The Church of St. Peter and St. Paul, Dorchester-on-Thames
The abbey church of St. Peter and St. Paul in Dorchester-on-Thames is a large building consisting of a chancel with north and south aisles, a nave with a south aisle, a western tower, and a south porch. Without the tower the church is nearly 200 feet long, and it measures nearly 80 feet across the aisles. With the exception of Oxford Cathedral it is the only surviving monastic church in the county. No trace now remains above ground of the pre-Conquest church founded by St. Birinus in the 7th century, but its foundations presumably exist beneath the floor. The existing church was built by the Augustinian canons established by Alexander, Bishop of Lincoln, in the middle of the 12th century. Owing to the loss of all the abbey's archives its architectural history before the Dissolution depends almost entirely on structural evidence, which in some respects is not easy to interpret. The earliest portions of the present building date from the late 12th century, and appear to have formed part of a cruciform building without aisles. The north wall of the nave, the western sides of both transepts, the lower part of the south wall of the south transept, the western arch of the crossing, and the eastern angles of the original presbytery all belonged to this late Romanesque church. The western arch of the crossing was probably matched by a similar arch to the east, but appears insufficient to have supported a central tower of any magnitude. The plain unmoulded lateral arches are of uncertain date. As they cut through the string-course which marks the 12thcentury work internally they cannot be earlier than the surviving west arch, and in their present form they may even be of post-Reformation date. On the other hand their western responds rest on chamfered bases continuous with those of the western arch, thus demonstrating their 12th-century origin. The east end of the 12th-century church is marked on the north side by a pilaster now partly cut away, but still visible in the angle between the north transept and the chancel, and on the south side by the remains of an ornamental angle-turret, now concealed behind a modern rainwater head, but illustrated by Freeman. The north wall of the nave was originally lighted by a range of tall single-light windows of which one remains complete, and traces of a similar window can be seen at the west end of the south wall. The cloister stood on the north side of the nave, access to it being by a Romanesque doorway (now blocked) in the west wall of the north transept. This entrance appears to have been superseded in the 14th century by another doorway in the north wall of the nave. Adjoining this there are traces of a larger arch or recess of unknown date and purpose. Of the cloister itself nothing now remains, but the ends of its roof-timbers can be seen embedded in the north wall of the nave, and its foundations, seen and sketched by Anthony Wood in the 17th century, were located by excavation in 1882. Some moulded spandrels and capitals preserved with other fragments in the church may well have formed part of the cloisters.
The corresponding aisle on the south side extends to the full width of the transept, and dates from the early years of the 14th century. Its two eastern bays are vaulted, and were probably intended to form the setting for the handsome new shrine in which the relics of St. Birinus were shortly to be placed. At the same time uniform arcades were built on both sides of the choir. The northern arcade at least presumably replaced one of 13th-century date, but it is possible that hitherto the north aisle was separated from the choir by an unpierced wall, for the capitals of the vaulting-shafts in its north wall are placed so low as almost to preclude a normal arcade on the south side. A doorway was also inserted in the former west wall of the south transept, now the west wall of the aisle. This doorway has an external dripmould, thus indicating that at the time it was built there was no aisle on the south side of the nave. It was, however, not long before a broad aisle was added in this position for the use of (and presumably at the expense of) the parishioners, to whom this part of the church was allocated. Externally this aisle forms a continuation of the south choir aisle, and its windows correspond closely in design to those immediately to the east. Its later date is, however, demonstrated both by the existence of the doorway already referred to, and by the difference in the mouldings of the buttresses. The buttress at the south-west angle requires special notice, for it incorporates an early 13th-century niche, with characteristic mouldings and capitals, which must originally have adorned some other part of the church. St. John Hope's suggestion that it stood originally at the south-west corner of the south choir aisle cannot be accepted, as it must antedate that aisle by something like a century, and it is perhaps more likely that it formed part of a 13th-century west front, displaced by the erection of a west tower at about the same time as the building of the aisle. As the construction of the aisle involved a considerable encroachment on the churchyard, a vaulted charnelhouse was built beneath the altar in order to receive such bones as were disturbed in the course of the work. Above the altar there is an arched recess in the wall which may represent the blocking of a former window. After the construction of the nave aisle the parish church was separated from the monastic church by a screen, part of which can still be seen in the eastern bay of the nave aisle. In 1530 the bishop directed that the gates between the two parts of the church were to be kept locked at night. Somewhat later—probably about 1340—the presbytery was extended eastwards by the addition of a rectangular bay lighted by three large windows of unconventional design. The east window is remarkable both for the unusual character of its tracery, and for its division into two by a central buttress. The north window is so designed as to exhibit the Tree of Jesse, the central mullion representing the trunk of a tree, its branches crossing over the intermediate mullions as far as the jambs. At the base is carved the figure of Jesse, and at each intersection occurs the sculptured figure of one of his descendants, others being represented in stained glass in the intervening lights. The whole composition culminated in a figure of Christ, now mutilated, placed at the point where the central mullion divided. Sculpture and stained glass were similarly combined in the south window to tell what appears to have been the story of St. Birinus. After the south window was in place its cill was cut away to allow the insertion of elaborate sedilia and piscina with crocketted canopies. Behind the seats the wall is pierced by three glazed openings in the shape of spherical triangles. Externally one of the 14th-century buttresses presents a curious architectural anomaly in the form of a niche decorated with 'dog-tooth' moulding in the style of the late 12th century. Unlike the one at the south-west corner of the south aisle, this niche appears to be an integral part of the structure in which it is set, and not an earlier feature re-used. Its presence would seem therefore to be another symptom of the somewhat eccentric taste which is characteristic of the whole east end. Only two other additions to the fabric are known to have occurred before the dissolution of the abbey. One was the building of a west tower, the other the addition of a south porch. The latter appears to date from the late 15th or early 16th century. Of the medieval west tower only the stair-turret survives. The mouldings of its doorway indicate that it was built in the 14th century. When the abbey was suppressed in 1536 the chancel was bought for £140 by Richard Beauforest, a 'great rich man' of Dorchester, and the whole building was made available for parochial use. In his will Beauforest left the chancel or abbey church to the parish on condition that the parishioners did not sell or change the 'church implements' without the consent of his executors. In 1602 a new west tower was built in place of its predecessor, but incorporating the 14th-century stair-turret. It is of traditional design, with octagonal buttresses and flint chequer-work in the style of several late medieval towers in the Thames valley. The date 1602 and the initials J. W. are carved on a stone near the top of the south-west buttress, and an entry in the parish register records 'The tower of Dorchester rebuilt by J. W. 1602.' This was the only post-Reformation addition to the church, and for the last 300 years the maintenance of so large a fabric has proved a serious problem to successive churchwardens. Evidence of this is to be found both in visitation complaints about the need for repair, and in the demolition of the greater part of the north transept and transeptal chapel, which seems to have taken place in the 17th century. The truncated transept was incorporated in the north aisle by means of a roughly built wall containing an ill-made 'churchwardens' Gothic' window. In 1633 a double ridged roof was made over the south nave aisle. This involved blocking up the west window of the aisle, and it may have been at the same period that the roof of the porch was raised in such a way as to obscure part of the window behind it. The possibility that the arches north and south of the crossing owe their present unmoulded appearance to post-Reformation alterations has already been mentioned. By the early 18th century the whole church was in serious need of attention, and in 1737 estimates for repairs amounting to over £2,500 were submitted to the Justices with the object of obtaining a brief. This was granted, and resulted in the collection of £714. In 1739 Robert Speakman of Oxford and Benjamin Leasonby of London, carpenters, contracted to repair the roof of the southeast aisle, and Charles Wheeler of Dorchester, plumber, was engaged to cover it with lead. It was probably at this time that the vaulting was taken down and a flat plastered roof inserted in its stead. In 1747 Richard Phillips of Nettlebed, carpenter, engaged to take down and rebuild the roof of the 'middle isle from chancel to the arch'. In 1746 the chancel was repaired at the expense of the Fettiplace family, who owned the great tithes, and a classical altar-piece was set up. The west end of the nave was repaved in 1747, and the north aisle in 1765. No other major repairs appear to have been carried out until the 19th century, and by then the church was 'in some parts in a very unsound and dilapidated state'. The whole of the medieval roofing had been destroyed and replaced by plastered ceilings or 'rough open timber work', the upper part of the east window had been removed in order to accommodate a flat plaster ceiling, and the nave was divided into two by a plastered partition. The south window of the chancel was held together only by iron bands, the sedilia were 'sadly broken and dilapidated', and the whole church was 'far from being in the state of cleanliness and decency in which it ought to be kept.' In 1844 the Oxford Architectural Society took the initiative in raising money for a general restoration. The fabric was first examined by James Cranstoun, an Oxford architect, who estimated that a complete restoration would cost £3,970. By 1846 £500 had been raised, and the north and south windows of the chancel and the sedilia were repaired under Cranstoun's direction. The restoration of the east window and the re-roofing of the chancel were, however, entrusted to William Butterfield. These works, together with the clearing and reseating of the nave, were accomplished between 1846 and 1852. Between 1858 and 1874 the repair of the church was resumed under the direction of Sir Gilbert Scott, who restored all the roofs to their original pitch and rebuilt the vaulting at the east end of the south aisle. Until the Reformation the most important tomb in the church was that of its founder and patron St. Birinus. Papal authority to translate his body to a more fitting place was obtained in 1225, and a 14th-century chronicler records that a new and magnificently carved marble shrine (feretrum marmoreum stupende sculpture) was made in 1320. Large portions of an early 14th-century canopied shrine were found in the 19th century built up into the filling of the blocked doorway in the west wall of the north transept, and are now displayed in the south aisle near the spot where in all probability they originally stood. The lower part of the shrine appears to have been of Purbeck marble, the canopy of freestone, elaborately carved and painted. There are four medieval effigies, three of stone and one of alabaster. The oldest, one of the stone effigies, is a large recumbent figure of a cross-legged knight dating from the reign of Edward I. It is possible that he may represent 'one Holcum, a knight', who was buried in the church according to a statement by a 16th-century Abbot of Dorchester. A Robert of Little Holcombe held ⅓ hide in Holcombe of the abbot in 1241 and the effigy may represent him or his heir. The abbot told Leland that he thought 'Holcum' was buried in the alabaster tomb, but this supports the effigy of a late 14thcentury knight with the lion rampant of Segrave on his breast, and the arms of Segrave and Botetourt were formerly painted on the sides of the tomb. The person commemorated cannot be identified with certainty, but it seems that he must have been a member of the Segrave family descended from a marriage between Segrave and Botetourt. A third effigy, representing a man in legal robes, with the arms of Stonor on the side of the tomb, is probably that of the judge John de Stonor (d. 1354). The fourth effigy is that of a bishop in the style of the early 14th century. It was discovered under the floor in the 18th century and may be the 'image of freestone' with an inscription to Bishop Æschwine (d. 1002) seen by Leland, which had disappeared when Wood visited the church in 1657. The church once had a large number of brasses and memorial slabs: Wood noted in 1657 that there had been eighteen inscriptions in the south aisle alone and that all but one were defaced. The majority of the memorials have now gone. Of the brasses those that remain are mutilated or have only matrices left. Of the brass of Abbot John de Sutton (d. 1349) the matrices of a man holding a crozier and of the inscription remain. Roger Smith, who resigned as abbot in 1523 and who was also Bishop of Lydda, is commemorated by a much-worn incised alabaster slab with his figure on it. Abbot Richard 'Beweforest' (temp. Henry VIII) has a brass with his figure, a Latin scroll, and an English inscription. His name and crozier are also carved on one of the ends of the choirstall-desks. Abbots are probably also commemorated by two matrices, one of a kneeling figure with a scroll, the other of a floriated cross. Another abbot's brass, seen in the 17th century, has now gone, and so has the inscription to the last abbot, John March (d. 1553). The matrices of brasses to two canons remain: to Brother Ralph, under the north wall of the nave, and to an unknown canon kneeling opposite an angel. Of the remaining non-clerical brasses or matrices of brasses the oldest is perhaps the indent under a triple canopy in the chancel. The canopy resembles those on the Drayton tombs and the figure may have represented, as Wood thought, a contemporary of the Draytons, Sir Gilbert Wace of Ewelme, who in his will of 1407 provided that the abbot should have services said for him, and may well have been honoured by being buried in the chancel. Leland had earlier identified him as a 'gentleman' named 'Ways'. The oldest remaining brass is a large one to Sir John Drayton (d. 1417), who asked in his will to be buried in Dorchester church. The figure of his wife Isabella and the arms of Drayton quartering Segrave have gone. Leland and Wood both noted two other Drayton slabs, but were unable to identify them precisely. One must have been to Richard Drayton (d. 1464), who in his will asked to be buried in the abbey between the tomb of William Drayton and the south wall, and the other to William Drayton. Two shields of Drayton and the indent of a man in armour remain and presumably represent one of these Draytons. Of the brass to Margaret Beauforest (d. 1523/4) and her two husbands (one of them named Richard Beauforest, the other William Tanner) and their children, the figures of the woman and a man remain. The shield of Ideley and part of one of Drayton quartering Segrave are all that remain of the brass to Pers[e] Ideley and his two wives, one a Drayton. The indent of the figures was there until the 19th century. The only other remaining parts of brasses are an early 16th-century merchant's mark over the matrices of a man, his wife, and two children; and the small figure of a woman, perhaps Jenit Shirrey. The figures of five girls, detached from some brass, though recorded in the 19th century, could not be traced in 1959. There were once memorials to Gilbert Segrave; William Yonge (d. 1430) and his wife Alice with shield of arms; Robert Bedford (d. 1491) and his wife Alice; William Bedford (d. 1516) and Agnes Bedford (d. 1518/19). There are a number of 17th-century and later memorials, some of them apparently removed from the churchyard. They include those to William Whinchester (d. 1655), pastor for 40 years; Agnes Clerke (d. 1661), wife of Edward Clerke, Esq.; the 'matchlesse' Mrs. Anne Carleton (d. 1669); Francis Dandridge, 'Pharmacop of London' (d. 1714); Jonathan Granger (d. 1774), merchant, citizen and draper of London; Philadelphia Cherrill (d. 1796), daughter of Francis Cherrill; Vincent Cherrill (d. 1807) and his wife Margaret (d. 1791); Mrs. Sarah Fletcher, who 'died a martyr to excessive sensibility' in 1799 in her 29th year; Thomas Latham (d. 1843); and Richard Sheen, Mayor of Oxford (d. 1840). The church is still rich in medieval painted glass. Four medallions in the openings over the piscina and the sedilia, representing scenes from the life of St. Birinus, date perhaps from the early 13th century. They have been in their present position since 1808 at least, but in 1657 they were in the large south window above. The east window contains a number of panes of 14th-century glass portraying biblical scenes and scenes from the lives of saints, as well as one pane of armorial glass and the figure of a canon, Ralph de Tew. This glass was assembled about 1814 by Colonel or Captain Kennett from other windows and also from a glazier's shop. The glass in the circle at the top was inserted when the window was restored about 1847, and there is later 19th-century glass by Clayton & Bell, placed there in 1874. Kennett also had placed in the south window of the chancel most of the present collection of armorial glass, part of which had been in the east window. These 21 armorial shields and five in other windows, almost all of which can be identified as those of noble families holding land in the neighbourhood, date from about 1300. They include the arms of Edward I and of Edmund, Earl of Cornwall, who died in that year. In 1574 and certainly as late as 1657 most of the armorial glass (more than double the present quantity) was in the east window of the choir and one of the east windows of the south aisle of the choir. The glass in the north window of the chancel, showing the descent of Christ from Jesse, has probably always been in its present position. Wood noted about 27 figures, some of which had been defaced by the soldiers during the Civil War, and there are now sixteen. They were repaired under the direction of the architect. F. E. Howard in 1926. The modern glass at the east end of the south aisle to members of the Cripps family is said to be by Hardman. The chancel walls according to Wood were painted 'very gloriously' with all kinds of beasts, of which a lion, a griffin, and a leopard remained. A medieval wall-painting depicting the Crucifixion was restored by Clayton & Bell in 1862–3. It is on the west wall of the nave. The lead bowl of the font is of 12th-century date. It is decorated with a continuous arcade of eleven semicircular arches, in each of which is a seated figure. The stall-desks in the choir date from the early 16th century. In 1552 the church was well furnished with plate and vestments, but by the next year only one chalice remained. In 1929 the silver was all 19th-century. The Dorchester bells, which are famous for their tone, are unusual in that, with one possible exception, all the original castings have been preserved. The two largest are of the late 14th century: one, the gift of Ralph Restwold (d. 1383), is dedicated to St. Birinus, the other to St. Peter and St. Paul. Except for a sanctus bell and a lych bell these were the only two bells in 1552. Of the other bells, four are dated 1591, 1603, 1606, and 1651. They were described by Hearne in 1711. In 1867 two more were added to make a ring of eight. The church had a chiming clock in the 1620's. Repairs to it are frequently recorded in the 18thcentury churchwardens' accounts and in the parish register. In 1868–9 a new clock, by Moore of Clerkenwell, was put up and quarter chimes were added in 1901. Historical information about The Church of St. Peter and St. Paul is provided by 'Parishes: Dorchester', in A History of the County of Oxford: Volume 7, Dorchester and Thame Hundreds, ed. Mary Lobel (London, 1962), pp. 39-64. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/oxon/vol7/pp39-64 [accessed 17 March 2023]. The Church of St. Peter and St. Paul is a Grade I listed building. For more information about the listing see ABBEY CHURCH OF ST PETER AND ST PAUL, Dorchester - 1193595 | Historic England. For more information about The Church of St. Peter and St. Paul see Parishes: Dorchester | British History Online (british-history.ac.uk). |
