Church of St Hubert

Church of St Hubert

This is a parish church that was dedicated to St Peter and St Paul until 1864. It is a Saxo-Norman church probably dating from the 10th century or earlier, with a chancel added in the 12th or 13th century and the nave widened on the south side in the early 16th century. The church underwent repairs in 1793 and 1824, and a west porch is shown on a map of 1864. The building was restored and a vestry and organ gallery were added in 1912-1913 by the architect H S Goodhart-Rendel for the Clark-Jervoise family. Following a fire in 1971, the vestry and chancel roof were restored, and the bell turret was restored in 1983.

Materials and Structure

The walls are constructed of flint and stone rubble, some rendered, with stone dressings, though the porch has brick dressings. The roofs are gabled and tiled, except for the bell turret which has a pyramidal roof hung with shingles. The church comprises a two-bay nave incorporating an organ gallery at the west end and a bell turret at the eastern end, a lower two-bay chancel, a west porch, and a south-east vestry attached to the western bay of the chancel.

Exterior

The west end is rendered and gable-ended with stone quoins. Below is a pointed arched entrance with a wooden door. The later west porch is constructed of flint with red brick quoins, including some reused Tudor bricks. The gable has decorative fretted barge boards, and the entrance is topped with a crenellated lettered tie beam above low wooden gates with crenellated tops. The inner sides have fixed seating.

On the north side of the nave are two paired wooden windows with leaded lights, between which is a small Norman round-headed window. At the east end is a narrow blocked round-headed Norman doorway. The south side of the nave has two late Perpendicular stone two-light windows with hood-moulds. At the western corner is an incised medieval sun-dial. The bell turret at the east end of the nave has a square bell stage and a pyramidal roof.

The chancel's north side has a two-light window in a stone surround. The round-arched east window dates from 1912 but is set within a medieval surround. The south side has a two-light stone window and a projecting lean-to vestry with a small lancet window facing south, a paired stone window facing east, and an arched entrance facing west. An octagonal brick chimneystack with a conical roof projects from this side.

Interior

The nave has a barrel-vaulted roof with wooden tie beams. At the west end is a 1912 wooden organ gallery accessed by a spiral staircase. The eastern end of the nave has a large pointed chancel arch, above which sits the bell turret framework. On the western face of this framework is a millennium fresco in medieval style by Fleur Kelly.

The nave contains several significant fittings: a 14th-century octagonal font with quatrefoil panels decorated with shields and emblems on a stem with trefoil panels; pews with bench ends rising to simple circular finials; 18th-century box pews; and a double-decker 17th-century pulpit with an 18th-century tester. Painted texts of two periods appear on the wall west of the pulpit, now obscured.

The chancel ceiling was restored by Goodhart-Rendel with plastered diamond panels, cable ribs, and thirteen medallions depicting eagles, a bishop, a chalice, St Hubert and other subjects. On the inner face of the chancel arch is a painted Royal Coat of Arms of George III, surrounded by the inscription "This chapel was repaired in 1793, Thomas Padwick, Chapel Warden. This chapel was repaired in 1824, Thomas Smith, Chapel Warden."

The communion rail appears to be 18th-century. A medieval piscina stands on the east wall, and the splays of the east window display 14th-century painted figures of St Peter and St Paul, with two angels depicted in the arch soffit. A small circular inset to the east window, which includes a representation of the church, was a gift from Goodhart-Rendel. A panel north of the east window has obliterated details.

A large two-tier wall painting on the north wall, dated to around 1330, depicts the life of St John the Baptist. The lower panel shows Herod's Feast. The upper panel, formerly thought to refer to the life of St Hubert, is now considered to depict further scenes from the life of St John the Baptist, combined with the medieval legend of the Hairy Anchorite.