Church of St Nicholas, Charlwood
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The Church of St Nicholas, Charlwood, is the parish church of
Charlwood Charlwood is a village and civil parish in the Mole Valley district of Surrey, England. It is immediately northwest of London Gatwick Airport in West Sussex, close west of Horley and north of Crawley. The historic county boundary between Surre ...
, Surrey,
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 ...
. With a 12th-century tower and nave section and examples of 13th to 15th century art, fixtures and architecture, it is a
Grade I listed building 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 ...
.


Building and its setting

St Nicholas's smallest nave and the tower were built 1080 with an addition in c.1280 and a 15th century later medieval building forming most of the remainder. Its parts were re-ordered by architect
William Burges William Burges (; 2 December 1827 – 20 April 1881) was an English architect and designer. Among the greatest of the Victorian art-architects, he sought in his work to escape from both nineteenth-century industrialisation and the Neoc ...
from 1857 to 1867. The church is a Grade I listed building. The original church was a simple two-cell structure consisting of a nave and a squat tower without a crossing. The Norman church was enlarged in c.1280 by a new chapel with fine wall-paintings on the south wall. The church was further enlarged by the addition of a chantry chapel dedicated to Richard Saunders who died in 1480. In 1550 the chapel was converted into a private pew. Burges was commissioned to undertake restoration in 1858, although work did not begin until 1864 and continued until 1867. During restoration, a series of 13th century wall paintings were uncovered and Burges undertook their cataloguing and refurbishment. Many interior features are intricately carved and old furnishings are featured: its octagonal pulpit is Tudor and the font is pre- Victorian. In the west window of the former nave are some fragments of ancient glass, a portion of the figure of a saint, and several other odd pieces, including two words of an inscription. Also in the first window of the north wall are two small eyelets containing roses and leaves. Patron Richard Sander (who died in 1480) has his initials, winged dragons and his coat of arms of Sander on the fine screen, originally around his chantry chapel. The church has a vestry for choir and clergy, and a new church room, known as the Nicholas Room. The church has its graveyard adjoining to almost all sides. On the land to the north is the Old Rectory, with two ponds, one of which is known as the rectory pond, a small fish pond. The Old Rectory was sold in 2022. The path up to the church, in the form of a stone causeway, and 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 are separately listed.Stone path
Lychgate
The baptism, marriage and death registers date from 1595. A 25 point/paragraph survey of architectural features and furnishings with plan was written in the
Victoria County History The Victoria History of the Counties of England, commonly known as the Victoria County History or the VCH, is an English history project which began in 1899 with the aim of creating an encyclopaedic history of each of the historic counties of En ...
in 1911.


Parish

Charlwood is a parish of the
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 Britai ...
which overlaps its
civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...
. This area's nearest town is
Horley Horley is a town in the borough of Reigate and Banstead in Surrey, England, south of the towns of Reigate and Redhill. The county border with West Sussex is to the south with Crawley and Gatwick Airport close to the town. It has its own eco ...
. The hamlet of Lowfield Heath was moved into West Sussex in 1974. The church is from most homes. it is almost encircled by a bend in the low-rise built-up road which has many of the oldest homes facing this rectory and church section. The village has over 80 listed buildings.


Parish history

The right to appoint the vicar belonged with the manor to the Prior and Convent of Christ Church, Canterbury Cathedral from at least 1231 to 1527. A vicarage instead of a rectory was ordained by the monks before 1308–9 who would thereafter fund that position in exchange for direct receipt of all the rectorial land and the greater and lesser tithes of the rest of the parish. After the loss of Christchurch under Henry VIII's reforms, the rectory resumed and the right to name the rector transferred to Sir Robert Southwell with the manor, as in 1547 he transferred both to Henry Lechford, whose son Sir Richard conveyed the right to Richard Dallender in 1609. In 1615 Dallender quitclaimed to Robert Hatton, from whom in 1622 it returned to the Lechfords. Sir Richard Lechford, when he sold the manor of Charlwood in 1625, retained the right, selling it, however, in 1629 to Edmund Sander of Charlwood Place, by then a far taller, more grandiose manor in the parish. In 1644 the Bishop was compelled to
sequester Sequestration or sequester may refer to: Law and government * Sequestration (law), the seizure of property for creditors or the state. See also Committee for Compounding with Delinquents * Jury sequestration, the isolation of a jury * Bankruptcy, ...
the priest position to a new rector, the previous incumbent, Thomas Mulcaster, having been proceeded against by 'five or six of the very scum of the parish,' according to his own account. This was during one of the most visible phases of the European wars of religion in England, the
Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...
. His son-in-law, Henry Hesketh, chaplain in ordinary to Charles II, was afterwards rector of Charlwood. In 1661 Edmund Sander devised all his lands and tenements here including the property of the rectory, to his sister Elizabeth Bradshaw, from whom they passed to her cousin Sir William Throckmorton, who sold in 1672 to Sir Andrew King. In 1716 the rectory and its appointment right were conveyed to Henry Wise from according to
Owen Manning Owen Manning (1721–1801) was an English clergyman and antiquarian, known as a historian of Surrey. Life Son of Owen Manning of Orlingbury, Northamptonshire, he was born there on 11 August 1721, and received his education at Queens' College, Cam ...
the trustees of Francis Aungier, 1st Earl of Longford the intermediate owner. The property remained with the Wises until 1884, during which time the church was often served by members of that family and passed to the Rev. E. M. Gibson and some time after him it vested in the diocese. ;Extraterritorial diocese In terms of its relevant see of a bishop, Charlwood was 'a peculiar of
Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour. The Archbishop of Canterbury is the primate of ...
' until 1846, when it was transferred to Winchester. By the rearrangement of dioceses in 1878 it was again transferred to Rochester and was added to Southwark on its creation.


Clergy and style of worship

Part of the Diocese of Southwark, the style of worship is modern
high church The term ''high church'' refers to beliefs and practices of Christian ecclesiology, liturgy, and theology that emphasize formality and resistance to modernisation. Although used in connection with various Christian traditions, the term originate ...
, with the emphasis on music, modern hymns and language ahead of ritual. The
rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...
equally serves the smaller parish of Emmanuel, Sidlow Bridge, as one benefice. Regular weekly services are held and the following activities: *Pre-School Praise: worship, craft, music and refreshments monthly for young children and their carers. *NicsMix: monthly activities, music and learning for children. *Venture Week: An annual week of activities, held during the first week of August, for children up to 14 years. *Bellringers – The practice night is weekly 7.30 - 9pm


See also

*
Diocese of Southwark The Diocese of Southwark is one of the 42 dioceses of the Church of England, part of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The diocese forms part of the Province of Canterbury in England. It was created on 1 May 1905 from part of the ancient Dio ...
*
List of places of worship in Mole Valley The district of Mole Valley has more than 70 current and former places of worship: 56 buildings are in use by various Christian denominations and other religions, and a further 16 are no longer in religious use but survive in other uses or—i ...


Notes


References

* * {{Mole Valley
Charlwood Charlwood is a village and civil parish in the Mole Valley district of Surrey, England. It is immediately northwest of London Gatwick Airport in West Sussex, close west of Horley and north of Crawley. The historic county boundary between Surre ...
Charlwood Charlwood is a village and civil parish in the Mole Valley district of Surrey, England. It is immediately northwest of London Gatwick Airport in West Sussex, close west of Horley and north of Crawley. The historic county boundary between Surre ...
William Burges church buildings
Charlwood Charlwood is a village and civil parish in the Mole Valley district of Surrey, England. It is immediately northwest of London Gatwick Airport in West Sussex, close west of Horley and north of Crawley. The historic county boundary between Surre ...