A Church at Croydon

The West Tower

The main entrance to the church is through the west door beneath the predominantly medieval tower, 125 feet high to the top of the pinnacles. Above the west door can be seen the arms of Archbishops Courtenay and Chicheley, who were mainly responsible for the building in the 14th and 15th centuries.

Over the entrance from the tower to the nave of the church is a WW1 memorial arch designed by J. Oldrid Scott (son of Sir George Gilbert Scott) given by the officers and men of the 4th Battalion the Queen’s Royal West Surrey Regiment in memory of their fallen comrades. Notable are the carvings of the private and the officer on eternal parade and the colours (flags) of the battalion on the wall above.

The Nave

The church is almost 150 feet in length from east to west. The nave (the main body of the church) is 92 feet high and has a fine open timber-work roof supported by angel corbels.

The original eagle lectern, a fine specimen of 15th century brass work, with small lions at its feet, was saved from the 1867 fire and is still in regular use. A lectern designed as an eagle is distinctively English. It is likely it was made in East Anglia and is one of only a very small number in England surviving from before the Reformation. There is a small slot in the beak of the eagle and tradition says that offerings were made in medieval times. 

 The Victorian pulpit, ornamented by carved figures of saints, is by Thompson of Peterborough.

The North Aisle

There are a number of medieval remains in the north wall:  a 15th century altar tomb, re-erected when the present church was built, underneath which are a few surviving medieval floor tiles from the old church; a recess containing the remains of an unusual double piscina (there are only a few other examples in the UK); and a smaller recess said formerly to have been a holy water stoup (basin).

The distinguished American-born artist, John Singleton Copley R.A. (1737-1815), is commemorated by a plaque. On the same wall may be seen a brass inscription to Elys Davy (died 1455), who founded the almshouses located across the road from the Minster, and brass shields which formed part of a memorial to Thomas Heron (died 1544).

The Chancel

The chancel is richly decorated, notably the wagon-shaped oak roof, supported by angel corbels, some of them gilded, coloured and holding musical instruments. It was decorated at the expense of the Edridge family in 1913. They were major Croydon figures in the late 19th/early 20th century, and very generous in their support (they also donated the first electric lighting system, the frescos in the sanctuary, the screens between the Aisles and the side chapels, and the font canopy). There is a memorial to them at the east end of the north wall.

The tomb of Archbishop Edmund Grindall, very similar in style to that of his successor John Whitgift located in the St Nicholas Chapel, was here but did not survive the fire; its dedication plaque can still be seen on the wall next to the Vestry door. The Early English dogtooth carving of the pointed arch in the north wall is made of fragments from the earlier church c.1100-1200, found in the rubble after the fire and reincorporated by Gilbert Scott in the new building as a link to the past. Below it is a Victorian fresco of the feeding of the 5000.  

The east wall is filled by a large Perpendicular-style window, containing fine glass depicting scenes of the life of Christ, installed after the fire by one of the best known Victorian firms, Clayton and Bell. Beneath it is a rich alabaster reredos (the ornamental screen behind the High Altar) carved with reliefs of the nativity, crucifixion and resurrection. In the south wall are elaborate piscina (a basin for washing communion vessels) and sedilia (priests’ seats), the latter incorporating painted roundels of three archbishops.

There are a number of brasses inside the chancel arch. William Heron of Addiscombe, who died in 1562, and Alse his wife are commemorated on the north side, while the large figure on the south side commemorates Gabriel Sylvester (died 1513) who was Master of Clare College, Cambridge and is depicted as a priest in vestments. The choir stalls feature some interesting and curious carvings on the bench ends, which repay closer study. The encaustic floor tiles in the chancel area were made by the Victorian firm, Godwin, and include stylised representations of plants and animals. To the north of the chancel is the Victorian organ, built by Hill and Son and whose oak case was decorated by J. Oldrid Scott (son of Sir George Gilbert Scott). The church is a regular venue for recitals and concerts.

The St Nicholas Chapel

Both side chapels are on the site of earlier chantry chapels (a chapel paid for by a patron for whom prayers would be said on his or her death). In the St Nicholas or Bishop’s Chapel is the large coloured monument to John Whitgift (died 1604), who was Archbishop of Canterbury during the reign of Elizabeth I and at the start of that of James I. Whitgift was a major local benefactor, who founded the old almshouses (dated 1596) which can still be seen in the town centre. A Foundation, established in his name, continues to this day, to provide education of the young and care of the elderly through its schools and almshouses. Archbishop Whitgift’s tomb shows him lying in prayer, surrounded by allegorical figures and cherubs. Next to it is a 16th century carved tomb chest believed to be that of Hugh Warham, brother of an earlier Archbishop, who lived at Haling Manor in South Croydon. The recesses originally held brasses of the kneeling figures of a man and a woman, which were probably torn out during the Reformation or Commonwealth.

The carving behind the altar (the ‘reredos’) depicts St Nicholas, Christ’s Resurrection appearance to his disciples at the supper at Emmaus, and St John the Baptist.

The memorial of Archbishop Wake (died 1736/7) was dedicated by his successor, Archbishop Runcie, in 1989.

The South Aisle

In the south aisle, behind iron railings, is the white marble monument (still slightly damaged) to Archbishop Sheldon, who founded the Sheldonian Theatre in Oxford and died in Croydon in 1677. Emblems of mortality are carved beneath his reclining figure. Nearby is another remnant of the brass to Thomas Heron (1544), depicting his daughters. Also in this wall are two small recesses, one though to be an aumbry with a piscina drain inserted, the other closer to the porch probably a former holy water stoup.

The south porch, with its  original vaulting and parvis room above, dates from the 15th century, although this is not usually accessible (the exterior can, however, be seen from the memorial garden south of the church). The octagonal font is Victorian of coloured alabaster which depicts biblical scenes of baptism. Over it hangs a very tall canopy, in medieval style, originally with carved figures of Archbishops Davidson, Sheldon and Whitgift, and St John the Baptist, although two are now missing.

West of the font is a restored tomb recess, and beneath the west window (Clayton & Bell) there are fragments from an old tomb (Nicholas Heron, 1568).