Abbey Church Of St Mary And St Thomas Of Canterbury

Abbey Church of St Mary and St Thomas of Canterbury

This Benedictine abbey church was founded in 1107 by William de Albini as a priory and was substantially developed between the 14th and 16th centuries. The building is constructed in flint with limestone dressings and lead roofs. What remains today from the former full apsidal Benedictine plan are the nave, nave aisles, and both an east and west tower. The east tower is the former crossing tower.

The five-stage west tower was commenced in 1447 and completed in 1498. It features polygonal corner buttresses and an arched west door flanked by niches. The west window is a 5-light design with renewed Perpendicular tracery and a blocked central light. Two-light ringing chamber windows and paired belfry windows light the upper stages.

The seven-bay south aisle was rebuilt between 1544 and 1560 with stepped buttresses positioned between Y-tracery windows, and diagonal buttresses to east and west. Nine clerestory windows of three and two lights with lozenge or flowing tracery of 19th-century interpretation are each separated by thin buttress strips. The west bay includes a screen marking the location of conventual buildings formerly abutting to the south. At the east end of the aisle, two bays of Norman gallery are evident.

The north aisle was enlarged between 1432 and 1445 in eight window bays with a porch at the west end. Windows are 3-light Perpendicular designs under segmental arches. The two-storey porch has diagonal buttresses and is entered through a moulded arched entrance beneath a frieze of shields. A paired parvise window faces north. A crenellated parapet sits above a punched quatrefoil frieze, with a stair tower to the south-west. The clerestory features flushwork and nine 3-light Perpendicular windows, with buttresses between them containing niches. The east end displays various fragments evidencing the former crossing tower and other Benedictine planning features. The four-stage crossing tower dates to 1390-1409 and features a very tall east arch with small doorways north and south. The second stage has one 3-light Perpendicular window to north and south. The upper two stages are octagonal with diagonal buttresses, each alternate facet lit through 2-light windows.

The interior contains a nine-bay nave arcade in which only the first bay retains the engaged columns and cushion capitals to the drum piers. Zig-zag and dog-tooth decoration appears in the round arches, those to the south featuring cable and meander ornament. The triforium has two pairs of engaged columns and double-rolled round arches to each bay. The clerestory features moulded rere-arches. A late 15th-century hammer-beam roof spans the nave. The hammer beams carry winged angels bearing shields and musical instruments and drop on arched braces to wall posts with corbels. Heavy crenellated ashlaring is prominent. Arched hammer posts with pierced tracery rise to moulded principals. One tier of moulded butt purlins and a ridge piece feature star bosses at junctions. A similar hammer-beam roof covers the north aisle.

A reredos by Sir Ninian Comper dates to 1935. A late 14th-century octagonal font features four wild men and four lions against the stem, with a bowl bearing symbols of the Four Evangelists alternating with four angels. The tall canopy is a 1962 addition. The Ferrers monument, dating to around 1525, does not commemorate Abbot Ferrers (1532-48). It is constructed in terracotta in two stages, with the lower stage containing three deep niches and the upper stage three projecting bows, all surfaces carved with Renaissance decoration.