Hike (part 4) St. James Church, Shere

This is St James Church in Shere. Get ready for some history!

"For well over a thousand years a church has stood on this site, on the banks of the Tillingbourne stream in the heart of the village of Shere. Nestling in the wooded Surrey Hills and overlooked by the North Downs, St James Church stands close to the Pilgrims Way, an ancient parth from Winchester walked by pilgrims wishing to express their devotion to God at the tomb of St Thomas in Canterbury Cathedral."

That's quite a walk...

Isn't it pretty?

"The present church dates from the 12th century and took its original form in about 1190. Architecturally it is regarded as one of the finest examples of the Early English style, known as Transitional."
"Altercations and restorations have been carried out from the early 1200s until the present day."
"An original Saxon church stood on this site, most likely built of timber. If there were parts in stone, it is possible that some of the core may be left in the north wall of the nave."
This is the remains of the cell where Christine Carpenter was held. Here's her story:

"The daugher of William the Carpenter, who lived in Lower Street, Christine sought permission as an act of great piety to be enclosed in a cell at Shere Church in July 1329. The Register of the Bishop of Winchester at that time shows that he granted this permission a month later. Christing, duly enclosed, could see only the altar through the squint window and received bread and wine of Communion through the quatrefoil." (You'll see these windows/ squint in a later picture).

Here's a couple of the brasses located around the church, most of them made in the 1400s.
Here is the window and the squint from the inside of the church - where Christine received her meals and the slit where she could see the church. Quite a small space, really.

Here's more about her:

"After three years, Christine left her cell and returned to the world, but then reconsidered and petitioned to be re-enclosed. Again the Bishop consented - but with a different tone this time: 'We order and command you that the said Christine shall be thrust back into the said re-enclosure.... that she may learn at you discretion how refarious was her committed sin...' How and why she came to commit this 'nefarious sin' of leaving her cell, and that happened to her eventualy, all remain a mystery."

How strange...
Here's the view down the main part of the church. The church is actually a stange box shape, rather than the cross shape that most churches come in.
This is caleld the Crusader Alms Coffer. It is made of oak and dates from the 13th century. It was used to collect money by order of the Pope for the Crusaders fighting in the Holy Land. Its three locks are of a later date, the separate keys being held by three responsible parishioners - an early form of combination lock.
This is a tiny statuette of Madonna and Child. It is dated around 1300 and is thought to have come from a pilgrim's staff or perhaps a bishop's pastoral staff. It was found in 1886 by a lady and her dog in the woods above Shere.
Here is the oldest part of the church - the Norman arch. Probably built between 1135 and 1190. Very cool.
The circular marks are scratched into the pillars of the Norman arch in the south doorway. Before the porch was built, the sun would have cast shadows when a stick was inserted in the centre of each dial, to tell the time of services to passing pilgrims.
Here is another old part of the church - a font, dating between 1213 and 1300.

The church was a lovely little surprise along the walk, and well worth a visit. They also had quite a range of books - it's where I bought my "Historical Houses of Gomshall and Shere" book, which was quite handy.

Hope you enjoyed reading all about my hike, I certainly enjoyed doing it!

Hike (part 2) - Historic Houses of Shere, UK

Welcome to Shere! Share has a huge amount of houses of historic significance, and so, I'll take you on a tour!

This house is called Burrowdown. It is a brick house (duh), and it was built about 1865 by the DUke of Northumberland.
This is the Manor House Lodge and it was built in 1894.
This one here is called Tudor Cottage. It is a three-bay timber-framed open hall house with an internal jetty and smoke-blackened rafters. It was built in the early 15th century and a bay was added in 1571. The chimney was inserted about 1620. A hat that is possibly Tudor was discovered in 1972 concealed beside the chimney and it is on display in the Shere museum.
These are called the Vine Cottages. They were built around 1500, although the front part of the homes were redone in the early 17th century.
This house was built about 1660.

And this house, called Denton, was built about 1550.
This is called the Lime Cottage. It was also built in the 16th century.
This house is called Denmarke, and it was originaly probably a four-bay timber-framed house, with a fine upper room fronting the road, perhaps originally jettied, and possibly the meeting place for the manorial court. A date of about 1560-80 is suggested by teh early side-purlin roof. It was refaced and converted into cottages around 1725.
The earliest part of this house dates from 1640, while the newest end dates from the 1800s.
This was formerly an important house called Hawkin's. Two jettied cross-wings and part of the centre remain from a timer-framed hall house of about 1500, though it is not certain whether the hall was an open ahll. The cross-wings have crown-post roofs; the western wing was probably the original parlour, and the eastern wing the original service part.
This is Elm Cottage, formerly Gibble's, and end chimney two-bay timer framed house with a stair turret, built probably aroung 1620. A pot-quern of medieval type, discovered during alterations here in the rubble underneath an old bread-oven, was discussed in the 1964 volumeof the "Surrey Achaeological Collections".
This is Seaforth Cottage. It is timber-framed and built in 1632. It was considerably altered about 1860 by Sir Henry Cole (first director of the V&A).
This is Kinghames Restaurant. The house was built in 1640, although additions were made in the 17th and 18th century.
This is Forge Cottage. Parts of an earlier 14th century survive, although the rest of the building dates from about the 16th century.
This was originally a merchant's hall which dated around the 15th century. The original central open hall was replaced about 1600.

This is Rookery Nook, and it was built about 1450-1500. It was originally a single-storey open hall house, with its parlour end to the east and its service end to the west. By 1700 the house included a blacksmith's on the site.
That alcove was originally a fountain - the sign reads: The Drinking Fountain was given to the village by two maiden ladies, the misses Spotteswood. They lived and worshipped locally, but looked upon alcohol as the devil. They thought that visitors to the White Horse Pub should have an alternative drink and therefore commissioned the fountain in 1886. The fountain was operational until 1970 until the water level changed.
And this is the White Horse pub. I had a lovely rest and a lemonde here after my walk, and it was a lovely building on the inside. It was originally a two-bay timber-framed open hall house of about 1450, with twin service rooms to the north and two-bay cross-wings at both parlour and service ends. About 1600 a chimney with fine stone back-to-back fireplaces was inserted in the parlour end of the hall, and the hall reframed with a continuous jetty. The external timbering was applied about 1920.

There, wasn't Shere lovely? Hope you enjoyed it, and stay tuned for more prettiness. :)