Church of St Katharine

Details

902/23/95 GATTON BOTTOM 19-OCT-51 MERSTHAM CHURCH OF ST KATHARINE

II* Church, sited in a large churchyard. Tower, nave and chancel of C13 origins; C14 or C15 S porch; medieval Perpendicular chancel chapels; S aisle rebuilt in 1874-5; vestries of 1861 and 1895. Flint and Merstham stone rubble, except the S chancel chapel which is ashlar masonry, the tower limewashed; tiled roofs with stone slates at the eaves of the nave; copper roofs to aisles. Plan of nave with clerestory; chancel, W tower; lean-to N and S aisles; SE and NE chapels; NW vestries.

Exterior: The S side is the show front with 2 flights of steps up to the gabled S porch which has a moulded outer doorway, square-headed hoodmould and carved spandrels; sundial in gable. C19 S aisle with carved cornice with fleurons; 2-light square-headed C19 windows with quirky tracery; cusped rounded clerestory windows above. To the E the ashlar masonry E chapel with a diagonal SE buttress has very large square-headed, 2-light cusped windows with a moulded doorway between(masonry renewed 1932-33), and a 3-light Perpendicular E window. The E window of the chancel is 5-light C19 Perpendicular. The N aisle has a 2-light window to the E with a triangular head and cusped lights. The C19 vestries are adjacent gabled blocks, roofed at right angles to the aisle. The N chapel has triangular-headed windows with cusped light to N and E. The church is a good C13 4-level tower with C19 angle buttresses and a substantial broach spire. The tower has tall C13 lancet windows at each stage, a probably C16 3-light W window, and a fine C13 trefoil-headed W doorway with an order of toothed ornament on slender shafts with bell capitals and a door with medieval ironwork.

Interior: Chamfered chancel arch on semi-circular responds, remnants of C13 blind arcading on N and S chancel walls. 3-bay arcades, the N with octagonal piers, the S cylindrical with double chamfered arches. 2-centred double-chamfered chancel arch on semi-circular responds. Late medieval tie beam and crown post roof to the nave with plain crown posts and 2-way braces, boarded behind. Lean-to C19 aisle roofs, boarded behind. The chancel has a plaster vault with a classically moulded wallplate, probably C17, and a single beam with bar step stops on the N, but cut back on the S. Asymmetrical arches into the N and S chapels, perhaps to accommodate a rood screen across the whole width of the church. Late medieval tie beam and crown post roof to N chancel chapel with a moulded post and 4-way bracing. Canted plaster vault to S chapel with a moulded wallplate. C13 double piscina in E wall on a corbel carved with stiff-leaf foliage. 1903 choir stalls, the ends and frontals carved with blind tracery. 1930 altar and timber reredos with painted panels. 1935 altar and timber reredos in N chancel chapel. Polygonal timber pulpit of 1885 with open traceried sides on a stone stem. Circa C13 font with square bowl with trefoils carved in the corners, arcaded on 3 sides only, on a cylindrical stem with corner shafts. Benches of 1861, the ends square-headed, with buttress-like features to the sides. Monuments include mutilated C15 secular effigy and C15 and C16 brasses. Fragments of medieval glass in the E window of the S chapel. C19 windows include designs by Messrs Powell of Whitefriars and a 1935 tower window by Hugh Easton.

St Katherine's, Merstham is an example of an ambitious evolved medieval church with a fine C13 tower and much surviving internal fabric including late medieval roof structure.

Sources: Pevsner, Surrey, 1971 edn., 360-361 Morris, M., St Katherine's Church, Merstham, 1990

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

289323

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Books and journals
Pevsner, N, Nairn, I Rev. by Cherry, The Buildings of England: Surrey, (1971), 360-361

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