Church of St Mary, Fetcham

St Mary's Church, Fetcham, Surrey, England is a Church of England parish church (community) but also refers to its building which dates to the 11th century, that of the Norman Conquest and as such is the settlement's oldest building. It is set off the residential road of its address, The Ridgeway, behind a small park, in the suburban part of the largely 20th century railway settlement adjoining the M25 London Orbital Motorway which has retained farmed rural outskirts. The closest secular building is Grade II* listed Fetcham Park House, which is in the same architectural category and the church has an adjoining church hall.

St Mary's Church, Fetcham
St Mary's Church, Fetcham
St Mary's Church, Fetcham
51°17′17″N 0°21′11″W
DenominationChurch of England
ChurchmanshipEvangelical
Websitehttp://stmarysfetcham.org.uk/
History
DedicationSt Mary
Administration
ParishFetcham
DeaneryLeatherhead
ArchdeaconryDorking
DioceseGuildford
ProvinceCanterbury
Clergy
RectorRev. Andrew Smith
Laity
Churchwarden(s)Eric Martin Brigitte Furze

Structure and fittings

Built during Anglo-Saxon and early Norman periods, the structure has been conjectured by the Victoria County History's architectural analysis to have been a redevelopment of an Anglo-Saxon church:[1]

Roman bricks in considerable quantities in Fetcham Church, remains of Anglo-Saxon architecture in the church...
...quoins and dressings of thin red bricks, no doubt Roman, set in wide mortar joints.

Traces of its long past exist in many parts of its structure. These include the south-west quoin of the nave, and a single splay window high on the south wall with traces of Roman brick, as well as arches which fit with the architecture prevailing before the Norman Conquest of 1066.[2]

In the 19th century a considerable amount of restoration and improvement in the church was carried out by Rev. Sir Edward Moon rector from 1854 to 1904.[3] Moon inherited his baronetcy in 1871 on the death of his father Sir Francis Moon, 1st Baronet, who was commemorated in much of the restoration work in the church.

The structure gained listed status in 1951, has some stained glass windows, and is classed as Grade II*.[2]

Services

On Sundays there are Communion Services at 08.00 (Book of Common Prayer) and 09.30 (Common Worship). At 11.15 there is Informal Worship, with the Gener8 All Age worship taking place on the first Sunday in the month.

On Sunday evenings there is Choral Evensong (second Sunday), RESTORE Cafe Church (third Sunday) and REFLECT reflective service (fourth Sunday).

There is also a midweek communion service on Thursday at 10.00am and a parish prayer meeting at 09.30 on Saturday.

Activ8 for under 12's and Creche for under 3's takes place on Sunday at 9.30 and 11.15am (except when there is Gener8 All Age worship at 11.15) .[4]

Monuments

The church has wall monuments to Anthony Rous and Henry Vincent (a praying bust with an open book, in a cartouche with Corinthian small columns), both died 1631; in the left side of the porch is a large lettered tablet dated 1717 recording details of a charitable trust as administered among its mainstay of poor relief for centuries by the parish, until the advent of local government in the United Kingdom.[2]

See also

References
  1. H.E. Malden (editor) (1911). "Parishes: Fetcham". A History of the County of Surrey: Volume 3. Institute of Historical Research. Retrieved 25 October 2013.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)Malden, Henry Elliot (1911). The Victoria History of the County of Surrey, Volume 3 . London: Constable and Company Limited – via Wikisource.
  2. Historic England. "Details from listed building database (1378187)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 25 October 2013.
  3. History of Fetcham Church
  4. Official website
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