Wyrardisbury

102. WYRARDISBURY.

(O.S. 6 in. ^(a)lvi. S.E. ^(b)lviii. N.E.)

Ecclesiastical

^b(1). Parish Church of St. Andrew, stands at the W. end of the village. The walls have been re-faced externally with modern ragstone; the old dressings are of clunch, much whitewashed, and the modern dressings are of oolite. The roofs are tiled. The Chancel, Nave and North Aisle, with a S. aisle, were built c. 1220; early in the 15th century the N. aisle was lengthened towards the E. to form a North Chapel; in 1862 the South Aisle was re-built, the 13th-century aisle having been destroyed at some unknown period, the West Tower was added and the church completely restored, all the external stonework being renewed.

Architectural Description—The Chancel (20½ ft. by 14½ ft.) has an E. window of three lights and tracery; the jambs inside and the rear arch are probably of the 14th or 15th century, the rest is modern. The N. wall has, in the plaster on the western half, traces of three blocked doorways and a blocked lancet window of the 13th century (see also N. chapel). In the S. wall is a two-light window, of which only the jambs inside are old. The 13th-century chancel arch is two-centred, of one order on the E. side and two orders on the W. side, with a label; each order has a keeled edge-roll, the edge-rolls in the jambs having small plain capitals; the abaci are grooved and chamfered, and continued as a string-course in the nave; the bases are moulded and the plinths chamfered, the plinths also being carried along the walls of the nave. The Nave (38½ ft. by 17½ ft.) has N. and S. arcades of three bays; the arches resemble the chancel arch, but are only of one order; the piers are square, with keeled edge-rolls at the angles; all the dressings on the S. side of the S. arcade are modern. The walls above the arcades appear to have been heightened, probably in the 17th century, as a line about 10 ft. below the wall-plate possibly indicates the former existence of a flat ceiling; the line also occurs above the chancel arch in the nave. The North Aisle (12 ft. wide) has, in the N. wall, a window of three lights, a single light and a doorway, all modern; in the W. wall is a window of two lights, also modern. The North Chapel (14 ft. wide), now used as a vestry, opens without break into the aisle; the extra width of the aisle is caused by the N. wall of the chancel being set back from the N. arcade. In the E. wall is a modern window of three lights, and in the N. wall is a modern doorway. In the S. wall is the lancet window of the chancel; below the window is a 15th-century doorway, with the rear arch towards the chancel, on which side it is blocked, being the middle doorway of the three indicated in the chancel; in the chapel it has moulded jambs and four-centred arch; in the W. jamb is the hook for the former door. The South Aisle and the West Tower are modern. The Roofs are modern, but in the N. chapel are two moulded trusses of the 15th century.

Fittings—Bells: eight, 5th and 6th by Bryan Eldridge, 1657, 7th by William Eldridge, 1664, 8th, by Henry Knight, 1591. Brasses and Indents: In the chancel—(1) of knight in armour, early 16th-century, and indent of lady in butterfly head-dress, remains of double canopy with buttress, pinnacles, cinque-foiled and crocketed heads, Tudor rose in spandrels; above canopy two shields of arms and part of third in white metal, indent of fourth shield; 1st shield, a cheveron between three eagles' legs razed, 2nd and 3rd, as 1st impaling a cheveron; (2) of John, son of Walter Stonor, 1512, small figure of boy apparently in student's dress, with inscription; (3) to Dame Elizabeth Hobby, daughter of Sir Walter Stonor, formerly widow of Walter Walsh, 1560 (date filled in later in Arabic numerals), and to her son, Walter Walsh, 1561, inscription and three out of four shields with arms, 2nd shield missing. Chest: in N. chapel, of oak, with staples and locks, probably late 17th-century. Font: bowl plain, cylindrical, upper part of hard stone, with moulding at the top cemented on to it, apparently base-moulding reversed, indicating that this part of bowl was originally used for a pillar, early 13th-century; lower part of bowl and base of later date and different stone to that at the top. Monuments and Floor-slabs. Floor-slabs: In the chancel—(1) to Edward Gould, servant of Charles II., 1680. In the nave—(2) to Mary, wife of Henry Gibbons, 1687, and their son Henry, 1687. Niches: on each side of E. window of N. chapel, with trefoiled head, probably early 15th-century, sill modern. Panelling: in S. aisle, on E. and S. walls, open, carved oak, c. 1670. Piscina: in the chancel octofoil basin, probably 13th-century, half restored, in modern niche. Plate: includes cup and cover paten of 1634. Pulpit: with bolection-moulded raised panels of oak, late 17th-century; former sounding-board now used as a table at the vicarage.

Condition—Good.

Secular

^b(2). Homestead Moat, S.E. of the church.

^b(3). Manor Farm, N.E. of the churchyard, is of two storeys, built in the 17th century, of red brick, much altered and enlarged in 1720, and restored in the 19th century. The roof is tiled. The central chimney stack has square shafts built of thin bricks. Interior:—The kitchen has an open timber ceiling; there are two original panelled doors, and a little 17th-century panelling encases a beam in the ceiling of the sitting room.

Condition—Good.

^b(4). The George Inn, N. of the church, is of two storeys, built of brick early in the 17th century, with additions of later date. The walls are almost entirely covered with modern cement, the lower part of the chimney stack is of 17th-century brick. The roofs are tiled. The plan is L-shaped, the wings extending towards the N. and E. In front the upper storey is lighted by two dormer windows. There are some old beams in the ceilings, and one original fireplace, which has been partly blocked.

Condition—Good.

^b(5). House, now two cottages, on the Green, about ¼ mile N.E. of the church, is of two storeys, built of brick in the 17th century. The roof is tiled. The plan is rectangular, facing S., and gabled at each end. The chimney stack at the E. end is original, that at the W. end probably modern.

Condition—Poor.

^a(6). Place Farm, or 'King John's Farmhouse' (see Plate, p. xxx.), about ½ mile N.W. of the church, is of two storeys, built probably early in the 16th century but possibly re-faced in the 17th century; the walls are timber-framed, with lath and plaster filling, partly replaced by brick nogging. The roofs are tiled. The original plan cannot be determined exactly; the present S. half of the building was probably a hall reaching to the roof, and the N. half was of two storeys. The E. front is covered with cement, but some timbers are visible; the central porch has an entrance archway of early 16th-century date, of oak, with a four-centred head, and sunk quatrefoils in the spandrels. On the first floor the windows have moulded mullions, now painted, but possibly old, and quarry glazing, much of it apparently also old. One chimney stack is built partly of 17th-century brick. Interior:—The ground floor has one original moulded ceiling-beam; the others are plain; a little early 17th-century panelling remains in a passage. On the first floor two rooms have old heraldic glass in the windows, partly made up with modern glass; one shield bears the royal arms and another shield is charged with the Stonor arms. In the room at the S. end of the house is an arched truss which indicates that this part was formerly a hall reaching from ground floor to roof; the angles of the principals are moulded; in the same room are two trussed hammer-beams, chamfered, possibly the ends of the original tie-beams of the hall roof. Several oak ledged doors with muntins are original. The small, plain, staircase in the N. half of the house is of oak.

Condition—Very bad; walls out of the perpendicular; roofs covered with ivy, weighing them down; floors rotting, especially in the S. half of the house, plaster falling from the ceilings; the N. half is partly occupied and is in a little better condition.

^b(7). Downhams (or Downham Cottage), about ⁵/8 mile S.S.E. of the church, is of two storeys, built probably early in the 17th century, and subsequently enlarged. The walls are of brick, covered with rough-cast; the roofs are tiled. The plan is L-shaped, the wings extending towards the S. and E., with a chimney stack at the junction of the wings, and another at the S. end of the S. wing, both of original thin bricks. Additional rooms have been built on the N. front and at the E. end. Some of the beams in the ceilings are original.

Condition—Good.

^b(8). Nunnery, ruins, at Ankerwyke, about ¾ mile S. of the church. The building was apparently of two storeys, and of the 13th century, with 15th-century additions. The remains consist of part of a length of wall running E. and W., with a shorter fragment at the E. end, extending towards the S., and a detached fragment on the N.W., also at right angles to the main wall. The walls are about 10 ft. high, of chalk rubble repaired with brick. In the longest wall, at the ground floor level, are three windows; the westernmost is a long window with the sill reaching almost to the ground; the head is not original, but the rebated jambs, of oolite, are possibly of the 13th century: the second is a low single-light window with chamfered jambs and a two-centred drop arch, of chalk, and is possibly of the 14th century: the third opening, now only a gap in the wall, was probably another single light; over it is a window of two lights, partly repaired; the jambs, of limestone, are probably of the 15th century. All the rear arches are on the N. side of the wall. Set low in the S.E. wall is a rectangular loop, probably of the 15th century, blocked on the E. side, and at the S. end of the wall is a diagonal buttress. In the detached fragment of wall on the N.W. is the N. jamb and part of the pointed arch and square head of a small 15th-century opening, of limestone.

Condition—Ruinous, overgrown with ivy.

END OF THE INVENTORY.