Church Of St Thomas Of Canterbury

The Church of St Thomas of Canterbury is an Anglican parish church in Todenham, located on the north side of Main Street. The building is predominantly of 14th-century date, with a nave, aisle, chapel, transept, south porch, chancel, vestry, and tower. The north chapel and restoration of the north aisle date to the early 16th century. A major restoration was undertaken by J.E.K. Cutts in 1879. The building is constructed of coursed squared and dressed limestone with a slate roof.

The exterior comprises a nave with a north aisle, a south transept adjoining the porch, a west tower, a chancel with a chapel and vestry on the north, and various additions and features described below.

On the south side of the nave, a 3-light pointed window with tracery sits to the left of the porch. The porch itself is covered by a roll-moulded arched surround with a stopped hood, containing a painted 20th-century part-glazed plank door with cover strips. Above the door is a scratch sundial, with another incised into the wall to its left. A decapitated figure forming a water spout stands to the right of the door.

The south transept is buttressed with a moulded plinth and a string above. It features a 2-light 19th-century stone-mullioned window with ogee cusping, and a similar but original 3-light window at its east end with a row of traceried lights at the top.

The chancel features diagonal buttresses and, on its south wall, a 19th-century pointed arched window with tracery and a stopped hood. A plank priests' door to the right sits within a 14th-century moulded surround with a cusped head and an engaged finial from the apex of the hood. A 2-light stone-mullioned window with ogee-headed lights and carved spandrels is positioned to the right. A string courses around the chancel below the windows, stepping up to form a hood over the priests' door, and the plinth continues around the chancel. A siltstone tablet recording the death of John Mander in 1723 is positioned at the far right, flanked by Doric columns with an open triangular pediment, a carved skull within the pediment with crossed bones below, and a heraldic shield with a carved lion head above, between decorative brackets. At the east end of the chancel is a 5-light pointed 14th-century window with original tracery and a hood. A 2-light stone-mullioned window with ogee-headed lights and carved spandrels adorns the east end of the vestry.

The north chapel features a moulded plinth with a string above. Its east end displays a 2-light hollow-chamfered stone-mullioned window with stilted-headed lights and carved spandrels, diamond-leaded lights, and a hood with diamond stops. A similar 4-light window appears in the north wall, with a plank door with decorative hinges to its lower right and a buttress to the right. The north aisle is strengthened by three stepped buttresses. A central north door, now blocked, sits within a pointed arch with a hood featuring stop ornaments in the form of heads. Two tall 16th-century stone-mullioned casements with leaded panes are positioned at the far right and left, with a single 19th-century light with ogee cusping at the west end. A 2-stage west tower has diagonal buttresses continued upward to form pinnacles around a ribbed octagonal spire with 2-light lucarnes with limestone louvres and crocketed ogee heads on each side. Bellcote windows with stopped hoods and limestone slate louvres are present. The roof features slightly stepped gable-end coping to the nave, chancel, and porch, with roll-cross saddles and upright cross finials on the porch and chancel gable ends. A small 14th-century sanctus bellcote is located at the east end of the nave.

The interior stone porch is roofed and contains a double door with fielded panelling into the nave, set within a deeply moulded pointed arched surround with a stopped hood. The nave has limewashed walls and features a 3-bay 14th-century pointed arched arcade to the north aisle with diamond-shaped piers without imposts. Pointed arches of 14th-century date lead to the chancel, south transept, and west tower. Heavily moulded 4-centred arched openings connect the north aisle to the north chapel and the chapel to the chancel. Stone steps ascend to the former rood loft from the north chapel, with the remains of a 12th-century scalloped capital below. A 14th-century piscina with credence shelf and cusped head, now partially obscured by a 16th-century arch, sits to the right of the 12th-century capital. A similar piscina in the south wall of the south transept bears traces of medieval wall painting.

The chancel contains a plank door within an ogee-shaped hollow-chamfered surround leading to the vestry. A 14th-century piscina with credence shelf and ogee cusping stands to the right of the altar in the south wall, featuring crocketed hood stops in the form of heads and an engaged finial. Three 14th-century stone sedilia to the right of the piscina have ogee heads with finials, one engaged at the apex of each. The chancel has a medieval trussed rafter roof, whilst the nave has a 19th-century rafter roof. Coloured tile flooring is present in the chancel.

The fittings include a circular 12th-century font on an octagonal base in the south-west corner of the nave, and an 18th- to early 19th-century polygonal pulpit in the south-east corner with cusped openwork and carved spandrels. A 20th-century wooden altar and late 19th- to early 20th-century wooden altar rail supported on wrought-iron brackets with foliate decoration are present. The east window of the chancel contains 19th-century stained glass.

The monuments include an early Victorian hatchment bearing royal arms within the west tower, and a hatchment depicting the arms of the Pole family on the south wall of the transept. A white and black marble tablet to Lady Louisa Pole, who died in 1852, is also on the south wall. An 18th-century engraving of Thomas Merkin, Bishop of Carlisle and rector of Todenham, hangs on the same wall. Various 18th-century recumbent stone ledgers lie in the floor of the chancel. A brass plaque to William Moltin, who died in 1614, depicting two kneeling figures with an inscription in verse, is located on the north wall of the chancel.