Church Of St Thomas A Becket

Church of St Thomas a Becket

Anglican parish church with 12th-century origins, substantially rebuilt and extended in the 14th and 15th centuries, with major works in 1713, 1834 and restoration in 1897 by H. Brakspear. The building is constructed in ashlar with stone tile and slate roofs.

The church comprises a nave with a 14th-century north arcade and north aisle rebuilt in 1713 with an adjoining 14th-century north-east chapel. The south aisle dates from 1834. A crossing tower, probably of 14th-century date with possible earlier origins, has a 15th-century bell-stage and spire. The chancel retains 12th-century origins and was altered in the 14th century and again in 1713. A projecting two-storey north-east vestry, possibly a priest's house of late 14th or 15th-century date, stands to the north-east.

The nave's west elevation features a 15th-century three-light Perpendicular window above a 16th-century door in a Tudor arched moulded frame with carved spandrels and hoodmould, with a six-panel 18th-century door. The 1834 south aisle has a slate roof, a regular row of four Perpendicular-style flat-headed three-light windows with hoodmoulds, and a west door set in a projecting gabled porch. At the east end stands a rubble-stone organ chamber added in 1900.

The north aisle, rebuilt in 1713, features a large north-west angle buttress and a two-light Perpendicular west window, possibly original. The north side displays a moulded eaves cornice and two three-light Perpendicular-style north windows with dripstones, flanking a fine 1760 doorway. This doorway has a Tuscan-columned surround carrying an open segmental pediment over a bolection-moulded arched head, with a keystone carried up to the base of the pediment and moulded imposts continued behind the columns.

At the east end of the north aisle, under a continuous roof, lies the Hazelbury chapel, which retains a restored 14th-century intersecting tracery three-light north window and a north-east angle buttress matching the aisle's north-west buttress.

The crossing tower has a plain lower stage, possibly of 12th-century origin, with 14th-century lancet openings to north and south and buttresses added in the 15th century with the bell-stage. The bell-stage features a two-light opening on each side, a pierced parapet, corner pinnacles and a recessed octagonal spire above.

The chancel's south and east walls were rebuilt in 1713, retaining a 14th-century three-light east window. A 1713 Perpendicular-style three-light south window and blocked door are present, and the north wall holds a much-restored 15th-century three-light window above a 1897 porch. The north-east vestry, built in rubble stone with a coped north gable, contains a late 14th or 15th-century two-light Perpendicular window with hoodmould and carved label stops.

The interior of the nave is spanned by a broad 19th-century roof and contains an 1834 four-bay south arcade and a 14th-century north arcade built in two stages. The piers are octagonal with capitals, and the arches are moulded and pointed with hoodmoulds. The east bay opens into the Hazelbury chapel, which contains a 14th-century moulded rib vault, a moulded arch to the north aisle, a 14th-century cusped tomb recess on the north wall, and a fine east-wall altar recess with side colonnettes. The tomb recess holds a resited stone effigy of A. Long of Ashley, died 1578. The north window contains stained glass of 1899 signed P.H. Newman. The north aisle retains an 18th-century plastered roof and three late 19th or 20th-century stained glass windows. A 15th-century octagonal font stands in the nave, and a circa 1897 stone pulpit also occupies this space.

The tower contains 14th-century moulded arches to west and east and a blocked north door. The chancel has an 18th-century plaster roof and features a Gothic altar and reredos of 1897 by H. Brakspear with opus sectile tile mosaic panels attached to a low wall, creating an east-end vestry space. A blocked north doorway and an 1897 north doorway are present. The east window, dating from circa 1850, is set in a 19th-century shafted surround.

The church contains numerous monuments from the 17th to 19th centuries. Notable examples include an elaborate circa 1760 varicoloured marble wall monument to Margaret Blow in the south aisle, and two finely lettered late 17th-century black marble slabs to Sir George and Francis Speke of Hazelbury. The nave's east wall bears an armorial plaque to A. Long died 1578. In the chancel, the south wall has a curved pedimented monument to T. Goddard, died 1691, and the north wall displays a Baroque plaque to W. Eyre died 1699. The east-end vestry space contains three Northey memorials spanning from 1750 to the early 19th century.