Longcross Church

772/0/10018 LONGCROSS ROAD 04-MAR-04 Longcross Church

GV II Church. Built in 1847 at the expense of Mr Tringham of Longcross House. Early English style. Architect was a Mr Willoughby. Built of red brick in Flemish bond, with Bath stone dressings and slate roof. Plan is a five-bay nave with west porch, lower two-bay chancel and south-west vestry. EXTERIOR: The west gable has elaborate stone carving and finial and the west window is a triple lancet with taller central light. There is an elaborate arched doorcase with stone colonnettes and gabled fretted weatherhood with slate roof. The porch has built-in seats, encaustic tiled floor and arched door with elaborate ironmongery. On either side are small lancets with leaded lights and brick buttresses.The nave north and south sides have stone lancets with hood moulding divided by buttresses. The chancel has a cross-shaped saddlestone and an east window with an oval and three lancets below. The vestry is lean-to and has an arched doorcase with elaborate ironmongery. INTERIOR: The nave has a scissor-braced roof supported on stone corbels and there are four tiers of purlins and boarding. A trefoil band runs around the top of the wall. The west window has stained glass depicting Christ flanked by angels. Below are Gothic-arched recesses with the Creed and Ten Commandments. The south west bay has an encaustic tiled floor and an octagonal stone font with decorated wooden font cover. There is a mosaic floor to the centre of the nave and the pews have wide bench ends with trefoil decoration. The north-east bay has the original carved wooden pulpit on a stone base with trefoil decoration. Other stained glass is of the 1870s or 1920s but original grisaille glass survives to the eastern bay.A large chancel arch with colonnettes leads to the chancel with intact oak choir stalls and lectern, encaustic tiled floor and painted and decorated organ pipes.The Sanctuary has a wood and brass communion rail, encaustic tiled floor with JHS and a vulning pelican and a mosaic reredos depicting the Adoration of the Magi. The east window depicts the Crucifixion and is dated 1885. An unusually complete mid C19 country church built under the provisions of the Patronage Act of 1831.

[Pevsner "Buildings of England: Surrey" p352.]