Anglo-Saxon building is distinguished by its "remarkable" and extensive set of
wall paintings, dating from the early 12th century and rediscovered more than 700 years later. Much of the structural work of the church is 11th-century and has had little alteration. The church, which stands in the middle of a large churchyard and serves the small village of Clayton at the foot of the
South Downs
The South Downs are a range of chalk hills that extends for about across the south-eastern coastal counties of England from the Itchen valley of Hampshire in the west to Beachy Head, in the Eastbourne Downland Estate, East Sussex, in the east. ...
, is part of a joint parish with the neighbouring village of
Keymer
Keymer is a village in Hassocks civil parish, in the Mid Sussex District of West Sussex, England. It lies on the B2116 road south of Burgess Hill.
Keymer was an ancient parish that like its near neighbour Clayton was merged into the modern ...
—an arrangement which has existed informally for centuries and which was legally recognised in the 20th century.
English Heritage
English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses.
The charity states that i ...
has
listed
Listed may refer to:
* Listed, Bornholm, a fishing village on the Danish island of Bornholm
* Listed (MMM program), a television show on MuchMoreMusic
* Endangered species in biology
* Listed building, in architecture, designation of a historicall ...
the church at Grade I for its architectural and historical importance.
History
The ancient village of Clayton, situated where the main route from
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
to
Brighton
Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London.
Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...
crossed an east–west track at the foot of the South Downs,
existed at the time of the
Domesday survey
Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...
in 1086, when it was called ''Claitune'' or ''Claitona''.
It was at the southern end of the parish of the same name, which covered of mostly rural land running north (and downhill) from the summit of the South Downs. The
manor of Clayton was held at that time by William de Watevile for
William de Warenne, who built the nearby
Lewes Castle
Lewes Castle is a medieval castle in the town of Lewes in East Sussex, England. Originally called Bray Castle, it occupies a commanding position guarding the gap in the South Downs cut by the River Ouse and occupied by the towns of Lewes and Cliff ...
. The church was in the possession of
Lewes Priory
Lewes Priory is a part-demolished medieval Cluniac priory in Lewes, East Sussex in the United Kingdom. The ruins have been designated a Grade I listed building.
History
The Priory of St Pancras was the first Cluniac house in England and h ...
, which had been given it by de Warenne in 1093.
The manor and church in the neighbouring parish of Keymer had the same ownership.
The original dedication of St John the Baptist's Church was All Saints—a common dedication during the Anglo-Saxon era.
The standard layout of Anglo-Saxon churches was a tall nave without aisles linked to a smaller, square-ended (not
apsidal
In architecture, an apse (plural apses; from Latin 'arch, vault' from Ancient Greek 'arch'; sometimes written apsis, plural apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome, also known as an ''exedra''. In ...
) chancel by a chancel arch.
St John the Baptist's Church follows this form; and the nave and chancel arch, along with parts of the north and south chancel walls, survive from the 11th century.
On the north side of the nave, fragmentary remains of a 12th-century
porticus
A porticus, in church architecture and archaeology, is usually a small room in a church. Commonly, porticus form extensions to the north and south sides of a church, giving the building a cruciform plan. They may function as chapels, rudimentary ...
(a low side chapel, similar to a
transept
A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform churches, a transept is an area set crosswise to the nave in a cruciform ("cross-shaped") building withi ...
) can be seen: on the inside, there is a blocked round-headed opening, while on the outside a roofline is visible. A similar porticus of the 13th century existed on the south side; its remnants can still be seen.
The entrance porch on the north wall was erected in the 15th century,
but the heavy oak door dates from the Norman era.
The entrance was originally on the south side; suggested reasons for its move include avoiding the prevailing wind, which blows off the hills straight into the south wall, or a change in the location of the nearby road in medieval times.
The squat wooden belfry at the west end of the nave is also 15th-century,
as are two of the three bells.
The path leading to the porch is unusually made of "ripplestone"—
Horsham sandstone taken from a nearby riverbed.
The chancel was rebuilt in the 19th century,
and a
vestry
A vestry was a committee for the local secular and ecclesiastical government for a parish in England, Wales and some English colonies which originally met in the vestry or sacristy of the parish church, and consequently became known colloquiall ...
was added on the northwest side.
Minor restoration work was carried out in the 20th century. A blocked window, discovered in the north wall of the chancel, was found be an original Anglo-Saxon window.
The former side-chapel on the north side was discovered during excavation work in 1918.
The
lychgate
A lychgate, also spelled lichgate, lycugate, lyke-gate or as two separate words lych gate, (from Old English ''lic'', corpse), also ''wych gate'', is a gateway covered with a roof found at the entrance to a traditional English or English-style ch ...
at the entrance to the churchyard was built in the early 1920s by
Philip Mainwaring Johnston
Philip Mainwaring Johnston (1865–1936), also known as PM Johnston, was a British architect and architectural historian.
Education
Philip attended King's College School, London. He studied drawing and painting under Professor Delamotte at K ...
and serves as Clayton's war memorial. A
Falklands War
The Falklands War ( es, link=no, Guerra de las Malvinas) was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and its territorial de ...
casualty is commemorated, and there is also a
military grave from that conflict in the churchyard, where American theatrical producer
Marc Klaw
Marc Klaw, (born Marcus Alonzo Klaw, May 29, 1858 – June 14, 1936) was an American lawyer, theatrical producer, theater owner, and a leading figure of the Theatrical Syndicate.
Life and work
Referred to as both Mark and Marc, he was born in ...
is also buried. To commemorate the Millennium, new
stained glass
Stained glass is coloured glass as a material or works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. Although tradition ...
was inserted in the west window of the nave; the design received considerable praise.
Wall paintings
The most famous feature of St John the Baptist's Church
is the array of well-preserved and ancient wall paintings in the nave and on the chancel arch. They are part of a series painted by monks from Lewes Priory; this was the first
Cluniac
The Cluniac Reforms (also called the Benedictine Reform) were a series of changes within medieval monasticism of the Western Church focused on restoring the traditional monastic life, encouraging art, and caring for the poor. The movement began wi ...
house in England and had close links to its mother priory at
Cluny
Cluny () is a commune in the eastern French department of Saône-et-Loire, in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. It is northwest of Mâcon.
The town grew up around the Benedictine Abbey of Cluny, founded by Duke William I of Aquitaine in ...
in
Burgundy
Burgundy (; french: link=no, Bourgogne ) is a historical territory and former administrative region and province of east-central France. The province was once home to the Dukes of Burgundy from the early 11th until the late 15th century. The c ...
, and the art techniques developed at Cluny from the mid-10th century were very influential.
Murals from the same school—known as the Lewes Group—can also be seen at
Coombes Church
Coombes Church is a Church of England parish church in the rural hamlet of Coombes in the Adur District of West Sussex, England. It has served the rural parish, northwest of Shoreham-by-Sea and next to the River Adur, since the 11th century. De ...
near
Shoreham-by-Sea
Shoreham-by-Sea (often shortened to Shoreham) is a coastal town and port in West Sussex, England.
The town is bordered to its north by the South Downs, to its west by the Adur Valley and to its south by the River Adur and Shoreham Beach on the ...
,
St Botolph's Church at
Hardham
Hardham is a small village in the Horsham District of West Sussex, England. It is on the A29 road southwest of Pulborough. It is in the civil parish of Coldwaltham.
Archaeology
The village is on the line of Stane Street Roman road, which cha ...
and St Michael and All Angels Church at
Plumpton,
and were once visible at the church in
Westmeston
Westmeston is a village and civil parish in the Lewes District of East Sussex, England heavily dependent in amenities on larger Ditchling to the near-immediate northwest. It is four miles (6 km) south-southeast of Burgess Hill and (10  ...
as well.
The examples at Clayton have been described as "some of the most important in the country",
"remarkable",
"a fine set",
"amazing",
"unique in England for their extent, preservation and date",
and "graphically representing ... the terrors of Judgment Day".
They are also some of the oldest surviving murals in England,
although their age is not known for certain. Historians have variously dated them to the 11th century,
1080,
[A. Baker (1946) and D. Talbot-Rice (1952), quoted at ] between 1080 and 1120,
1100,
"later than 1125",
[ E.W. Tristram (1944), quoted at ] 1140,
1150
or late 12th century.
[A. Caiger-Smith (1963), quoted at ]
The murals cover the chancel arch and the east, south and north walls of the nave,
and were uncovered between 1893 and 1895 when
Charles Eamer Kempe
Charles Eamer Kempe (29 June 1837 – 29 April 1907) was a British Victorian era designer and manufacturer of stained glass. His studios produced over 4,000 windows and also designs for altars and altar frontals, furniture and furnishings, lichg ...
was restoring the interior.
More were uncovered during subsequent alterations between 1917 and 1919.
Nikolaus Pevsner
Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner (30 January 1902 – 18 August 1983) was a German-British art historian and architectural historian best known for his monumental 46-volume series of county-by-county guides, ''The Buildings of England'' (1 ...
believed that the west wall would have had similar paintings as well.
Most authorities agree that they are
fresco
Fresco (plural ''frescos'' or ''frescoes'') is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaste ...
es—painted directly on wet plaster.
Like the other Lewes Group paintings, they feature a very small range of local pigments in shades of yellow and red (leading to the nickname "bacon-and-egg").
The main subject of the murals is the
Day of Judgment
The Last Judgment, Final Judgment, Day of Reckoning, Day of Judgment, Judgment Day, Doomsday, Day of Resurrection or The Day of the Lord (; ar, یوم القيامة, translit=Yawm al-Qiyāmah or ar, یوم الدین, translit=Yawm ad-Dīn, ...
, making them an early example of the "
Doom
Doom is another name for damnation.
Doom may also refer to:
People
* Doom (professional wrestling), the tag team of Ron Simmons and Butch Reed
* Daniel Doom (born 1934), Belgian cyclist
* Debbie Doom (born 1963), American softball pitcher
* ...
" paintings seen in medieval churches across England.
Pevsner noticed that the figures had characteristic features: "extremely long and lean, with heavy ... garments, exceedingly small heads ...
ndstrange headgear".
Centrally placed above the chancel arch is an image of
Christ in Majesty
Christ in Majesty or Christ in Glory ( la, Maiestas Domini) is the Western Christian image of Christ seated on a throne as ruler of the world, always seen frontally in the centre of the composition, and often flanked by other sacred figures, whos ...
in a
mandorla
A mandorla is an almond-shaped aureola, i.e. a frame that surrounds the totality of an iconographic figure. It is usually synonymous with '' vesica'', a lens shape. Mandorlas often surround the figures of Jesus Christ and the Virgin Mary in trad ...
held by angels and with apostles on each side. Flanking this are Christ giving the
Keys of Heaven
The Keys of Heaven, also called Saint Peter's keys, refers to the metaphorical keys of the office of Saint Peter, the keys of Heaven, or the keys of the kingdom of Heaven. It is explicitly referenced in the Bible in Matthew 16:19.
In Catholicis ...
to
Saint Peter
Saint Peter; he, שמעון בר יונה, Šimʿōn bar Yōnāh; ar, سِمعَان بُطرُس, translit=Simʿa̅n Buṭrus; grc-gre, Πέτρος, Petros; cop, Ⲡⲉⲧⲣⲟⲥ, Petros; lat, Petrus; ar, شمعون الصفـا, Sham'un ...
(to the left) and a book to
Saint Paul
Paul; grc, Παῦλος, translit=Paulos; cop, ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ; hbo, פאולוס השליח (previously called Saul of Tarsus;; ar, بولس الطرسوسي; grc, Σαῦλος Ταρσεύς, Saũlos Tarseús; tr, Tarsuslu Pavlus; ...
.
On the north wall of the nave, a procession (led by bishops) approaches the
Heavenly Jerusalem
In the Book of Ezekiel in the Hebrew Bible, New Jerusalem (, ''YHWH šāmmā'', YHWH sthere") is Ezekiel's prophetic vision of a city centered on the rebuilt Holy Temple, the Third Temple, to be established in Jerusalem, which would be the c ...
, watched by angels and saints, and the defeat of the Antichrist.
Scenes on the south side include angels, one of the
Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse
The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse are figures in the Christian scriptures, first appearing in the Book of Revelation, a piece of apocalypse literature written by John of Patmos.
Revelation 6 tells of a book or scroll in God's right hand tha ...
, worshipping saints
and another procession, this time of the damned: in this dramatic composition, "a spike-heeled devil riding a large beast separates the doomed from the blessed".
An angel is also depicted at each corner of the nave: this is another reference to the Day of Judgment, when, according to the
Gospel of Mark
The Gospel of Mark), or simply Mark (which is also its most common form of abbreviation). is the second of the four canonical gospels and of the three synoptic Gospels. It tells of the ministry of Jesus from his baptism by John the Baptist to h ...
, "shall He send His angels, and shall gather together His elect from the four winds, from the uttermost part of the Earth to the uttermost part of Heaven" ().
The paintings are heavy with symbolism,
and "give a full interpretation of the Last Judgment":
in medieval times such paintings were the most important way of conveying information and narratives to worshippers, many of whom could not read.
In 2010, it was reported that the murals were threatened with damage from bat faeces.
A colony of bats—a protected species—were roosting in the church, and church staff had to remove droppings from the walls before each service. Bat urine was also harming the timbers of the roof. A survey by specialists indicated that although the paintings were still "in good condition", their age and fragility increased the risk of damage.
Architecture and fittings
![St John the Baptist's Church, Clayton, West Sussex - Altar](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ee/St_John_the_Baptist%27s_Church%2C_Clayton%2C_West_Sussex_-_Altar.JPG)
St John the Baptist's Church is a typical example of the simple two-cell (nave and chancel) layout found at many pre-
Norman Conquest
The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Norman, Breton, Flemish, and French troops, all led by the Duke of Normandy, later styled William the Conque ...
churches in Sussex.
The plan consists of a square-ended chancel, a much taller nave, a porch on the north side, a vestry on the south side and a west-end belfry of timber and
shingles
Shingles, also known as zoster or herpes zoster, is a viral disease characterized by a painful skin rash with blisters in a localized area. Typically the rash occurs in a single, wide mark either on the left or right side of the body or face. ...
.
The "tall, thin walls" of the nave give the church a "heartfelt piety".
The church is built of flint with some
sandstone
Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks.
Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...
dressings and
quoins
Quoins ( or ) are masonry blocks at the corner of a wall. Some are structural, providing strength for a wall made with inferior stone or rubble, while others merely add aesthetic detail to a corner. According to one 19th century encyclopedia, t ...
, covered with cement in places. The roof is laid with a mixture of red tiles and
Horsham Stone
Horsham Stone is a type of calcareous, flaggy sandstone containing millions of minute sand grains and occurring naturally in the Weald Clay of south-east England.Roger Birch, Sussex Stone, The Story of Horsham Stone and Sussex Marble, 2006, It is ...
slabs.
The "bold",
"impressive",
"solid and powerful"
chancel arch is the principal structural feature inside. It dates from the 11th century and is flanked by a pair of arched recesses, one of which retains some original plasterwork.
These may have served as
squints originally.
The structure dominates the nave through its sheer height, the use of massive square stone blocks with a smooth, plain finish,
and the three
moulded shafts on each side.
The jambs terminate in bulky
chamfer
A chamfer or is a transitional edge between two faces of an object. Sometimes defined as a form of bevel, it is often created at a 45° angle between two adjoining right-angled faces.
Chamfers are frequently used in machining, carpentry, fu ...
ed imposts.
The arch has been compared to that of another Grade I-listed Anglo-Saxon church in West Sussex—the slightly older
St Nicholas' Church at
Worth.
Its three bells date from the early 15th century (by Richard Hille), the 1470s (Henry Jurdan) and 1713 (Samuel Knight).
Hille owned a foundry in London; his bells are found at several other churches throughout Sussex.
The chancel, renewed in the 19th century,
measures . The east window is a three-light
lancet with
mullion
A mullion is a vertical element that forms a division between units of a window or screen, or is used decoratively. It is also often used as a division between double doors. When dividing adjacent window units its primary purpose is a rigid supp ...
s, set below a segmental-arched
hood mould
In architecture, a hood mould, hood, label mould (from Latin ''labia'', lip), drip mould or dripstone, is an external moulded projection from a wall over an opening to throw off rainwater, historically often in form of a ''pediment''. This mouldin ...
. There are two narrow lancets in the south and north walls as well, and a blocked window of Anglo-Saxon origin on the latter.
The walls are just over thick.
The nave formerly had a pair of porticus-style side chapels, but little trace of these remains—although blocked windows and fragments of archways and
gable
A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aesth ...
d roofs have been visible since 1918, when they were excavated.
The nave's dimensions are , and the walls are about thick.
The Norman doorway, reset on the north side in its 15th-century porch, have jambs with five stones of irregular length and a five-stone arch. The belfry, at the west end of the nave, sits on top of the roof with no structural link to the inside of the building. It has a shallow pyramid-shaped roof.
Other than the wall paintings, the interior is plain.
The ceiling has panelling and simple timberwork, and walls with no murals are plastered.
There are some 18th-century
Eucharist
The Eucharist (; from Greek , , ), also known as Holy Communion and the Lord's Supper, is a Christian rite that is considered a sacrament in most churches, and as an ordinance in others. According to the New Testament, the rite was instit ...
ic objects and a brass memorial to Richard Idon, a parson, who died in 1523.
He is shown holding a
Communion wafer
Sacramental bread, also called Communion bread, Eucharistic bread, the Lamb or simply the host ( la, hostia, lit=sacrificial victim), is the bread used in the Christian ritual of the Eucharist. Along with sacramental wine, it is one of two elemen ...
and chalice and clad in vestments.
Another brass, slightly older (1508) but consisting solely of an inscription to Thomas a Wode, is hidden under a carpet.
The church today
![St Francis of Assisi Church, Hassocks](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/69/St_Francis_of_Assisi_Church%2C_Hassocks.jpg)
St John the Baptist's Church was
listed
Listed may refer to:
* Listed, Bornholm, a fishing village on the Danish island of Bornholm
* Listed (MMM program), a television show on MuchMoreMusic
* Endangered species in biology
* Listed building, in architecture, designation of a historicall ...
at Grade I by
English Heritage
English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses.
The charity states that i ...
on 28 October 1957.
Such buildings are defined as being of "exceptional interest" and greater than national importance.
As of February 2001, it was one of 16 Grade I listed buildings, and 1,028 listed buildings of all grades, in the district of Mid Sussex.
The ecclesiastical parish of Clayton with Keymer covers three villages, each with one Church of England parish church, and surrounding rural areas towards
Burgess Hill
Burgess Hill is a town and civil parish in West Sussex, England, close to the border with East Sussex, on the edge of the South Downs National Park, south of London, north of Brighton and Hove, and northeast of the county town, Chichester. It ...
,
Ditchling
Ditchling is a village and civil parish in the Lewes District of East Sussex, England. The village is contained within the boundaries of the South Downs National Park; the order confirming the establishment of the park was signed in Ditchling.
...
and
Hurstpierpoint
Hurstpierpoint is a village in West Sussex, England, southwest of Burgess Hill, and west of Hassocks railway station. It sits in the civil parish of Hurstpierpoint and Sayers Common which has an area of 2029.88 ha and a population ...
.
Keymer is served by
St Cosmas and St Damian Church, which also has Anglo-Saxon origins but was rebuilt in 1866.
Hassocks
Hassocks is a large village and civil parish in the Mid Sussex District of West Sussex, England. Its name is believed to derive from the tufts of grass found in the surrounding fields.
Located approximately north of Brighton, with a populatio ...
, now linked to Keymer by postwar residential expansion, was served from St Cosmas and St Damian until 1975, when St Francis of Assisi Church was built.
The parishes of Clayton and Keymer, previously separate legal entities, were united from 25 July 1978 by means of an
Order in Council
An Order-in-Council is a type of legislation in many countries, especially the Commonwealth realms. In the United Kingdom this legislation is formally made in the name of the monarch by and with the advice and consent of the Privy Council ('' Ki ...
.
See also
*
Grade I listed buildings in West Sussex
The county of West Sussex in South East England has 176 Grade I listed buildings. Such buildings are described by English Heritage, the authority responsible for their designation, as "of exceptional interest ndsometimes considered to be intern ...
*
List of places of worship in Mid Sussex
The district of Mid Sussex, one of seven local government districts in the English county of West Sussex, has nearly 100 churches and other places of worship. Most are in the three main towns of Burgess Hill, Haywards Heath and East Grins ...
References
Notes
Bibliography
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clayton, John the Baptist
Standing Anglo-Saxon churches
Church of England church buildings in Mid Sussex District
Grade I listed churches in West Sussex
11th-century church buildings in England