 All Saints, Little Somborne
The village of Little Somborne is in a lovely and particularly rural part of
Hampshire to the south-east of Stockbridge. It
consists of little more than the church and a few groups of houses. To the
south-west are simple brick and flint terraced cottages, and behind these is
a large farm. Somborne Park is situated to the north, and its grounds,
together with the large brick mansion, can be seen from the churchyard.
 The church is positioned within an open graveyard, making
a particularly sweet and attractive sight from the road. When Henry Moody
published his Antiquarian and Topographical Sketches of Hampshire in
1846 the church was apparently "covered with ivy, which finds its way into
the interior". It has a small
collection of gravestones to the south and east, including a brick table top
tomb. The gravestones mostly date from the 19th and 20th centuries, but a
few date from the 18th century. They include
Thomas Sopwith, the pioneer aviator, whose gravestone is situated near the
south-east corner of the church
 . The church itself is a small rectangular nave and chancel in one, with a timber bell turret within the west end. It
is built of flint with a whitewashed plaster surface (the inside wall are
also plastered), and the stone used for the
dressings is believed to come from Binstead in the Isle of Wight
(1). The church possesses several early
architectural features, and the pleasant barn-like interior includes a particularly enjoyable roof.
Chronology of the building
The church strikes one as being more of archaeological
interest than of aesthetic or atmospheric interest. Indeed, although the
church has long been recognised as being both Saxon and late Norman, this
seemingly simple church was found to have a surprisingly complicated
building history when it was archaeologically
investigated in c.1976. This has rendered many of the earlier
descriptions, including Taylor's Anglo-Saxon Architecture, (1965) and
Green's Saxon Architecture and Sculpture in Hampshire (1951),
out of date. The current church guide is very useful in detailing the
history of the church, as illuminated by archaeological investigation, and
includes a particularly helpful church plan which, together with its
annotations, encapsulates most of our current understanding of the church.
Somborne is mentioned in the Domesday Book as
being held by the King, hence King's Somborne. Two churches are
mentioned, and although there is no explicit reference to Little Somborne,
it is likely that one of these churches is All Saints. The church is now
redundant and cared for by The Churches Conservation Trust.
Saxon:
The most striking features of the exterior are the long
and short work of the west quoins, the pilaster strip on the north wall, and
the remains of the pilaster strip on the south wall. There is in addition
to this a double splayed north window (now covered up externally by a
glazed wooden panel), and the remains of a south window, of which only the
inner splay can be seen inside. However, the west wall of the Saxon church
was approximately 6 feet further west of the current west wall, so that the
long and short quoins were reused when the wall was rebuilt in its current
position during the 14th century. This is surprising in one way, but not in
another as stone was not readily available in this part of Hampshire.
Furthermore, the Saxon stone is
of good quality, being a hard, rough grained stone that seems to weather
well (2). Saxon stone, apparently from a pilaster strip, was again
reused in the east jamb of the blocked north-east doorway.
The Saxon church did not extend as far east as the
current building, and the position of the nave east end, chancel arch and
rectangular chancel are all marked out in stone within the church.
Of the surviving architectural features, the pilaster
strip on the north wall is the most significant
. It extends to the full
height of the wall and consists of seven stones, the lowest apparently fused
with the wall (3). To the west of this is believed to
have been a doorway, the outline of which is partially marked in the
plaster
.
Immediately east of the pilaster strip is a Saxon double splayed window,
presumably only recently uncovered as it is not mentioned in the earlier
sources. It has open flints to the outside, original surviving plaster on
the inner splay, and a slight groove for shutters. It looks wider than the
blocked south window opposite.
On the south side, another pilaster strip can be seen,
but the protruding stones have been hacked away
. To the west of this, and
opposite the Saxon north door, was another doorway, although no obvious
visible signs of this can be seen. Immediately west of the current south
doorway is a vertical chamfer about the height of the doorway which looks as
if it could be the remains of pilaster strip, but this is apparently not the
case.
The long and short west quoins were reconstructed in the
14th century
. They are not entirely consistent in pattern, although this can
also
be the case with in situ long and short work. Other stones appear to
have been used for the top of the north-west quoin.
Norman/Transitional: The late 12th century alternations to the church are if anything even more
interesting, and a surprising part of this was uncovered during the
archaeological investigation. The Normans dispensed with the Saxon chancel
and extended the nave eastwards so that it was more than twice the length. The current east
end represents the east end of the Norman nave, and to this the
Normans built, surprisingly, a minute chancel which was approximately one metre
in depth. Its extent is now marked in the ground immediately east of the
church, having been demolished at some later date
. Stunted chancels may
not have been that unusual in Norman times, but if they did occur the
majority must
have been rebuilt or extended since I cannot recollect seeing a similar
surviving example. It must have served as little more than
a sanctuary. In any case it is a great pity that it no longer survives.
The nave has Norman doorways in both its north and south
walls, so presumably the Saxon doorways were no longer used or considered
worthy. The doorways are even now fairly centrally placed (both are to the
west of centre), but the south doorway must, if anything, have been just to
the east of centre, which is unusual for a medieval church. Doorways were
nearly always situated at the west end of the nave's north and south walls.
Presumably it was easier to build the doorways as part of the new eastern
extension rather than inserting them into the existing Saxon walling, and
they do indeed occur immediately east of the Saxon nave walls.
The south doorway is typical late Norman
(4), with a round arch and a continuous chamfer
. It also has a hood
mould but only the top of this remains. The east jamb has remains of
graffiti, including a roughly scratched cross just above the springing of
the arch
. The north doorway is narrower, again chamfered (with stop chamfers
below) but with a straight head which is also chamfered
. There exists a
question here which also extends to the two Norman nave windows, both of
which are situated to the east of the doorways on the north and south walls.
Are they original Norman designs or were they tampered with at some late
date. My personal feeling is that they all represent modifications made
during the 17th century, when other work on the church apparently took
place. The church guide seems to believe that they are original features, or
at least does not suggest otherwise. However, they would have been unusual
for a church of this period. The straight head of the north doorway could be a
lintel which is now missing its tympanum and arch, although no evidence of
the existence of these features remain. It is indeed built of the same stone
used for the Saxon and most of the Norman work, which points to it being
original work. On the other hand, the lintel looks slightly fresher than the
jambs, with a cleaner and more defined chamfer. The door itself looks old,
of two large timber panels with a peep hole in the middle (and another below
it), although the bottom parts have been renewed.
The windows are small and square headed, so that they
appear rectangular
. Inside they have original round-headed splays, but the
outer frames are constructed of stones with a square section which look 17th
century rather than Norman (5). Hinges for shutters
remain inside, and the openings are rebated externally.
Despite being partially obscured by later masonry, the
Norman chancel arch still survives, and its details, together with the south
doorway, suggest a date of c.1190. The arch is pointed but
unchamfered, and the responds are of two stepped orders with attached
shafts
. These have fairly deeply moulded bases
, abaci with a chamfered
underside which may originally have continued (or returned) on the west
side of the wall but are now flush with the wall (6).
The capitals each have four tall trumpet scallops which bow at the corners
and move from circular at the base to square at the top
.
To the south of the chancel arch is a small arched recess
which is either a reused Norman window (as Pevsner suggests) or an image
niche (as the Victoria County History and the church guide believe)
. It has
a round head and a slight chamfer. The east quoins look original, and are
probably Norman.
Early English: At the east end of the north wall
is the remains of a doorway with a heavy timber lintel and a visible east
jamb which appears to be reused stones from a Saxon pilaster strip
. It is
believed to have been the entrance from the church to a 13th century
hermit's cell, the extent of which is marked by stones on the outside of the
church
. The church guide believes it to be the cell of Peter de Rivallis,
who was a benefactor of Mottisfont Priory and who, upon his death in 1226,
was buried within the walls of the priory. If this was the case, the cell
was presumably constructed in the early 13th century. It is not clear when
it was demolished.
The existing church received a substantial lancet window
at the east end of the south wall, which is set lower down than the other
windows
. It has a continuous chamfer plus a rebate where the glass currently
sits and is partly renewed (e.g. the head). Inside, the splays continue to
the floor, and the remains of a fire place, believed to be 18th century by
the church guide, can be seen, including a metal back-plate
.
Moody describes the east end, as it was c.1846 as follows: "There are
no altar rails, but the east end of the chancel is formed into a pew, with a
fire place in it". The splays
themselves are original, of a chalky stone which is different from the
rough-grained stone used elsewhere. Two more lancets are situated in the
east end gable above the former chancel arch
. Presumably these were from the
former chancel east wall and if so would have represented a modification to
the original Norman fenestration. They are splayed in a similar way to the
south-east lancet (e.g. the head is not splayed and has a low rere-arch),
and look partly original and partly restored. The north lancet has a
restored north jamb, and the south lancet has a partially restored north
jamb (lower part) and a restored head.
Decorated:
By the time the church had reached
the end of the 13th century it had probably reached its largest extent. From the 14th century onwards the church started to
contract in size.
In the mid 14th century the west wall appears to have
been rebuilt, approximately 6 feet east of the Saxon west wall, but reusing
the original long and short quoins
. The wall surface has an undulating flint
and plaster surface which is quite different from the other walls. The west
window is cusped and of two lights with a quatrefoil in the head and a hood
mould which is early 14th century in style
. The rere-arch is slightly
chamfered and the sill is rounded towards the back. It mostly looks original.
17th Century: The east window, which was reset within the chancel
arch when it was filled in, is of three rectangular lights with a rebate and
continuous hollow chamfer (apart from the sill which is simply chamfered)
which extends to the mullions
. Inside it is splayed at the bottom and again
hollow chamfered elsewhere, and has a timber lintel. It looks 17th century
and suggests that this was a time when significant work on the church took
place, including the modification of the Norman windows, the demolition of
the Norman chancel, and the reconstruction of the roof.
The roof appears to have earlier timbers, but much seems
to date from the 17th century. It has chamfered tie beams, struts which meet
the roof below the purlins, and wind braces. At the west end, a tie beam
holds the timber structure of the bell turret, which is now open to the
nave. The bell turret may also date from this period, although the fact that
the bell is dated 1590 suggests that it may be a little earlier. It has a
series of vertical beams and one horizontal beam, and the timbers look old.
Two modern vertical beams with arched braces now relieve the tie beam and
the nave walls. Outside, the bell turret in renewed, with horizontal timbers
and louvre openings on the south and north sides. The north side also has
two modern glass openings.
19th-20th Centuries: The small restoration
apparently took place in 1870 (7) but the church does
not appear over restored. The only significant addition seems to have been
the square headed window to the west of the south doorway. It is larger than
the Norman windows, and may have been a modification of an earlier window.
It is splayed internally, with a rough circular head.
Considerable repairs took place to the church, including
the roof and bell turret immediately after the church came into the care of
what was then The Redundant Churches Fund in 1975. This included the
archaeological investigation already mentioned.
Sculpture
On the sill of the west window is a slab with Saxon
sculptural fragments found in the 1970s mounted on it
. They consist of
rustically carved trails, including a rope pattern.
Furnishings
They are all 19th-20th century and simple, including the
pews (8), altar table, organ and
stone font. The font is very plain, with a circular bowl on a fat circular
stem
.
Monuments
There are no wall monuments and only one monumental inscription can be seen. This is the ornately
lettered grey ledger stone to Robert and Mary Crapp (†1706
and †1709)
.
There is also a defaced black stone next to it.
Stained Glass
The church has no stained glass windows.
Notes
1. E.g. The Victoria County History. Back to
top of page
2. This can be seen at Steventon, also built with Binstead stone, which has
required little renewal. Back to
"Chronology of the building: Saxon"
3. The VCH says that "the alternate stones are bonded to the wall", but
this is not obvious to the visitor. Back
to "Chronology of the building: Saxon"
4. A
similar doorway can be seen at Mapledurwell in the west wall.
Back to "Chronology of the Building:
Norman/Transitional"
5. Pevsner also considers them altered, but the VCH believes them to be "of
late 12-century date". Back to
"Chronology of the building: Norman/Transitional"
6. They look like they may have been hacked off at some stage.
Back to "Chronology of the building:
Norman/Transitional"
7. According to the church guide.
Back to "Chronology of the building:
19th-29th Centuries"
8. According to the church guide they
come from the church at Shipton Bellinger.
Back to "Furnishings"
Sources used
Most of
these sources date from before the archaeological investigations of the
1970s, when much was discovered about the church's architectural history:
- Dalton,
C & Sawyer, R. All Saints' Church, Little Somborne Hampshire.
The Churches Conservation Trust, 1999.
Excellent church guide, and now the primary general source.
- Green, A R & Green, P M.
Saxon Architecture and Sculpture in Hampshire. Warren & Son, The Wykeham
Press,
1951
- Moody, H. Antiquarian and Topographical
Sketches of Hampshire, 1846
- Page, W
(ed). The Victoria History of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight: Vol.4.
Constable, 1911
- Pevsner, N
& Lloyd, D. Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. Penguin, 1967
- Taylor,
W.M & J. Anglo-Saxon Architecture: Vol.1. Cambridge University Press,
1965
Web links
- www.astoft.co.uk/arch/index.htm
Includes some good pictures of the church, and narratives from Pevsner.
-
www.visitchurches.org.uk.
The Churches Conservation Trust.
Questions for further research
1. Are the square window openings and straight lintel of the north doorway
genuinely Norman or a post-reformation modification? Has archaeological
investigation proved it one way or the other? Are there comparable example
of straight headed Norman openings?
2. When was the hermit's cell demolished?
Location
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