St John the Baptist, Wonersh
Guided
Tour of the Lady Chapel
Jesus
has been found worthy of greater honour than Moses, just as the builder of a
house has greater honour than the house itself.
For every house is built
by someone, but God is the builder of everything.
This should be read in association with pages on :- History
of St John the Baptist,
Windows,
Brasses and Pictures,
Monuments,Inscriptions
& Dedications inside the Church
for the full inscriptions.
Lady Chapel (North Chapel) and Tower Base
Enter the Lady Chapel through the plain pointed arch cut cc 1180 in the original Norman nave north wall. You are now standing in the tower base. A 16th C tomb is against the west wall, moved from its original position in the south chapel in 1793 and again in 1901 and1988. The stairway in the corner leads to the ringing chamber where 8 bells are rung, however look at the rope marks above the eastern arch to realise that before1751 for many years the bells were rung from floor level.
Below the lancet window on the north side is
a blocked up door dating to 1769 (when the floor was some 18ins lower); The pieces of worked stone built into the
inner wall include a number of pieces unearthed in 1901 in the chancel,
considered to be the head of the north chapel priest’s door.
The north chapel door was created in 1902 in what was believed to be in the position of the original priest’s door; externally it bears the date 1902.
The font is a reconstruction based upon fragments found buried beneath the floor in 1901of the original Norman cup shape bowl and earlier stem and base. The curious and archaic band of ribbed work on coarse grit stone may date to pre-conquest times. The font canopy was designed by Sir Charles Nicholson and is a copy of the Madonna & Child in Bruges attributed to Michaelangelo.
Look above the arch to the nave and see clear evidence of a 15th C passage to the rood loft. On the reverse side of the wall can be seen where this passage was closed up.
Looking towards the chapel altar approach through the opening cut into the tower base when the chapel was built in the 15th C, see also the pointed arch also cut at this time into the chancel. Note the small corbel carved as a face on the western side of the arch. The chapel has been known as the Lady Chapel since 1901 but it has no traditional dedication, no burials have taken place in it, and it was possibly a Guild Chapel for the weavers of Wonersh in the 15th century. When they fell on hard times it fell into disrepair and was subsequently used as a vestry.
The structure of the chapel and tower were substantially repaired in 1901, including renewal of the ornamented roof with carved bosses, reconstruction of the altar area and the windows. The altar is the old 18th century altar from the chancel and is built across and above the old sacristry, part of which has been filled in.
The stained glass windows are by Archibald Nicholson. The east window is his earliest work dated 1902 and shows Christ with St George and St Alban. It was commissioned in memory of two soldiers (hence the military theme) and there is a connection for one of them with the adjacent brass wall plaque on the north wall. There are two smaller windows in the north wall depicting the Madonna & Child and the Annunciation. There are two large sombre paintings, copies of sections of originals in the National Gallery: Virgin & Child from The Vision of St Jerome, and Virgin & Child from Virgin with John the Baptist & Mary Magdalene.
The chapel altar is positioned above the remains of an old sacristry. The altar incorporates the old 18th century chancel altar. The small plain deal table, generally used today as the altar table, was originally the chancel altar in the apse of the 1793 reconstruction.
Notice the graceful old perpendicular niche and image bracket, which it is thought contained an image of the Virgin Mary; In his will dated 1488 Robert Risbridge of Wonersh bequeathed “one cow for the upkeep of the light of St Mary of Wonersh.” thus giving credence to the name of the Lady Chapel. In 1948 the existing statue, Italian or southern French 18th C, of a Madonna as the “Second Eve” was placed in the niche. The 13th C squint gives site to the chancel altar however it pre-dates the chapel any would originally have been a “Leper Squint”. The slightly raised wooden floor of the chapel (to raise it to the level of the chancel), and the modern chairs with seating for some 33, were introduced in 1988.
The inscriptions on gravestones on the floor of the tower were, as far as were decipherable, recut in 1939.
The memorials around the chapel are:-
|
Wooden wall plaque |
GEORGE WILLIAM
BRETT 1882-1966 (see also floor tablet
in Chancel) |
|
Floor tablet |
MARY WEB(B) No
other inscription |
|
Mrs. HANNAH TICKNER of Losterford d 1776 |
|
|
Floor tablet |
Mr John Tickner d1777 |
|
MARY COLE d 1835 |
|
|
Floor Tablet |
JANE widow of the lateRevd. JOHN CARR d 1842 |
|
Revd. JOHN CARR d 1825
Col
3.3.4 |
|
|
Floor Tablet |
ELIZABETH SYLVESTER d1778 |
|
Leger Stone |
J & C 1812 |
|
Major JACK HANWELL 39th Batt RFA d 1900 |
|
|
Depicting St George slaying a dragon. Captain MALCOLMSON GARDINER DONAHOO MC Died at Ypres January 31st 1917 8th Batt Kings Own |
|
|
Portable |
In memory of Bob Mayes. |
|
Font cover |
Given 1915 by Beatrice Cooke |