COMPTON
Contone (xi cent.).
Compton parish, 2 miles north-west of Godalming,
4 miles west by south of Guildford, is about 2½ miles
from north to south, 1½ miles from east to west, and
contains 1,995 acres. The northern part of the
parish extends over the narrow chalk ridge of the
Hog's Back, the main part is in the Green Sand,
with a considerable outcrop of the Atherfield Clay
in the eastern part. On the west the land rises towards the high ground about Puttenham Heath.
Compton Common lies east of the village. Northeast of the village, south of the Hog's Back, are two
eminences in the sand, one Budburrow Hill, now
crowned by the mortuary chapel, the other Rowbury
Hill, near the house of the late Mr. G. F. Watts,
R.A., called Limnerslease. These are apparently
referred to by Aubrey (1673) and Coxe (circa 1726) as
Robin Hood's Butts, and connected with an apocryphal story of a French invasion, and defeat of the
invaders. The time indicated is that of the invasion
of Louis of France in 1216, but there was no battle
at Compton, and the hills are natural. It is said
that skeletons were found here, but if so they were
only interments of probably Anglo-Saxon date. Neolithic flint implements and flakes are not uncommon
on the north side of the parish.
Compton: Old Inn
In the wood to the north-west of the village, at
the foot of the Hog's Back, are very extensive caves,
excavated in the Green Sand. Within the memory of
the last generation sand was brought from them for
sale to builders in Guildford, and they were probably
excavated for the sand; but local tradition also connects them with the smuggling trade, and calls them
Smugglers' Store-houses. It is not impossible that
they were used for such a purpose, as the extensive
cellars under several old farm-houses and cottages
below the chalk ridge in
Surrey pretty certainly
were used.
The parish is wholly
agricultural, except for one
recently introduced industry. The late Mr.
G. F. Watts, R.A., who
resided at Limnerslease,
to the north of the parish
church, and Mrs. Watts
started a pottery and terracotta-making school, which
continues. The pupils
trained at it were employed in the decoration
of the mortuary chapel
in the cemetery, which
Mr. Watts built. This
is in brick and terracotta, from his own designs, on the side of the
hill, about half a mile from
the church. The style is
a sort of neo-Byzantine.
There are one or two
ancient timber houses of
some interest in the village, which chiefly consists of a winding street
straggling away to the
south of the church. One
of these, formerly the inn,
a good deal 'restored,'
stands on a raised bank,
so high above the road
that a basement story of
stone is entered by a door
on the street, the ground
floor being approached by
another door on the bank
above. The first floor and
attic stories have a considerable projection, and the
whole of the three upper stories are of timber framing,
the corbelled corner-posts being cut out of solid butts.
The doors have flat arched heads; and the date of the
whole house appears to be about the second quarter
of the 16th century. Several of the other cottages in
the village are highly picturesque, and many date back
at least to the 16th century. They are of timber construction, with tile-hanging over the upper stories, and
high pitched tiled roofs, those of a farm-house at
Compton being hipped over the wings of the front in
a somewhat unusual manner. Some good chimneys
occur. The coffee tavern is ancient and picturesque.
Not far from it the manor pound still survives. There
is a nursery garden in connexion with the Guildford
Hardy Plant Nursery.
Polsted Manor is a modern house, but behind it
stands the old manor-house, a small 16th-century
timber-framed building.
Eastbury Manor, Monk's Hatch, Brook House,
Sunny Down, now occupied as a school, and Prior's
Wood Lodge are modern houses.
MANORS
The original manor of COMPTON,
which afterwards divided to form Compton Westbury and Eastbury, was held
by Brixi in the time of Edward the Confessor. (fn. 1) At
the time of the Domesday Survey it was held of the
king by Walter son of Other, founder of the De
Windsor family, of whose manor of Stanwell it continued to be held (fn. 2) until 1541, when Lord Windsor
exchanged the overlordship with the king for other
lands in Surrey and Sussex. (fn. 3) The tenants of Compton held it by knight's service, which was rendered
after the division by the lord of Eastbury only. (fn. 4)
No record of the under-tenants can be found until
1201 when Cecily of Compton was holding a knight's
fee and a half in Surrey, which evidently included
the manor of Compton. (fn. 5) John de Gatesden held
half a knight's fee of William de Windsor in Compton, circa 1212. (fn. 6) He or another John granted a lifeinterest in Compton Manor to Nicholas Malemeins
for a yearly rent of 10s. in 1249. (fn. 7) In 1260 a settlement (fn. 8) of Compton was made on John de Gatesden
and his wife Hawise de Nevill, daughter of Robert de
Courtenay, and widow of John de Nevill. (fn. 8a) Hawise
survived her husband, who died shortly before 1262, (fn. 9)
leaving a young daughter, probably Margaret, the wife
first of Sir John de Camoys, whom she deserted for
Sir William Paynele or Pagenal, whom she ultimately
married. (fn. 10) Margaret owed money to the Crown in
1291, (fn. 11) whence perhaps a part of Compton, since
known as COMPTON WESTBURY, was granted to
Henry of Guildford for life only with reversion to
the grantors and to the heirs of Margaret. He was
a tenant among several in 1291. (fn. 12)
In 1303 Henry of Guildford received a grant of
free warren in his demesne lands of Compton, (fn. 13) and
in 1308 obtained a release of land in Compton from
Sir William Paynel and Margaret daughter of John de
Gatesden. (fn. 14) Henry of Guildford was the chief benefactor of Dureford Abbey in Sussex, to which he
bequeathed a large sum of money for the maintenance
of two chaplains. (fn. 15) After his death his heir, John
the Marshal of Guildford, held Westbury, (fn. 16) and received from the Abbot of Dureford a corrody of bread
and ale, a yearly pension, and a messuage within the
abbey, and four 'Paris candles whereof sixteen make
the pound' nightly. (fn. 17) The abbey bought many lands
for the support of Henry of Guildford's chaplains, and
amongst them in 1330 the manor of Westbury, then
in the possession of John of Brideford. (fn. 18) The abbot
retained the court and customary dues of Westbury,
but leased the land to a tenant, who undertook to
supply the abbot's officers with 'horsemeate and
manesmeate' when they held their yearly court at
Compton. (fn. 19) In 1532 one William Wynter obtained
such a lease of the land for fifty-six years, but at the
time of the Dissolution it was taken into the king's
hands, together with the abbey's other possessions. (fn. 20)
In October 1537 the king granted all the possessions
of Dureford Abbey in Compton to Sir William Fitz
William, K.G., whom he created Earl of Southampton
in that same year. (fn. 21) He held his first court 8 June
1541. He died in 1542 without heirs male, (fn. 22) so
that as Westbury had been granted to him in tail
male, it then reverted to the king, by whom it was sold
in 1545 to Sir Christopher More, (fn. 23) who in January
1535 had a lease of it in perpetuity from the abbot. (fn. 24)
After this grant the history of the manor was coincident with that of the Mores' manor of Loseley
(q.v.).
Mr. James More-Molyneux of Loseley sold a small
part, including the manor-house, to Mr. George Best,
owner of Eastbury, shortly before 1842. The manorhouse is now the cottage of the gardener of Eastbury
Manor.
COMPTON EASTBURY
COMPTON EASTBURY, the eastern moiety of
the original manor of Compton, was not included in the
grant to Henry of Guildford, (fn. 25) but was held by Sir William Paynel in right of Margaret, daughter of John de
Gatesden. (fn. 26) John Paynel, William's brother, succeeded
to the manor, which he granted to John of Brideford, (fn. 27)
who retained it when he sold Compton Westbury to
Dureford. (fn. 28) John of Brideford obtained a release
from Eva St. John, widow, formerly second wife of
Sir William Paynel, (fn. 29) of her right to dower in East
bury in 1321. (fn. 30) He was assessed in Compton for
a subsidy in 1332, but died very shortly after.
Eastbury passed to William Cook of Brideford and
William Wreyford. In 1333 William Cook granted
a lease for eight years of a moiety of a third part
of the (original undivided ?) manor of Compton to
Richard de Windsor the overlord; (fn. 31) and in the same
year William Wreyford conveyed a moiety of Eastbury,
together with the reversion of the dower of Rose
widow of John of Brideford, and a messuage and rent
which the Abbot of Dureford held during the life of
Joan wife of Robert Gerneys, to Richard atte Welle. (fn. 32)
In 1343, the lease being just expired, Richard de
Windsor brought a suit (fn. 33) against Richard atte Welle
and William Cook of Brideford concerning onethird of the manor, Richard atte Welle appearing
as William's bailiff. The action was probably collusive to settle the title. The result is not on
record, but Windsor apparently lost; for William
Cook of Brideford in 1343 granted by deed to
Richard atte Welle and Sybil his wife all his rights in
Eastbury. (fn. 34) Further, in 1349 Richard atte Welle, by
deed dated at Compton, enfeoffed John de Shackleford,
John de Walton, and Richard Pruwet, of his manor
in the parish of Compton and in Tunshamstede
or Unstead in Shalford, with certain reservations, (fn. 35)
in trust for his wife Sybil and his children and
his brother, with reversion. Sybil afterwards married
William Seward and had a daughter Maud, wife of
Thomas Swanton.
In 1387 William Seward and his wife Sybil were
holding the whole of Eastbury for the life of Sybil, (fn. 36)
as the inquisition of Miles de Windsor says, but the
trial referred to says that Richard atte Welle son of
Sybil's former husband had granted it to William
Seward for life with remainder to Richard's heirs.
This Richard died without heirs.
Compton: The Coffee Tavern
In 1397 William Wallyng and his wife Isabella
claimed the manor from William Seward after Sybil's
death. Isabella was daughter of Christina, sister of
Richard atte Welle the elder. They were successful;
but meanwhile, William Seward had probably conveyed to John Guvynes, who is said to be have held the
manor in 1398. (fn. 37) In 1398 William and Isabella
Wallyng acknowledged the right of one Elias Beare to
the manor, but the proceedings did not terminate till
1410. (fn. 38) Clemence Wallyng daughter of Isabella
married a Thomas Beare.
The Seward family afterwards claimed again, and in
1422 the manor was restored to Maud, widow of
Thomas Swanton and daughter of the above Sybil,
wife of Richard atte Welle and afterwards of William
Seward. (fn. 39)
In 1428 Maud Brocas was charged for a quarter
part of a knight's fee in Compton which Richard
atte Welle formerly held of Richard Windsor. She
was possibly Maud Swanton remarried to a Brocas,
whence the manor came into this family. (fn. 40) Thomas
Brocas, who represented Guildford in Parliament, had been
a tenant in Compton in 1398.
Brocas. Sable a leopard rampant or.
Arnold Brocas, who was
knight of the shire for Surrey
in 1441–2, was in possession
of Eastbury in 1451 (fn. 41) and was
succeeded by Benedict Brocas,
who was holding it in 1485, (fn. 42)
and is said to have died in
1488. His son and heir
Richard was holding Eastbury
in 1504, (fn. 43) when he was at law
with William Lussher, lessee of Westbury. In 1515 he
made a grant to Gilbert Stoughton. (fn. 44) The grant did
not alienate Compton from the Brocas family. One
consideration had been a perpetual payment to the
Black Friars of Guildford for masses for Richard,
and perhaps this was not paid. At any rate the next
holder to be found is Lawrence Rasterne who
married Anne daughter of
Thomas Purvoch and Joan
Brocas. (fn. 45) Their son was William Rasterne, (fn. 46) who died 1562.
His only surviving child Martha
married John Lussher. She
was involved in an action in
the Court of Requests 1574–5
with her mother's second husband William Grey. (fn. 47) John
Lussher died before October
1603, when Martha his widow
held a court. (fn. 48) Her son John
Lussher mortgaged the manor
to Richard Carrill 10 November 1630, (fn. 49) and in December 1631 Lussher and Carrill
conveyed the manor to trustees for John Kempsall of
St. Clement Danes. (fn. 50) John Kempsall had a son
Edward, married again and had a son John, and died
1659. (fn. 51) Edward the elder son had only an annuity
out of the manor, which had been leased to a
Dr. Tichborne and settled on the elder John's second
wife and her children. (fn. 52) John the younger sold to
Dr. Edward Fulham in 1662, who in 1667 further
secured himself against the claim of John's mother
and her second husband Thomas Weston. (fn. 53)
Lussher. Gules three martlets or and a chief or with three molets azure therein.
The estate remained in the Fulham family, for the
Rev. Edward Fulham held it at his death in 1832. (fn. 54)
It was purchased by Charles Devon, (fn. 55) who sold the
manor and manor-house to George Best, who resided
there c. 1848. Mr. Best died 1870. His widow
died 1873, when the manor was sold to Colonel
McC. Hagart, C.B. His sister, Mrs. Ellice, is now
owner.
DOWN PLACE
DOWN PLACE, the manor which includes the
northern part of Compton parish, was a part of the
main manor of Compton at the time of the Domesday
Survey. Gregory de la Dune held half a knight's
fee there of William de Windsor c. 1212. (fn. 56) It was
held with Compton of the manor of Stanwell until
the sale of the overlordship by Lord Windsor to
Henry VIII. (fn. 57)
In 1386 Elizabeth Stonhurst was holding the
manor of Miles Windsor, (fn. 58) and a few years later she
paid poll tax for herself and four servants in Compton
in 1381. (fn. 59) She is probably identical with Elizabeth
de Doune who appears in the Godalming Hundred
Court Rolls, the Artington and the Catteshull courts,
1382–5, as holding land in Compton, Artington,
and Cherfold in Chiddingfold; perhaps Downland in
Chiddingfold was so named from her holding it.
Down was subsequently in the hands of Robert
Hull. (fn. 60) In 1427 Margery Knollis was in possession, (fn. 61) but by 1451 it had again changed hands
and was held by George Daniell. (fn. 62) William Brocas
in 1452 held 'le Doune' in Artington. (fn. 63) That this
was part of Down in Compton appears likely from
his son holding the manor of Down in 1485. If so,
it had been confiscated before by Edward IV and
given to his brother-in-law
Sir Thomas St. Leger, who
held it towards the end of the
15th century. He was the
chief instigator of the rising in
Surrey in 1483. (fn. 64) After his
attainder and execution Down
Place was forfeit to the king,
who granted it to his servant
William Mistelbroke in tail
male, (fn. 65) but William Brocas was
holding Down soon afterwards,
see above. (fn. 66) The attainder of
Sir Thomas St. Leger having been reversed at the
accession of Henry VII, (fn. 67) his heiress Anne, wife of
George Lord Roos, entered upon the manor, (fn. 68) but
seems to have alienated it, for under Henry VIII
William FitzWilliam, Earl of Southampton, was in
possession, and settled it on his wife, Mabel, and his
heirs by her. He died in 1542 without issue, and
the manor descended, in accordance with the terms
of the settlement, to his half-brother Sir Anthony
Browne, kt., father to the first Lord Montague. (fn. 69)
St. Leger. Azure fretty argent a chief or.
Down Place under Guildown was among lands
granted in 1592 to William Tipper, a fishing grantee. (fn. 70)
However, the rightful owners
succeeded in recovering their
lands, for in 1610 Anthony
Viscount Montague, a descendant of Sir Anthony Browne,
sold the manor to Richard
Coldham. (fn. 71) From him it descended to his son Richard. (fn. 72)
In 1668 Richard Coldham
and George Coldham the
younger were dealing with it. (fn. 73)
Richard Coldham conveyed
it in 1688 to the trustees
of the estates of Gerard Gore, deceased, (fn. 74) whose
daughter Sarah married Sir Edward Turnor, Speaker
of the House of Commons in 1661. (fn. 75) Arthur
Turnor succeeded, and, dying in or before 1724, left
his son Edward heir. Edward by his will (proved
1 July 1736) left his estates to his cousin Sarah,
daughter of his father's elder
brother Sir Edward, (fn. 76) and wife
of Francis Gee, whose daughter, also named Sarah, married
Joseph Garth. Their son Edward, first Earl Winterton, (fn. 77)
thus inherited Down, and his
son, Edward, second Earl Winterton, was in possession in
1808. (fn. 78) Between 1831 and
1838 the third earl sold it to
Mr. James Mangles, M.P. for
Guildford in 1831, 1832, and
1835. (fn. 79) Mr. Mangles died in
1838. The property was settled for life on Mrs. Mangles. Mr. Frederick
Mangles his son lived there. About 1859 it was sold
to Mr. Faviell, who rebuilt the house. Mr. Bett
bought it in 1890, and Mrs. Bett now lives there.
Coldham. Azure a molet argent pierced gules.
Turnour. Nine pieces erminees and argent with four mill-stone turners sable in the argent.
FIELD PLACE
FIELD PLACE was parcel of the possessions of
Henry of Guildford, (fn. 80) who held a part of it of Walter of Wintershull in 1312. It was occupied by a
Matilda atte Felde apparently in 1343; (fn. 81) and by Bernard Brocas in 1349. (fn. 82) He was rector of St. Nicholas
Guildford.
Later it is named amongst the lands forfeited by
Sir Thomas St. Leger, (fn. 83) after which it was, like Down,
granted to William Mistelbroke, (fn. 84) but afterwards reverted to St. Leger's daughter
Anne wife of George Manners, Lord Roos. (fn. 85) His sons,
Thomas, Earl of Rutland, and
Sir Richard Manners, kt., sold
Field Place to Thomas Hall
and his wife Joan in 1542. (fn. 86)
After her husband's death Joan
married James Rokley, who
held the manor in her right. (fn. 87)
It descended to her son, George
Hall. (fn. 88) His widow Juliana
married a Thomas Washington
about 1569–72, and George's
only child Elizabeth Hall married Robert Quenell before 1580. (fn. 89) The Washingtons and Quenells of Chiddingfold were jointly interested in the manor in 1585. (fn. 90)
Manners, Lord Roos. Or two bars azure and a chief gules.
Robert and Elizabeth Quenell had a son Peter who
resided at Lythe Hill, Haslemere. (fn. 91) Robert died in
1612. Peter Quenell the son, who held his first
court in 1615, had a son Peter born in 1603, (fn. 92) who
married in 1628 Elizabeth Grey, and resided at
Field Place, holding a court in 1635, though his
father the older Peter did not die till 1650. (fn. 93)
Peter the younger was already owner. (fn. 94) He died in
1666 and was buried at Compton. His will was
proved by his widow Elizabeth, (fn. 95) who was assessed
for hearth tax at Compton circa 1675. (fn. 96) His son Peter
died in 1684, (fn. 97) leaving two daughters, minors: Elizabeth subsequently wife of Robert Beare and Joan
subsequently wife of John Waight, to whom Field
Place descended in moieties. (fn. 98)
In 1709 John and Joan Waight, Nathan and Elizabeth Hickman, and sundry mortgagees joined in a
conveyance of the whole manor to Samuel Manship. (fn. 99)
His widow Anne held a court in 1726. Their son
John Manship held a court in 1738 and died in
1751. His son John did not come into possession
till his mother's death in 1788, and was holding still
in 1808. (fn. 100) Soon after this the manor was purchased
by George Smallpeice, (fn. 101) who died in 1853. After his
widow's death in 1869 it passed to his nephew Job
Smallpeice. He sold it to Mr. John King before
21 May 1875. Mr. John King died 15 May 1893.
Mrs. King his widow died 16 August 1902, after
which date the estate was sold to Colonel Annand.
POLSTED
POLSTED, the most easterly part of the parish,
was distinguished from the main manor of Compton (fn. 102)
early in the reign of Richard I, for in 1196 Walter de
Windsor warranted it to Hugh of Polsted and his wife
Cecily to hold by knight's service, (fn. 103) while in 1199
mention is made of a house which had belonged to
Gerard of Polsted and to the land of Richard the
Reeve (prepositus) of Polsted. (fn. 104) At the time of the
confirmation to Hugh of Polsted William de Astinges
was laying claim to the service from the manor, but
apparently failed to prove his right to it, for in 1219
Michael of Polsted, probably a son of Hugh, obtained
confirmation of his land in Polsted from William de
Windsor. (fn. 105) In 1261 a second Hugh of Polsted conveyed the manor to Simon Passelew and his heirs. (fn. 106)
About ten years later John de Middleton conveyed
the manor to William of Wintershull, (fn. 107) on whose
younger son Walter it was settled, together with
Bramley (q.v.). (fn. 108) In 1308–9 John de Polsted
granted land to Thomas his son; Richard de Polsted
was a witness. (fn. 109) They were perhaps then tenants of
the Wintershulls. In 1424 Joan then wife of William
Catton and Agnes Basset, sisters and co-heirs of
Thomas Wintershull, to whom Walter Wintershull's
estates had descended, sued John Loxley for the
manor, (fn. 110) and again in 1441 Agnes Bassett and
John Weston son of Joan Catton disputed it
against John Jenyn. The latter claimed to be
enfeoffed of it, jointly with Bernard Jenyn of
Brabœuf, who is said to have married Elizabeth
daughter of John Loxley, son of Robert Loxley,
half-brother of Thomas Wintershull. (fn. 111) The Jenyns seem
to have made good their claim
to the manors, for Thomas
Jenyn, son of Bernard, held
it at his death in March
1508–9. (fn. 112) He left an infant
son John, afterwards knighted,
who died in 1545. (fn. 113) His
widow married Stephen Adams,
who was holding the manor
in her right a few years after
Sir John's death. (fn. 114) It was
ultimately inherited by Agnes,
or Anne, niece of Sir John and wife of John Wight
(or Weight), (fn. 115) who sold it to Sir William More of
Loseley in 1558, (fn. 116) from which time its history has
been coincident with that of Loseley.
Jenyn. Argent a fesse gules with three bezants thereon.
Court baron was attached to Westbury, Eastbury, Field Place, and Polsted, (fn. 117) but there seems to
be no record of courts held for Down, which was
not called a manor till 1386. (fn. 118) The court of Polsted was held during the 17th century in a meadow
under a walnut tree. (fn. 119) In 1249 the
tenant of Compton had estovers in the
wood of Compton towards the repair of
the 'house of the court of Compton.' (fn. 120)
In the Godalming Hundred Rolls, (fn. 121) it
appears that in the 14th, 15th, and 16th
centuries the tithing-man and tithings of
Compton attended at the hundred courts
at Godalming. But a view of frankpledge
was held regularly at Compton on the
Thursday after St. Matthew's Day, when
the tithings of Eastbury, Westbury, and
Polsted and of part of Hurtmore in
Compton were represented. On 22 September 1453, no one attended from
Polsted 'eo quod nullus est residens neque
inhabitans super eandem decanam,' and
the same is recorded of Hurtmore in Godalming the same year. But on 18 September 1483 the tenant of Polsted paid
8d. at the Godalming court, pro sua secta
relaxanda, and the tithing of Hurtmore
appears later, but no tithing-man for
Polsted. The inhabitants of the manors,
which were also tithings in Compton, owed suit to
the court at Godalming (q.v.), when the Bishop of
Salisbury, lord of the manor as well as of the hundred,
held courts which from an early period combined
the functions of a court baron and a hundred court.
In 1547 it was stated that the lords of Down had
failed to pay suit to Godalming for many years. (fn. 122)
CHURCH
The church of ST. NICHOLAS
is built on a spur of sand hill rising
out of the valley in which the village
stands. The east end of the building is approached
from the road by the steep path overshadowed
with cypresses and other trees, and the churchyard, which is very picturesque and well-wooded,
shares in the undulating nature of the site. Behind the church to the west are some fine cedars
and other trees. The church, which is one of the
most interesting in the county, is built of Bargate
stone, flints, and chalk, with Bath stone used in the
modern work. A good deal of the exterior is covered
with a brownish plaster; the roofs are tiled and the
spire of the western tower is shingled. Nearly all
the internal dressings are in clunch or hard chalk.
The church was restored in 1843, under Mr.
H. Woodyer, and further works were carried out in
1869 and 1906. It consists of a western tower
about 10 ft. square internally; nave 47 ft. 6 in. long
by 18 ft. at its western end and 16 ft. 6 in. at the
eastern; north and south aisles, of the same length,
7 ft. 3 in. wide, south porch, and chancel 27 ft.
(originally 28 ft.), by 13 ft. at its western end. The
eastern part of the chancel is vaulted and separated
from the western by a low arch. It is of two stories,
the upper forming a chapel over the sanctuary, a
very rare feature in this country. On the north is a
modern vestry and on the south a small projecting
building, originally of two stories, which may have
served for an anchorite's cell or for viewing relics.
There is a modern coal shed on the north of the
tower.
Compton Church from the South-east
The tower has no buttresses, and is of very rude
construction, built entirely of rag rubble, without
any ashlar dressings to quoins and windows, the
latter being narrow round-headed slits in the rubblework; a modern window of very incongruous
design has been pierced in the west. It has no
staircase, and its whole appearance suggests a date
prior to the Norman Conquest. The rag-work
quoins of the early nave are still visible and of the same
character. The timber spire, which is fairly lofty, is
probably of 14th-century date. The tower arch,
plain pointed, on square piers, dates from about 1160
and replaces an earlier and smaller opening. A
peculiarity of the plan is that the nave contracts in
width towards the east, being 18 in. narrower at its
eastern end than at the west. Its floor is said to have
been higher than that of the chancel previous to the
restoration of 1843, a fact borne out by the stilted
bases of the arcade-piers. These arcades, which with
the aisles and the chancel arch date from about 1160,
are of three arches on each side, and with their
columns are entirely worked in hard chalk. The
arches are very slightly pointed, square-edged and of one
order, with a flat moulded label, a rare and noteworthy feature being the coeval treatment of the
thin coat of plaster on their soffits, which is cut into
patterns (scallop, zigzag, and nebule) at the edges, as
at Godalming and the crypt of St. James's Clerkenwell.
The capitals have square abaci and are carved with
varieties of the scallop, volute, and different types of
foliage, those on the south being peculiarly rich.
The columns and responds are circular, with round
bases on square plinths. The north and south doors,
which have circular heads, are both of this period,
the former having a plain roll-moulding and the
latter an outer order of zigzag, with a hood. In
the centre of the nave at its western end is the
large font of late 12th-century date. The design
is peculiar, and looks like a rude imitation of a Venetian well-head, the bowl being shaped as a capital,
square at the top with the angles canted off to a
circular necking. This rests upon a short circular
stem and base, and the whole upon a square table
and chamfered plinth. The north aisle retains its
low pitch and one of its original windows, but the
walls of the south aisle were raised about 3 ft. in the
15th century; one of its original windows remains
in the south wall, but blocked on the inside, and
another in the west wall; the remainder are of
14th and 15th-century dates. In the north aisle are
two shallow tomb-recesses, with depressed cusped
arches, of 14th-century date. A blocked rood-loft
door appears at the back of the eastern respond in
this aisle. The chancel arch is of two orders, the
outer circular in form, the inner obtusely pointed.
These are nook-shafted with volute capitals to the
outer order.
Plan of Compton Church
The shell of the chancel walls is perhaps of late
11th-century date, though heightened and otherwise
altered in subsequent periods; three of its windows
can be traced, one in each wall. The bowl of a
pillar-piscina of this period has lately been found
plastered up in the wall of the upper chapel, to which
it had evidently been removed when that chapel was
formed. The basin has two drain-holes—an earlier
and a later—a circular-headed niche being made to
fit the older drain. Clear proof was found during
the underpinning of the chancel in 1906 that when
the two-storied sanctuary was formed in its eastern
half, in about 1180, the older walls were merely
thickened by the addition of an independent 'skin,'
about 1 ft. thick, on the inside, to serve as an extra
abutment for the vault. The original plastering still
remains on the older face, now hidden. This vault
is of very low pitch, with segmental ribs, clumsily
constructed, springing from a string-course, with
corbels in the eastern angles. It is inclosed by a low
and wide segmental arch, beautifully moulded, with
nook-shafts having foliate capitals and chamfered
imposts, all in chalk. The arch has a hood-moulding
enriched with the dog-tooth ornament, and two
orders, both moulded, the outer having a cusped or
horse-shoe border in relief over a deep hollow,
which gives a very rich effect. In the south wall are a
piscina and aumbry of the same period, and in the
western part of the chancel proper are windows, one
in either wall, of like date, within plainly splayed
pointed heads. That on the south has, however,
been altered externally in the 13th century, so that
it is now a low side window of two lights. Hard by
a very carefully finished squint (c. 1160) pierces the
chancel arch pier. Its other end is blocked by the
pulpit. In either wall to the east is a small doorway
with a pointed head. The western jamb of the south
door stands on an early base. That on the north
now gives access to the modern vestry, but no doubt
originally opened to a stair which led to the upper
chapel, a purpose at present served by a modern
staircase placed within the small building on the
opposite side, which is entered by the other door.
A wide lancet, of date about 1250, is found on either
side of the chancel, westward of these doors, and a
two-light window of about the same date remains in
the south wall of the lower sanctuary.
The anchorite's cell, or watching-place, whichever it
be, on the south side of the chancel has several interesting features: a tiny round-headed window apparently
of 12th-century date; a door opening outwards suggesting that there was a porch or out-building of
timber attached to the southern side; and a squint
with a peculiar cross-shaped opening to the chancel.
This squint, which would command a view of the
altar, is high enough for a person to kneel within
it on the cell side, and the oak board on its sill shows
a depression worn by constant use. The squint also
looks towards a nameless tomb, quatrefoil panelled, of
15th-century date, beneath a window of the same
period in the north wall of the sanctuary, which probably served as an Easter Sepulchre. In the recent
underpinning of the chancel walls several male
skeletons (one having abundant bright red hair on
the skull), buried one above another, were found
beneath this tomb, and it has been suggested that
these were successive occupants of the anchorite's
cell.
The present east window of the upper chapel is
modern, and replaces one of three lights with fourcentred or elliptical heads, probably of late 16th-century date. Standing upon a beam above the low arch
which forms the entrance to the lower sanctuary is the
unique piece of early wooden screen-work or balustrading, placed here when the vaulting was constructed,
about 1180. (fn. 123) It consists of nine semicircular arches,
cut out of a single plank, resting upon octagonal shafts,
having foliate capitals and moulded bases. A modern
deal capping now crowns the top. The chancel roof
is covered with modern boarding on the inside. In
the nave and north aisle the roof timbers are ancient,
perhaps of the 12th century: the south aisle roof has
been largely renewed. Few churches possess such
interesting early 17th-century fittings as the communion-table, rail and gates, with pierced scrollcarving, newels and balusters, the pulpit and soundingboard, also elaborately carved, and the chancel screen,
now placed at the west end, and also enriched with
pierced scroll-work and circular arches on baluster
shafts. The seats in the chancel and body of the
church are all modern.
In the southern window of the sanctuary is a beautiful fragment of early 13th-century glass representing
the Blessed Virgin and Child. Other ancient fragments of grisaille or pattern-work have disappeared
within living memory. The glass now in the west
window of the south aisle, but originally made for
the east window of the sanctuary, appears to be of 17th
or 18th-century date, and its subject is the Baptism of
our Lord.
The chancel walls have been re-plastered, but there
may be ancient paintings under the whitewash in the
nave.
Resting within the blocked north doorway, outside,
is part of a late 12th-century coffin lid, bearing a
floriated cross.
In the centre passage of the nave is a slab bearing
the brasses of a civilian and his wife, dated 1508.
The man wears a long fur-lined coat, with a girdle,
from which hangs a gypciére. His hair is long and
he has square-toed shoes. The lady is attired in a
pedimental head dress and a tight-fitting gown with
fur cuffs of a somewhat unusual shape, her waist being
confined by a long ornamented girdle reaching to the
feet. Beneath the husband are the figures of two
sons, and one of a daughter, as appears by the indent,
was originally below the wife's effigy. The inscription
reads:—
'Pray for the sowllis of Thomas Gen[n]yn and
Margaret hys wyfe,
the whych decesyd the yere of our Lord MCCCCC
and VIII, on whos sowllis Ihu have marcy. Amen.'
Above the figures was a shield, now gone, but
which, according to Manning, bore—Argent on a
fesse gules three bezants, for Jennings, quartering
Gules a bull's head cabossed argent armed or.
From Manning we learn that a marble stone bore
the following inscription, lost at the time when he
wrote:—
'Hic jacet Robertus Soule et Margareta uxor ejus,
quorum
animabus propicietur Deus. Amen.'
Besides these, there are several slabs and monuments of the 17th and 18th centuries, including a
stone at the east end of the nave inscribed to 'Elizabeth wife of Peter Quynell, Esq., daughter and sole
heiress to Edmund Grey, Rector of Woolbeding,
1684.'
Her husband, according to an entry in the register,
was buried at Compton on 7 May 1666.
On a tablet in the south aisle are inscriptions to
members of the Fulham family, 17th and 18th centuries. In the churchyard is the fragment of a coped
coffin-slab bearing a cross, of 12th or 13th-century
date.
On a jamb-stone of the small blocked window in the
south aisle is an incised sundial.
A rare detail is some ancient ridge- or crest-tiles
on the nave roof. The registers date from 1639.
The churchwardens' accounts begin 1570, and the
book is bound up with part of an old processional
belonging originally to the Abbey of Hyde, near
Winchester.
The plate includes a fine communion cup and cover
or paten, of 1569, with a somewhat unusual form of
ornament on the paten; another paten and a flagon
of 1683 and 1687, given to the church by Dr. Edward
Fulham, Canon of Windsor, who died 1694, aged 90,
and was buried at Compton.
Of the bells, the treble is by Brian Eldridge, 1634,
and the second by the same founder, 1660. The
tenor is by Mears, 1845.
ADVOWSON
The church was mentioned in
the Domesday Survey of Compton. (fn. 124)
The advowson seems to have been in
dispute early in the 14th century between the lords
of Polsted and Compton Westbury, for, though
Hugh of Polsted granted the advowson with Polsted
to Simon Passelew, (fn. 125) Henry of Guildford, lord of
Westbury, died seised of it; his successor, John the
Marshal, disputed the presentation, and finally John
of Brideford presented a rector. (fn. 126) Thenceforward the
history of the advowson was coincident with that of
Compton Westbury, saving that during the 17th and
18th centuries the Mores and their descendants sold
the right of presentation for several turns to members
of the Fulham family. (fn. 127) It is now in the hands of
the owner of Loseley and Westbury.
CHARITIES
The charities are Smith's Charity,
on the usual terms for the relief of
deserving poor, charged on the Warbleton estate, Sussex; a bequest by Richard Wyatt, in
his will, 20 March 1618, for the maintenance of one
poor man, with 1s. 9d. a week and clothes once a
year, in the almshouses at Godalming—trustees, the
Carpenters' Company; 50s., charged on land in
Compton, in bread and money to the poor and
clothes to two aged persons, by John Thompsall, first
distributed in 1674, in the hands of the churchwardens and overseers; a gown yearly to one poor
woman, and the overplus bread, by Mrs. Jane
Aburne, by will 19 May 1708.
A convalescent home for four inmates was founded
in 1884 by Miss Hagart, and is supported by Mrs.
Ellice of Eastbury.