Old St Peter and St Paul's Church, Albury facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Old St Peter and St Paul's Church, Albury |
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Old St Peter and St Paul's Church, Albury
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 Old St Peter and St Paul's Church, Albury
Location in Surrey
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| 51°13′12″N 0°28′44″W / 51.2200°N 0.4790°W | |
| OS grid reference | TQ 063 479 |
| Location | Albury Park, Surrey |
| Country | England |
| Denomination | Anglican |
| Website | Churches Conservation Trust |
| Architecture | |
| Heritage designation | Grade I |
| Designated | 14 June 1967 |
| Architect(s) | A. W. N. Pugin (mortuary chapel) |
| Architectural type | Church |
| Style | Anglo-Saxon, Gothic |
| Specifications | |
| Materials | Ironstone and sandstone rubble |
Old St Peter and St Paul's Church is an old church near the village of Albury, Surrey, England. It is now looked after by The Churches Conservation Trust. This church is a very important historical building, listed as Grade I. You can find it in Albury Park, between the villages of Albury and Shere.
Contents
A Look Back in Time: Church History
The main part of the church, called the nave, might be from the Anglo-Saxon times (a very long time ago!). But it has been changed a lot since the 1300s. The tower's bottom parts are even older, from before the Norman Conquest in 1066. It was made taller and wider in the 1100s.
In the 1200s, the chancel (the area around the altar) and a south transept (a part sticking out like an arm of a cross) were built. The south aisle (a side part of the church) was added in the 1300s. The north porch was built in the early 1500s.
Henry Drummond's Changes
In 1819, a banker from London named Henry Drummond bought the Albury Park estate. The next year, the pointy spire on the tower was changed to a small dome, called a cupola.
Henry Drummond became involved with a new religious group called the Catholic Apostolic Church in the 1830s. He built a church for them on his estate. People from Albury village used to worship at this old church. Drummond decided to close it and build a new Anglican church closer to the village.
Building for both new churches started in 1839. Drummond then asked a famous architect named A. W. N. Pugin to turn the south transept of the old church into a mortuary chapel. This chapel was a special place for burials.
Church Design and Features
The church has a nave and a chancel with a tower in the middle. The nave has a south aisle, and a south transept sticks out from the tower. There is also a north porch near the front of the nave.
Outside the Church
The tower has three levels and a battlemented top, like a castle wall. It also has a small window facing north. The chancel has an east window from the late 1200s and a tall, narrow window (a lancet window) on its south wall. The transept has two windows with two lights each on its east wall. It also has a large south window with five lights.
At the west end of the church, there are two pointed roof sections called gables. You can also see an arched window and a round window. The porch has a gabled roof with fancy wooden decorations called bargeboards. These decorations have shapes like quatrefoils (four-leaf clover shapes), rosettes, and tracery (fancy stone patterns).
The church is built from ironstone and sandstone rubble (rough, broken stones). The decorative parts are made from Bargate stone and clunch (a type of chalk). Part of the north wall is covered with stucco (a type of plaster). The north porch is made with timber framing (wooden beams). The nave roof is covered with Horsham slabs (flat stones). The aisle and porch roofs have tiles, and the transept roof has slates. The small dome (cupola) is covered with wooden shingles and has a metal decoration on top.
Inside the Church
The nave is separated from the south aisle by an arcade with three sections. These sections are supported by eight-sided pillars. The wooden roof of the nave is from the 1300s.
Around the walls, you can see memorials from the 1600s and 1700s. A marble slab from the 1300s, which was once a coffin lid, is set into the aisle floor. In the west wall, there is a niche (a shallow alcove) where a statue might have stood. Above the south door, there is a 1400s wall painting of Saint Christopher. In the south wall of the aisle, you can find a piscina (a basin for washing sacred vessels) from the 1300s.
The south transept became the Drummond Chapel. It holds Henry Drummond's marble chest tomb. The chapel walls are painted in red and gold by an artist named T. Early. The windows have beautiful stained glass made by William Wailes. The ceiling is made of panels and decorated with a quatrefoil pattern.
William Oughtred, a famous mathematician who invented the multiplication sign, was buried in this church. He was the rector (a type of priest) of Albury for fifty years.
Outside the Church Grounds
In the churchyard, there is a chest tomb called the "Tupper Vault." This tomb remembers the artists Arthur Devis and Anthony Devis. This tomb is also a listed building, designated as Grade II.
More to Explore
- List of churches preserved by the Churches Conservation Trust in South East England
- St Peter & St Paul's Church: The Churches Conservation Trust
