Church Of St Stephen

The Church of St Stephen probably originated in the 11th century or very early 12th century and was consecrated between about 1101 and 1118. A north aisle, now demolished, was added in the late 12th century. The chancel was lengthened and the south aisle and south chapel added in the 13th century. The eastern bays of the south arcade were rebuilt in the 14th century. The chancel was remodelled in the 15th century, and a wooden belfry added over the west end of the nave. The north aisle, except for its west wall, was demolished at an unknown date, possibly in the late 15th century. The church was restored in 1861 by George Gilbert Scott. The bell turret was restored in 1913, and a large opening between the chancel and south chapel was created in the 1960s. A parish rooms complex was added to the north in 1989–91.

Materials and Construction

The church is built of flint rubble with stone dressings and Roman brick. The bell turret is weatherboarded with a shingled spire. The roofs are tiled and leaded.

Plan

The church consists of a chancel with south chapel, nave with south aisle, south porch, northwest heating chamber and belfry over the west end of the nave. An attached parish rooms complex lies to the north.

Exterior

This is a small church with evidence externally for phases from the late 11th or early 12th century onwards. There is also considerable work of the 15th century. The chancel has a 19th-century Perpendicular style east window and two 15th-century windows and a 15th-century door in its north wall. The south chancel chapel east wall has two early 13th-century lancets with a 19th-century foiled roundel between them; there is a similar lancet in the chapel south wall, as well as two 15th-century windows and a 15th-century doorway. The south aisle has 15th-century style windows, heavily renewed, and the clerestory windows are similar. The south porch is 19th century and has a timber outer opening with arch braces forming a pointed arch and open diagonal bracing above.

One bay of the former 12th-century north nave arcade is visible in the exterior north wall; it had a single plain order and is similar to the contemporary arcades at St Michael's church in St Albans. A formerly blocked 15th-century doorway set within the arch has been re-opened to connect to a timber and glazed passage to the parish rooms of 1989–91, and was partially renewed at that time with new headstops. Above it is a small, late 11th- or early 12th-century window with brick jambs and head. The other north windows are 15th century, as is the clerestory above it; the two rows of windows give the north side an almost domestic appearance. The west wall of the north aisle, with a small, probably 12th-century window, survives and is incorporated into a 19th-century lean-to extension. The west end of the nave has two similar late 11th- or early 12th-century windows flanking a good 15th-century west door and west window, and the brick quoins of the original unaisled 11th- or early 12th-century nave are also visible. The substantial timber bell turret with a shingled broach spire, the turret largely, and the spire entirely, 19th century, stands over the west bay of the nave.

Interior

Like the outside, the inside has good evidence for the development of the building from the late 11th or early 12th century. The interior is dominated by the very unusual timber chancel arch, a tall wooden frame with curved braces forming an arch with open, traceried spandrels. The lower part is 15th century, the rest is 19th century. The south arcade has five irregularly spaced bays. The alignment of the arcade shifts at the west end, presumably as a result of a setting out error. The western three bays are 13th century and have chamfered arches on polygonal piers with moulded capitals and bases; the eastern two bays are early 14th century and have moulded capitals of a different form. Part of the former 12th-century north arcade is visible internally and above it is a late 11th- or early 12th-century single splayed window discovered during 20th-century restoration work. The south chapel opens to the chancel through a large, square two-bay arcade with a stylised Perpendicular pier. Inserted in the early 1960s, it replaced a small, 15th-century arch and a squint, which is partially preserved. The rear arches of the south chapel windows are roll moulded. The bell turret at the west end of the nave is supported on three massive, arched-braced and steel-reinforced trusses.

Principal Fixtures

The church has a fine 15th-century octagonal font. The bowl has a deep, plain rim with much graffiti; its lower part has alternating shields and large demi-figures of angels. The stem has carved figures of saints and the Virgin in trefoiled niches. There is a 13th-century double piscina in the south chapel. Early 20th-century panelling with stencilled flowers decorates the chancel. The pulpit is probably 20th century in an 18th-century style, with a sounding board and good staircase. There is some good late 19th- and early 20th-century glass.

The brass eagle lectern is a recent copy of the Dunkeld lectern of about 1524, formerly in this church and now in a museum in Edinburgh.

The chancel and the south chapel have 15th-century roofs. That in the chancel is low pitched and has moulded beams and purlins; the spandrels of the braces are carved, and the east bay is panelled. The chapel roof is plainer but has some moulding. The 19th-century nave roof is similar to the chancel roof, and the south aisle has a plain, low pitched roof.

History

The church of St Stephen was founded in the mid 10th century by Wulfsin, abbot of St Albans, who also founded St Michael's and St Peter's at the same time. The present building was built in the very late 11th or early 12th century and was consecrated by Gilbert, bishop of Limerick between about 1101 and 1118. At this date, the church would have consisted of an unaisled nave and short chancel. The north aisle was added in the late 12th century; the work is of similar character to the contemporary arcades at St Michael's. The south chapel and south aisle were added in the early 13th century, and the south arcade was partially rebuilt in the 14th century. There was considerable remodelling in the 15th century, when the belfry at the west end was added, the chancel remodelled and the north aisle apparently pulled down. It is possible, however, that the north aisle was demolished in the post-Reformation period and the 15th-century features set into the remains of the arcade were reset from the former aisle wall.

The superb 16th-century Dunkeld lectern was discovered in 1750, buried in a tomb under the chancel floor. It is inscribed 'Georgius Creichtoun Episcopus Dunkeldensis' between two lions and a mitre, for George Crichton, abbot of Holyrood (1515–22) and bishop of Dunkeld 1524–43, and is thought to have been given by Crichton to Holyrood in 1524. It was probably stolen in 1544 by Sir Richard Lee, Surveyor of the King's Works, who took part in the sacking of Holyrood in 1544, and who held the rectory of St Stephen's after the Reformation. It may have been buried during the Civil War.

The church was in a poor condition by the mid 19th century, and there was a proposal to demolish it in 1840, but a new church (now Holy Trinity, Frogmore) was built elsewhere instead. St Stephen's was restored in 1861 to designs by Sir George Gilbert Scott, who rebuilt and raised the bell turret and added the broach spire, replacing a small spike. Steel girders were inserted under the bell turret in 1913. The wall between the chancel and south chapel was removed in the early 1960s, and a parish room complex was added in 1989–91, re-opening the formerly blocked north door.