Long Cross: Christ Church
Overview
Grid reference: SU 987 653
Visiting and facilities
Building is closed for worship
Building
Ground Plan Description and Dimensions
Ground plan:
Aisleless nave with west porch; chancel with north organ chamber and vestry.
Dimensions:
Nave 15m (47ft) by 7.5m (23ft); chancel 7m (22ft) by 4.8m (15ft).
Description of Archaeology and History
The church is the first on the site, but the churchyard is set within an area of considerable activity in Prehistory, and there are several tumuli and other earthworks in the immediate area.
The church was designed by a Mr Willoughby, 1846-7. The church cost £1,800, which was met by William Tringham of Longcross House, who also gave the site. The foundation stone was laid by his thirteen-year-old son William on 27 August 1846 and the completed church was consecrated on 15 September 1847.
In 1878 the church was extended by one bay and the addition of a chancel to designs by Ralph Nevill FSA, of Godalming, at a cost of £1,000.
Exterior Description
This is a chapel-like building in the style of simple lancet gothic.
The nave is a plain rectangle with a double-chamfered stone plinth and plain buttresses at each bay with one weathering apiece. In each bay is a single lancet with a hoodmould. The west wall has a triplet of lancets over a porch which stands on a plinth continuing that of the nave walls. The porch has an outer arch with dogtooth moulding set on a pair of shafts with foliate capitals and the eaves have a showy wavy bargeboard such as might be seen on a lodge beside park gates. At each side is trefoiled wooden arcading of six bays. The floor has patterned tiles and there are oak benches at each side. In the nave wall at each side of the porch are small lancets.
The apex of the nave gable is of stone with shallowly incised cusping. The bell-cote which formerly stood here was taken down in 1967 and replaced by the present plain gable cross in 1969.
The chancel has three equal lancets in the east wall with a vesica above. There are two lancets in the south wall and one on the north wall. On the north side are two rooms under pent roofs of different levels, the taller housing the organ and a small choir vestry and the lower the clergy vestry. These also have plain lancet windows, and the latter has a doorway in the north wall.
Building Fabric and Features
Stained Glass
1909
East lancets depict The Crucifixion.
Stained Glass
Unknown
St Mary Magdalene
Stained Glass
Unknown
Chancel north. St Peter
Stained Glass
Unknown
Chancel south. St James
Stained Glass
1860
Nave north. Three rounders of geometrical patterns against patterned quarries
Stained Glass
1928
Nave north. Faith, by Powell of Whitefriars
Stained Glass
1921
Nave north. St Andrew
Stained Glass
1873
Nave north. The Ascension
Stained Glass
1860
Nave south. Three rounders of geometrical patterns against patterned quarries
Stained Glass
Early 20th Century
Nave south. Small panel of Christ the Light of the World.
Stained Glass
Unknown
Nave south. Achievement of arms of the Revd Ambrose William Hall, first incumbent
Stained Glass
1906
Nave south. Christ and the Children.
Stained Glass
1885
West window. Christ the Light of the World flanked by angels
Interior
Interior Description
The interior is also simple. It is entered, however, by a richly decorated door - with scrolling ironwork on the outer face and carved tracery on the inner which includes the shield of the Tringham arms as though hanging from a strap over a peg. The external hoodmould is of oak, carved with a text. The walls are plastered, lined out as ashlar, and whitened and the windows have timber cusping at the top (all except the eastern in each wall, in the bay added later). The floor is paved with mosaic in a repeating pattern of crosses within reticulated shapes and the pews stand on platforms. The roof has a big scissor-brace at each bay resting on moulded corbels set low in the wall between the windows, and the wall plates are decorated with blind trefoils. The nave is mostly taken up with pews, but there is just room on the north side at the east end of the pulpit and lectern and on the south side at the east end for the font.
The chancel floor is set two steps above the level of the nave and across the chancel area there is a low stone wall inset with tiles which have been painted over. The arch has two orders, the outer continuous and the inner resting on colonettes set on corbels carved in trumpet shape. The floor is paved with green and black tiles with some fleurs-de-lys and there are two steps at the rails, beyond which the tiles are arranged in groups of nine making up a Pelican in her Piety against a blue ground within a wreath of leaves with the sacred monogram IHS on a scroll above. The lower parts of the walls have a tiled dado which has been painted over, and at sill level of the windows (higher on the east wall than at the sides) is a moulded stringcourse. The three east lancets have shafts and linked hoods and in the south wall of the sanctuary is a sedile formed by the low sill of the eastern lancet. The lancet in the side walls have hoods with foliate stops. On the north side an arch frames the organ, and beyond that is a small choir vestry from which a doorway and five steep steps lead sharply down into the clergy vestry.
In the north wall of the sanctuary is a trefoil-headed niche for the credence shelf with a tile showing the seamless robe and three dice set into the back. The roof has a boarded cradle vault of two bays, with ribs and bosses in the bay over the sanctuary.
Fixtures and fittings
Altar
1878
Oak with open front panels and trefoils pierced through the brackets
Reredos
1878
Tile panel depicting The Adoration of the Wise Men
Pulpit
1847
Oak, square in plan with canted angles and blind traceried panels
Lectern
1893
Brass pedestal
Font (object)
1847
Small, octagonal in shape with deeply incised triangles in circles round the bowl and chanelled angles on the stem. Cover is of oak, spire shape, lightly incised with a lily on each face.
Organ (object)
1880
Small two-manual instrument by Bevington and Sons of Soho. Renovated in 1920 and 1948.
Churchyard
Grid reference: SU 987 653
Burial and War Grave Information
It is unknown whether the building is consecrated.
It is unknown whether the churchyard has been used for burial.
It is unknown whether the churchyard is used for burial.
It is unknown whether the churchyard has war graves.
National Heritage record for England designations
There are no records of National Heritage assets within the curtilage of this site.
Environment
Ancient, Veteran & Notable Trees
Caring for God's Acre is a conservation charity working to support groups and individuals to investigate, care for, and enjoy the wildlife and heritage treasures found within churchyards and other burial grounds. Look on their website for information and advice and please contact their staff directly. They can help you manage this churchyard for people and wildlife.
To learn more about all the species recorded against this church, go to the Burial Ground Portal within the NBN Atlas. You can check the spread of records through the years, discovering what has been recorded and when, plus what discoveries might remain to be uncovered.
There are no records of Ancient, Veteran or Notable Trees within the curtilage of this site.
Renewables
| Renewable | Installed |
|---|---|
| Solar PV Panels | No |
| Solar Thermal Panels | No |
| Biomass | No |
| Wind Turbine | No |
| Air Source Heat Pump | No |
| Ground Source Heat Pump | No |
| Ev Charging | No |
Species summary
There are no records of species within the curtilage of this site.
Caring for God's Acre is a conservation charity working to support groups and individuals to investigate, care for, and enjoy the wildlife and heritage treasures found within churchyards and other burial grounds. Look on their website for information and advice and please contact their staff directly. They can help you manage this churchyard for people and wildlife.
To learn more about all the species recorded against this church, go to the Burial Ground Portal within the NBN Atlas. You can check the spread of records through the years, discovering what has been recorded and when, plus what discoveries might remain to be uncovered.
'Seek advice' Species
More information on species and action to be taken upon discovery.
Caring for God's Acre is a conservation charity working to support groups and individuals to investigate, care for, and enjoy the wildlife and heritage treasures found within churchyards and other burial grounds. Look on their website for information and advice and please contact their staff directly. They can help you manage this churchyard for people and wildlife.
To learn more about all the species recorded against this church, go to the Burial Ground Portal within the NBN Atlas. You can check the spread of records through the years, discovering what has been recorded and when, plus what discoveries might remain to be uncovered.
Further information
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