Description

TL 85 NW WHEPSTEAD CHURCH ROAD

4/129 CHURCH OF ST PETRONILLA

(Formerly listed as Church of
14.7.55 St. Petronella)

II*

Church; mediaeval, restored 1869. Nave, chancel, west tower, south porch,
north vestry. Flint rubble walls, mainly rendered, with limestone dressings;
porch of knapped flintwork. Plaintiled roofs except for slated vestry, and
nave with large riven slates; parapet gables. Square chancel arch piers late
C11 or C12, with roll-moulded jambs; the arch with chevron mouldings built
1869, but some voussoirs from the original arch were found during the work and
reused for a C19 doorway in the tower staircase. Late C13 2-light windows with
quatrefoil heads in the nave. Mid C14 alterations include: Y-traceried 2-
light windows in nave and chancel and 3-light east window (nave windows on both
sides have piscina bowls cut into the dropped cill, and on the south side
integral steps up to the rood loft); chancel piscina; moulded south doorways
to nave and chancel, both with good C19 battened and boarded doors, the nave
door traceried. The gabled south porch almost rebuilt early C20, but retaining
lower part of C14 flint rubble walling with limestone quoins; the arched
doorway renewed except for lower jambs; an original stoup in the south wall.
C15 tower with moulded west doorway, and 3-light traceried window above
flanked by cinquefoiled niches. The upper level much altered, possibly in 1582
(date scratched on S.E. Buttress) with 2-light belfry openings. C19 alterations
include reconstruction of nave roof of hammerbeam type, and addition of gabled
vestry against the C14 north doorway; the C19 pulpit incorporates 2 early C17
arcaded panels with marquetry inlay. Some fragments of assorted mediaeval
stained glass reset in roundels in south chancel window. Wall tablets in
chancel to: Johannes Ryley (d.1673) and General Sir Francis Hammond (d.1850).
In the chancel, 2 tomb-slabs of Purbeck marble, possibly of C14 priests, and 6
C18 floorslabs of black marble.

Listing NGR: TL8327858238

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17545508

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Bristol (Pevsner Architectural Guides: City Guides)
• 
  Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, and Peterborough (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  A Buying and Owning a Listed Building: A Brief Guide
• 
  Hampshire: Winchester and the North (The Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  For the Record
• 
  Pioneers of Modern Design: From William Morris to Walter Gropius (Penguin Art & Architecture)