Tower of old church, Ewell

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Overview

Heritage Category:: Scheduled Monument
List Entry Number:: 1003721
Date first listed:: 16-Jan-1951

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Official list entry

Heritage Category:: Scheduled Monument
List Entry Number:: 1003721
Date first listed:: 16-Jan-1951

Location

The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.

County:: Surrey
District:: Epsom and Ewell (District Authority)
Parish:: Non Civil Parish
National Grid Reference:: TQ 22114 62778

Summary

The old parish church of St. Mary the Virgin, 58m north-east of Glyn House.

Reasons for Designation

A parish church is a building, usually of roughly rectangular outline and containing a range of furnishings and fittings appropriate to its use for Christian worship by a secular community, whose members gather in it on Sundays and on the occasion of religious festivals. Children are initiated into the Christian religion at the church's font and the dead are buried in its churchyard. Parish churches were designed for congregational worship and are generally divided into two main parts: the nave, which provides accommodation for the laity, and the chancel, which is the main domain of the priest and contains the principal altar. Either or both parts are sometimes provided with aisles, giving additional accommodation or spaces for additional altars. Most parish churches also possess towers, generally at the west end, but central towers at the crossing of nave and chancel are not uncommon and some churches have a free-standing or irregularly sited tower. Many parish churches also possess transepts at the crossing of chancel and nave, and south or north porches are also common. The main periods of parish church foundation were in the 10th to 11th and 19th centuries. Most medieval churches were rebuilt and modified on a number of occasions and hence the visible fabric of the church will be of several different dates, with in some cases little fabric of the first church being still easily visible.

A considerable amount of the original medieval building of the old parish church of St. Mary the Virgin survives. The church was a key feature of the built-landscape and a major focus of religious and community life in Ewell. The ground beneath the church will contain archaeological and environmental evidence relating to the history and use of the site.

History

See Details.

Details

This record was the subject of a minor enhancement on 24 November 2014. The record has been generated from an "old county number" (OCN) scheduling record. These are monuments that were not reviewed under the Monuments Protection Programme and are some of our oldest designation records.

The monument includes the remains of the old parish church of St. Mary the Virgin, Ewell. It is situated in an area of flat open ground near the centre of Ewell, bounded by church street on the south and east sides. The new parish church of St Mary is located nearby to the north-west. The old church was part-demolished in the 19th century and the remains now include the church tower, small sections of the nave walls and part of the west wall of the south aisle. The sections of nave walls are now used as buttresses and also form the sides of a porch. The tower dates to the early 15th century and stands to a height of three storeys. It is built of flint with stone quoins and dressings. The ground floor of the west front has an original pointed doorway with a large 3-light pointed traceried window above. Single-light windows remain on the first floor and 2-light windows on the top storey. The south-west angle of the tower includes a full-height octagonal stair tower rising above the roof. The rest of the church is believed to have been of earlier date than the tower. The history and external appearance of the church are recorded in documentary sources and paintings.

Further archaeological remains survive within the vicinity of this monument. Some such as nearby Nonsuch Palace are scheduled, but others are not because they have not been formally assessed.

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:: SU 115
Legacy System:: RSM - OCN

Sources

Books and journals
Malden, H E, The Victoria History of the County of Surrey: Volume III, (1911), 278-284
Other
Surrey HER1097. NMR TQ26SW14. PastScape 400828

Legal

This monument is scheduled under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979 as amended as it appears to the Secretary of State to be of national importance. This entry is a copy, the original is held by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.