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A Saxon church has been on this site since about
700 and William the Conqueror's Domesday
Book of 1086 the priory here was refered to as �
The Monastery of the Holy Trinity of Thuinam� administered by a Dean and
tenty-four secular canons.
after the day�s work was finished, materials disappeared during the night to be found later on the ground where the Priory now stands. Eventually the Saxon church was destroyed and in 1094 the present magnificent building was begun.
When Ranulf Flambard,
William (Rufus) II's Bishop of Durham, chose to build a church at Christchurch, he seems
to have preferred a site atop nearby St Catherine's Hill. According to legend, the
materials which had been daily hauled to its summit and put into place were mysteriously
found back at the bottom of the hill each morning until the attempt to build on the
summit of the hill was abandoned in favour of the site of the Saxon Church. Thus the
legend recounts how Flmabrd's church was founded
in 1094.
LEGENDS ASSOCIATED WITH THE FOUNDATION OF CHRISTCHURCH PRIORY
The Priory became famous for its relics and attracted many pilgrims who contributed to
making mediaeval Christchurch prosperous
and it became known by the new name of
Christchurche
de Twenham.
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As with any such institution, the mediaeval Priory and its possessions such as Place Mill
were held of the monarch under the feudal system and the town had two
manors. Priory Manor of Christchurch Twyneham had
its own court house which stood just outside the Priory gates in Church Street.
See also The Remains of Mediaval Christchurch
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Flambard's Norman church consisted of a choir of
three bays with an apse and side aisles, transepts with apsidal chapels, and a nave
of eight bays. There are three crypts under the choir and the chapels of the transepts.
The eastern end of the church has been rebuilt but the transepts and nave of
Flambard's original church remain largely intact.
The original Norman church was cruciform in plan and appears to have been built with the
tower rising above the crossing-point. This tower seems to have collapsed in 1415
destorying the quire in the process. The new quire, built in the Perpendicular style
was completed in 1510. Not long before this, the Lady Chapel had been added to the
church and the present western tower built within and over the
nave.
The thirteenth century saw the addition of the north nave aisle, the north porch and
the clerestory of the nave in the Early English style. The rood screen, the splendid
reredos and the Lady Chapel are all late fourteenth century additions. The tower which
now dominates the town was built in the fifteenth century.
| Dissolution of the Monasteries |
Henry VIII's dissolution of the monasteries
in the 16th century brought the steady
stream of pilgrims to an end and this led to a decrease in the town's prosperity.
Although the rest of the Priory was lost at the dissolution (only the porter's lodge
and a part of the walls remain), the town was allowed to
keep the fine church but heceforth it was to be served by vicars not the wealthy
Priors.
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At the Dissolution of the Monasteries,
a petition (extant) by the last Prior here,
John Draper II, Bishop of Neapolis, was addressed to Henry VIII imploring him to spare
the priory because of the poverty of the surrounding area and the work of the clerics in
providing relief for the needy.
The report on the place to King Henry of December 2, 1539 spoke well of the Prior but bode
ill for the Priory itself;-
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We found the Prior a very honest conformable person, and the house well
furnysschide with juellys and plate, whereof some be mete for the King's majestie is use.
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Not only did King Henry take the plate mentioned in the above report, but it as also
believed the he removed a number of valuable statues.
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As was true of many places, the
suppression of the Priory deprived the town of its
only scholl which had been run by the priors.
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If the huge church - with a length of 311ft 4in it claims to be the longest parish
church in England - and paticularly its tower dominates the town today, how much truer
this must have been in times gone by when Christchurch was a smaller place. The best
views of the church are to be had from Town Bridge over the Avon, with the Constable's
House and the Norman castle to its right, and from the churchyard in the north=west
corner adjacent to the vicarage.
The building's most striking exterior feature apart from the tower must be the richly
ornamented Norman stair turret at the eastern end of the north transept. The North Porch,
main entrance to the church, is also one of the largest of its kind in England.
Within, the great dark nave with its arcade of massive Norman pillars completed about
1150 is divided from the Great Choir by a screen dating from 1320 and richly carved
with a variety of animals and fruit.
THE NORTH SIDE OF THE CHURCH
Among the many interesting features of this side of the church is the circular staircase
attached to the corner of the transept with its rich daiper-work
. Also noteworthy is the
Norman arcading to the base of the transept
. The windows of the choir
clerestory are unusaully large and set very close together.
THE NORTH PORCH
The porch which is the
main entrance, is of proportions
which befit Flambard's church, projecting as it does some
12 metres (40 feet) from the aisle and nearly as high as the clerestory, it is one of the
largest church porches in the country. The 13th
century arch
which forms the opening to the outside is supported on pillars of local
Purbeck marble while the double arch forming the doorway into the church is a fine
example of Early English work. The chamber above the stone-vaulted ceiling of the porch
is supposed to have been used as a muniment room.
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Before King Henry VIII had the Priory demolished, it is here in the porch that the Priors
transacted their business with the townsfolk. In more recent times, the town's fire
appliance was stabled in the church porch (another was
kept at the offics of the insurance agents in Castle Street).
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THE WEST TOWER
The Western Tower
of the church is a 15th-century alteration for it was built into the
church and not added to it. The west end of the nave was demolished and the lower walls of
the tower were built within so as to leave a space at the west end of the two aisles,
one of these spaces being used as a vestry. The west part of the nave is, therefore,
part of the 15th-century tower which is flanked by the older aisles. The best view of the
tower is to be had from the north-western corner of the churchyard, adjacent to the
vicarage.
THE BELLS
The belfry of the tower boasts a peal of 12 bells plus a flat 6th. Two of these bells
date from 1370.
THE NORTH AISLE
The North Aisle
is seperated into six compartments by Early English buttresses between
the North Porch and the transept. Looking above to the clerestory, the Norman round-headed
windows can be seen but much of the Norman work, particularly the arcading, has been
covered by the latter Early English.
THE NORTH TRANSEPT
The highly ornamented turret which encloses the spiral staircase at the north-east corner
of the north transept is by far the most interesting feature of the exterior of
Bishop Flambard's Norman church. The base of the
turret consists of the arcade of intersecting arches which extend around the whole of
the transept and, above this, is another arcade although the semi-circular arches are
carried on shafts and do not intersect. The next stage of the turret is decorated with
diaper-work surmounted by another arcade with semi-circular arches before the whole is
capped by the stone roof. The effect of the whole is to create a rich diversity of
design - even the shafts on each stage of arcading are different so as to be distinct
from the others.
CHOIR, PRESBYTRY & LADY CHAPEL
The choir, presbytry and Lady Chapel to the east of the north transept are built in the
Perpendicular style. In the exterior fo the north wall of the Lady Chapel is an octagonal
turret which rises above the parapet and carries within it the stairway giving access to
St Michael's Loft which now serves as the Priory Museum.
THE SOUTH TRANSEPT
On the Eastern side of the transept is a Norman apsidal chapel with a semi-conical roof.
It has two windows, one of these is Norman and the other Early English. In the south-east
corner is a stair turret.
ST Michael'S LOFT
St Michael's Loft stands over the Lady Chapel. The large but plain, low room
can be reached from the exterior by means of the octagonal staircase on the north wall
of the choir as well
as by climbing the seventy-five steps from the inside. Originally it was used by the canons of
the Priory for the instruction of novices, but the piscina at the east end would imply that it
was once used as a chapel. From 1662, when permission was obtained from the Bishop of
Winchester until 1828 it was used as the town's first grammar school. It then became a private
academy which was run by the vicar until 1869. Now it serves as the Priory Museum.
THE LADY CHAPEL
The chapel was built in the early fifteenth century and contains a reredos from 1450 but
this has been much restored. Here also are the tombs of Sir Thomas West, a Constable of
the Castle, and his mother Lady Alice. Above the
Lady Chapel is St Michael's Loft which serves as the Priory
Museum.
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Lord West died as the 15th cntury was beggining and his will directs that his mortal
remains should be buried in the 'new' Lady Chapel - thus dating the chapel to the
late 14th century.
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The alter, a slab of local Purbeck marble, and the beautiful of mutilated reredos stand
under the fine Perpendicular east window. The tombs of Lord West and his mother stand
to the north and south of the altar.
THE AMBULATORY
It is above the ambulatory on the south side of the church that
the Miraculous Beam which gave both church and town a new name is housed. Although not
in its original position, it is kept here safe-keeping.
THE GREAT CHOIR
Originally, the Great Choir was built in the same Norman style as the nave
incorporating the fine 14th century reredos which is known as the
'Jesse Screen' which was moved to its present position during the
rebuilding of c. 1510 occassioned by the destruction of Flambard's central
tower.
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The screen depicts Jesse and the family tree descending through King
David and Solomon to the infant Christ. Christ is depicted in the central panel,
known as the 'Epiphany panel' with Mary, Joseph, the Magi and the
shepherds.
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The monks stalls have misericords and
some of these predate the 13th century. The prior, the sub-prior and the precentor
sat in richly-carved and canopied stalls.
The mural above the Jesse Screen depicting the Ascension was painted by Hans Feibusch
in 1967.
THE NORTH QUIRE AISLE
Here stands the beautiful Tudor Salisbury Chantry with its
Rennaisance detail built by
Margaret, Countess of Salisbury. Also the tomb
of Sir John and Lady Chydioke and
a tablet by Chantrey to the memory of John Barnes.
The colours of the CHristchurch Volunteers of 1793 to the east are of interest in that they
show the Jack before the Union in the reign of Geroge IV.
THE SALISBURY CHANTRY
The Salisbury Chantry in the
north choir aisle
was built by Margaret, Countess
of Salisbury to be her last resting
place. Last survivor of the Plantagenets
who provided England with several kings, she
was connected with the town because the manor passed tothe Earls of Warwick.
The richly decorated chantry was designed by the Florentine architect
Torregiano, a contemporary or student of Michelangelo,
and is built of white Cean stone from Normandy.
The Countess was the neice of Richard III and thus posed a threat to Henry VIII as a
potential claimant to the throne. He had her incarcerated in the Tower of London and
executed in 1541. Then in her seveties, she refused to place her head on the block and
it was hacked from her body as she stood. The king refused permission for her to be
buried in the chantry she had prepared here and she lies interred in the Tower of London.
MONUMENTS & MEMORIALS
The War Memorial Chapel is at the west end of the church and near it are the Books of Remembrance.
The church also has many other memorials and tombs of interest.
HENRY ROGERS
The tombstone commemorating Henry Rogers which stands near the path to the North Porch
bears a strange and mysterious epitaph;
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We are not slayne but raysed, raysed not to life but to be byried twice by men of
stryfe. What rest could the living have when dead had none? Agree amongst you, heere
we ten are one. Hen. Rogers died April 17, 1641.
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One suggestion which has been mooted is that the memorial may refer to ten men who fought
on the wrong side of the Civil War and and their bodies may have been exhumed and hung
as a warning to others before being re-interred. Another is that the bodies are those of
ten shipwrecked sailors who had been buried in unconsecrated ground to the ire of the
Lord of the Manor and that Henry Rogers, then Mayor of Christchurch, directed that all
ten should be buried in one grave to save expense.
THE PERKINS MAUSOLEUM
Mrs Perkins, perhaps because she lived at Church Hatch
overlooking the churchyard, had a morbid fear of being buried alive and went to
extraodinary lengths in case such an event should befall her.
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Elliot's Charity
Edward Elliot died in 1677 leaving provision for twenty loaves to be distributed to the
poor of the town from the Priory on the second
Sunday of every month.
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| Possessions of the Priory |
STOURPAINE, Dorset
In about 1150, Richard, son of Hilias de Orescuilz, gave land and the advowson in Stures (modern Stourpaine) to the Priory Church of Christchurch in Twyneham, Hampshire (the advowson was later transferred to Salisbury at an unknown date).
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