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Headley: All Saints — Information The texts below are taken from:—
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Much of the history of any community is centred round the Church, and Headley's
Church is no exception. For more than 800 years—in one form or another—it
has stood as a witness to the Christian way of life. Eustace of Boulogne and
his household were French speaking. The Headley people were then Saxons. The
services of the Church were in Latin. But from those days through all the changes
the centuries have brought, the Faith taught in the church has provided the
answer to the vital questions that successive generations have asked, and it
has survived because in every age men have found that it supplied their needs.
When we come through the door we are following the footsteps of the men of Headley
who passed through during the Wars of the Roses, maybe to receive the blessing
of the priest of those days and then to cut their bows from the yews planted
in the Churchyard. When we kneel at the altar, our lips are touching the same
chalice from which for 400 years (it was made in 1567) the men and women of
Headley have received the Holy Communion of the Body and Blood of Christ. What
stories this building could tell if it could speak—from the days of our
Saxon forefathers who had to surrender to the Normans, to the men of yesterday
who died rather than surrender in the last Great War, and whose names are inscribed
in the beautifully illuminated Book near the west wall.
Many structural changes have, of course, taken place since the first days. In
William Sewell's time the Church had a spire. In 1903 the following note appeared
in the Parish Magazine written by a certain Archdeacon Norris.
"If I had not seen the sketch of your church as it was in 1842, I could not
have divined the original plan of the building. Its present arrangement is altogether
modern; no ancient church ever had a Western Tower occupying half the width
of the Nave. Western Towers were almost always so placed as to form abutments
to the walls, or to the arcades of the Nave. Your tower fulfils neither purpose:
its south wall is in line with the axis of the wide modern Nave; its north wall
is some 18 inches further north than the north wall of the Nave. Thus I was
forced to the conclusion that the disproportionately wide Nave of 1859 occupied
the area which originally had been occupied by a Nave and a side Aisle. But
whether the Aisle had been on the north or the south side I could not have determined
without the aid of your sketch.
Your sketch shows that in 1842 the slopes of the roof were not symmetrical,
the southern slopes being shorter than the northern—the northern having
been lengthened to cover a side aisle. This north-side aisle seems to have been
separated from the Nave by an Arcade. For you will observe that after the removal
of the Chancel two buttresses were erected against the Nave’s eastern gable;
the southern buttress of smaller projection sufficed as abutment to the south
wall of the Nave; the other buttress is of much greater dimensions, and is placed
just where an Arcade between Nave and north Aisle would need abutment to counteract
its Eastward thrust. Those who thus repaired the church would never have placed
so large a buttress in this position, unless there had been standing an Arcade
behind it, requiring something to lean against at this eastern end, as it leaned
against the Tower at its western end. I take it, the demolition of the old Chancel
(whose width is exactly shown by these two buttresses) had so weakened the Arcade
that it would have become ruinous but for this buttress.
The Northern wall of the new Nave of 1859 seems to have been built a little
to the South of the line on which the wall of the north side originally stood.
The ancient arch of the Tower—of no great height, but high enough to show
that the side Aisle must have had an independent roof of its own, not a "lean-to"—is
internally the only indisputable relic of the ancient structure. The restorers
spared the ancient Tower, which was built, I take it, in Richard II's reign.
The pinnacles and parapet are of later date. There is one problem left which
I cannot solve—how to account for the apparently ancient beams which now
extend over the whole width of the modern Nave. That they are ancient appears
from their being shaped with an adze, not with a saw. If they existed in the
ancient church, they must have spanned the whole width of Nave and Aisle, resting
upon the Arcade in some -way (as at Grasmere Church, in Westmoreland). But this
is so unlikely that I prefer to suppose that they were brought from some neighbouring
barn, or other ancient building."
The following note was written in 1935 by P. M. Johnston, F.S.A.
"There has been a Church on the present site since the 12th century at least—possibly
succeeding to a Saxon Church of timber. Of this 12th century building only one
feature remains—a plain Late Norman doorway, now built into the Vestry,
which was probably the Priest's doorway in the N. wall of the Chancel, removed
to its present position when the Vestry and Organ Chamber were built. With the
exception of the picturesque 14th century Tower at the N.W. of the Nave, the
walls of the Church were entirely re-built, with some modifications in the plan,
in 1859, at a time when scant respect was shown for ancient things, and when
our fathers were only too ready to exchange old lamps for new. It is pleasing,
therefore, to record that in this case so many original features were preserved
from the ancient fabric and re-built in the re-construction. First and foremost
among these is the magnificent roof of wide span and massive timbers, which
sits so grandly upon the Nave walls. It dates from the last quarter of the 14th
century, and its great width (about 26 ft.) is quite exceptional in a Parish
Church. Its tie-beams, king-posts and wall-plates are all heavily moulded, and
the braced collar and rafter construction is very massive. On one king-post
near the west end is carved the head of a man—possibly meant for the master-carpenter,
who took an affectionate pride in his work.
The Chancel roof is modern and poor: the Chancel arch appears to date from 1859,
but possibly some of the stones may be old ones re-worked. In the north-east
window of the Chancel, however, almost completely hidden, is a magnificent panel
of painted glass, of brilliant colouring, dating from about 1260. It represents
the martyrdom of a Saint and is a very valuable relic of medieval art, of the
same period and bearing marked resemblance to the world-famous glass in Chartres
Cathedral.
There are several large 17th and 18th century monumental tablets on the walls
deserving notice, but otherwise all the fittings and furnishings of the Church
are modern, except, perhaps, the Font, of 15th century type, octagonal, with
quatrefoil panels on the bowl. This, if old, has been re-worked.
Of the other ancient features incorporated in the re-built walls there are:
a short 13th century lancet in the south wall of the Chancel; a good two-light
window of about 1380 in the south wall of the Nave; and a fine three-light window,
with somewhat elaborate super-tracery, in the west wall, of the same date, which,
from the evidence of a water-colour drawing preserved in the Vestry, would appear
to have been removed in 1859 from its original position as the east window of
the Chancel.
The south doorway, like these windows, is of clunch, or Surrey ‘Fire-stone’
—not very suitable for external use, owing to its soft texture. It has
a flat four-centred head and is of about 1500. The oak door was presented by
a Miss Ballantine Dykes in memory of her sister.
The Tower of Headley Church is a beautiful little feature. Excepting the parapet,
with its battlements and pinnacles, which replaces the spire, burnt in 1836,
the tower is of about 1380. It has no buttresses, but the walls are solidly
constructed of hard sandstone rubble, partly plaster-coated, with quoinings
and string-course of sandstone ashlar, and charming tracery windows of two-lights
in the white clunch, dug from under the chalk in the neighbouring hills. There
are four of these pretty windows in the top or bell-stage, a single-light trefoiled
opening in the middle storey; and another two-light window like those above,
but with the addition of a hood-moulding in the west wall of the ground storey.
Finally, there is an excellent 14th century arch leading from the Tower to the
Nave."
Note: The above is a shortened version of Mr Johnston's
report — see full report
The Communion vessels are among the oldest in the land. The official description
of the chalice is as follows: The bowl is plain, slightly tapered, and has a
round stem and small banded knop. There are vertical bands with stamped moulding
above and below the stem, and the foot is domed.
The paten cover is domed with small foot. The height of the chalice is 7¼ inches
and the weight is 8 oz. 15 dwts. The diameter of the cover is 43/8 inches and
the weight 3 ozs, 3 dwts. Marks: London Assay for 1567 (small block letter K
with dot below it) and RD linked letters for Robert Danbe.
The Flagon was given by Dr. Holme in 1734. The body is tankard-shaped, engraved
with the sacred monogram within rays, and has a splayed foot. It has an S-handle,
and a domed cover with thumb-piece. The height is 13½ ins. and the weight 50
ozs. 12 dwts. Marks: London Assay for 1734, and EV with crescent above and amulet
below for Edward Vincent. Inscription :
S. Stae Trinitatis Honori, et in usum Ecclesiae de Hedley. Com. Southton.
D.D.D. Georgius Holme, S.T.P. ejusdem Ecclesiae Rector A.D. 1734.
There are also two pewter Alms Plates, one of which has apparently been a paten,
inscribed 'Hedly'.