Church of St Mary, Hillingdon, London

Description

804/27/87 CHURCH ROAD
27-MAY-49 (West side)
CHURCH OF ST MARY

(Formerly listed as:
CHURCH WALK
CHURCH OF ST MARY)

GV II*

Late C13 chancel. The W part of the nave N arcade is also C13. N aisle rebuilt and the arcade extended to the E in the C15. C15 W tower. S aisle and S arcade are early C16. C16 S porch. Tower repaired in 1827. Chancel restored 1867, nave and aisles in 1873, roofs in 1887 to designs by G G Scott in 1873, with further work by J O Scott. NW vestry added 1888 to designs by C J Mann. Further repairs in 1937 by W E Tronke, and more restoration and repair in the late C20.

MATERIALS:
Flint and stone rubble with Reigate and other stone dressings. Tiled and leaded roofs. Timber framed S porch on dwarf brick walls with stone dressings.

PLAN:
Chancel, nave with N and S aisles, W tower, S porch and NW vestry.

EXTERIOR:
A village church in appearance. The C13 chancel has lancets with hood moulds in the N and S walls, and an additional C14 window of two ogee lights. Very large 5-light late C15 E window with vertical tracery and super mullions. The nave has no clerestory, but there are two, probably post-medieval, weatherboarded dormers in the nave roof on the S side. The nave E gable is also weatherboarded. The C15 N aisle is embattled and has a three light E window with vertical tracery and super mullions, and three 2-light N windows with square heads. The N aisle W window, visible above the vestry, is c.1400 and has two cinque-foiled lights with a quatrefoil. The early C16 S aisle has no parapet; the windows have segmental heads and plain, unfoiled lights. There is a small, very restored, door to the east of the easternmost S window in the aisle, presumably a former priest's door for a chapel in the aisle. The restored early C16 S porch is timber framed on dwarf brick walls and has an outer arch with moulded posts and a four-centred head in a square frame; the flanking and side lights are also four-centred. Carved barge-boards and decorative framing in the gable. The inner doorway also has a good, square surround of the early C16 with tracery spandrels and a contemporary, early C16 door square framing, battens and strap hinges. Three stage W tower of the C15 with a restored, embattled parapet and a small spirelet. W door with a pointed head in a square surround with carved spandrels. Three light W window like those in the S aisle.

INTERIOR:
There is no chancel arch, and the chancel roof extends two bays into what is now the nave, where on the N side it is carried on C15 corbelled wall arches to accommodate a change in angle between the chancel and nave. The corbels are carved figures. The C13 lancets in the chancel have moulded rere arches on corbels with grotesques, heads and foliage. There is a further blocked lancet at the W end of the chancel S wall. Five-bay N arcade with chamfered arches. The western two piers are late C13, and have large, flat moulded capitals and octagonal piers; the eastern bays also have moulded capitals and polygonal piers, but are C15. The 4-bay S arcade is early C16 and has moulded, four-centred arches with octagonal piers and moulded capitals. The W tower arch is C15 and has a continuous, moulded outer order and an inner order on polygonal responds.

Very good roofs. The chancel has a C15 waggon roof with flat rafters and moulded wall plates that continue two bays into the nave. The nave roof is early C16 and is boarded and panelled with foliate bosses with symbols of the Passion, Tudor roses and other emblems at the intersections of the moulded ribs. The N aisle roof is C15, and has flat-pitched tie beams with curved braces on stone corbels with heads, demi-angels and foliage (q.v. St Martin's, Ruislip). During a restoration in the 1970s, several bosses were replaced with modern motifs, including the emblems of the Scouts, Cubs, Brownies and Mother's Union. The early S aisle roof is flat-pitched. The principals are moulded, with the mouldings forming elegant diamonds at the intersections. The S porch roof is C16 and has wind-braced purlins and a central collar beam.

PRINCIPAL FIXTURES:
Mid C13 sedilia in the chancel . Three seats of equal height with moulded arches and detached shafts with moulded capitals. Adjacent trefoiled C13 piscina and another in the S aisle. A late C12 or early C13 font: a round bowl with trailing leaf ornament on a central shaft surrounded by eight, detached Purbeck marble shafts; the cover is late C19 or early C20, a tall timber spire. Two panels of C15 screen work are incorporated into the C19 screen under the tower arch. An impressive late C15 wall painting of St Christopher in the N aisle, embellished with detailed touches like a mermaid and an angler, beside the teeming river.

C19 encaustic tiles in the chancel. Late C19 or early C20 polygonal carved timber pulpit on a low, polygonal stone base. Early C20 carved timber S chapel reredos designed by George Fellowes Prynne, and a painted triptych of 1909 by Charles Fenner Prynne in the N chapel. C19 glass throughout.

Good monuments: Brasses include Robert Levee, a demi-figure of a priest, c.1370, the earliest brass in Middlesex. In the N aisle, a stone altar tomb for Walter Green, d.1456, with traceried front panels and an inset brass. In the S aisle, a brick table tomb with two brasses for Thomas and Elizabeth Higate, d.1576. In the chancel, a grand wall monument for Sir Edward Fenner, d.1612, a reclining effigy under a canopy with two allegorical figures. Also his son, Edward Fenner, d.1615, a Mannerist demi-figure in armour, within a shell niche flanked by pilasters and topped by an achievement of arms. Also, Charles Manning, d.1799 a plain tablet with a bust, and a number of other wall tablets of the C18, C19 and C20. There are also some good ledger slabs.

SUBSIDIARY FEATURES:
C16 lychgate in the churchyard, with moulded, cross braced uprights and moulded brackets to the tie beam and a tiled roof. (separately listed)

HISTORY:
The church is a peculiar of Canterbury (i.e. subject to the archbishop of Canterbury rather than the diocese of London where it is physically located). There was a priest at Hayes in the archbishop's manor there at the time of the Domesday book in 1086. The earliest visible fabric is the C13 chancel and the western part of the N aisle, and it is possible that the church was wholly rebuilt at that date, as the font is also mid C13. The way in which the chancel roof extends into the nave suggests that the chancel probably once extended further westwards into what is now the E part of the nave and that the E ends of the aisles were originally chancel chapels. The church was restored piecemeal in the late C19, and although the works were designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott, much of the work was undertaken after his death by his son John Oldrid Scott and by the contractors, Messers Fassnidge.

SOURCES:
Buildings of England, London 3: North West (2002), 327
RCHME Middlesex 91937), 68-70
VCH Middlesex 4 (1971), 33-6

REASONS FOR DESIGNATION:
The church of St Mary, Hayes is designated at Grade II* for the following principal reasons:
* Parish church of the late C13, with a C15 N aisle and W tower, and C16 S aisle and S porch, retaining much early fabric.
* The medieval roofs are a notable survival.
* Good late C15 or early C16 wall painting of St Christopher of c.1500.
* Good monuments, including the earliest brass in Middlesex (Robert Lenee, d.1370), a large wall monument to Sir Edward Fenner, d.1612 and a fine, Manneri monument to his son, Edward Fenner, d.1615.

External Links

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British Listed Buildings

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Church of St Mary

A Grade II* Listed Building in Hillingdon, London

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