Site of Special Historic Interest
The Oratory and Chapel of Ease were built as Roman Catholic places of worship, and Inside their walls were aglow with colour, light and images covering all the flat surfaces. The incredible art was there to describe biblical scenes to the villagers, many of whom were illiterate and were attending religious services conducted in Latin.
The Pope in Rome was still the head of the church in England and the Canon Law of the Roman Catholic Church still controlled many aspects of everyday life, including marriage and divorce. Henry VIII wanted to divorce Catherine of Aragon, so he could marry Anne Boleyn. However the Pope would not annul the marriage because Canon Law did not allow for a man to marry his brothers widow. In 1533 the new Arch Bishop of Canterbury Thomas Cranmer secretly annulled the marriage and married Henry to Anne, which started a decisive change in 1534, with the first “Act of Supremacy”. The Act led to Henry being declared the “Supreme Head of the Church of England”, which removed the authority of the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church and started the English Reformation.
In an attempt to reduce the influence of the catholic religion, Henry ordered that all imagery in religious buildings must be whitewashed over, and all religious artefacts removed. Henry still practiced Catholicism however and so High Altar’s remained, because they were an essential part of celebrating Mass, albeit they were also a symbol of Rome’s influence having been consecrated by a catholic bishop, which in Loxwood’s case was Lord Bishop Robert Rede.
After Henry’s death in 1547 his nine-year-old son Edward VI came to the throne and his reign was governed by a Regency Council. It was during this period c1550, that the order was given to remove or destroy all the Altar stones and replace them with wooden communion tables.
Henry Napper of Lakers Lodge, was a Victorian solicitor and historian, who took a keen interest in the affairs of Loxwood Chapel. In November 1883 he wrote a wide ranging, detailed article for the Horsham Advertiser about the Trustees management of the chapel properties over the centuries, citing dates of land transactions, and he mentioned a story about the stone Altar of the chapel that has fascinated readers ever since.
c1480 Chancel was constructed between Church Cottage and the Chapel of Ease to form a “T shape” – Door to chancel was in the west elevation, bridge link connected the upper floor of Chapel & Church Cottage.
According to Mr Napper before the Kings soldiers arrived in Loxwood to destroy the Altar, the villagers had taken the ancient stone from the Chapel of Ease and it was worked into the kitchen chimney of the priest house, disguised as a bressummer supporting beam. When the soldiers went into the Chapel the villagers showed them a pile of rubble where the Altar had been, which they said was the remains of the ancient stone and satisfied the Altar had been destroyed the soldiers left and the stone remained hidden in the kitchen chimney. Mr Napper added that “some years” later when the chimney was rebuilt, the ancient stone was removed and taken to Wisborough Green Vicarage where it was used as a garden seat!
Saving the stone Altar was not just an incident unique to Loxwood, because throughout England people were risking their lives to protect their churches stone Altar, because the Altar represented Jesus, and the cornerstone of a life built on his foundations. Consequently over the years there have been stories of Altars recovered from church kitchens, tombstones, stairs, floors, towers, and even bridges. Mr Napper didn’t say which chimney in the priest house was used to hide the stone, however there is now a better understanding of the construction work carried out on the chapel site during the Reformation Period which provide some clues.
Historian James Dallaway completed a great study of West Sussex History in 1819 and noted that around the year 1540 three sisters had funded repairs and improvements to Loxwood Chapel of Ease. Dendrochronology has subsequently confirmed that upper floors were inserted in the centre and eastern bays of the cottage in 1542, which may have been part of the improvement work that Dallaway had noted.
With upper floors covering all three bays, it follows that the inglenook fireplace and tall chimney at the eastern end of the cottage would have been constructed around that time to replace the internal smoke bay, and that was a significant undertaking which involved supporting the upper floor of the east wall with a bressummer beam. There is a small fireplace in the east bedroom built as part of the chimney, and the lower part of the kitchen chimney over the bread oven is 76″ x 31” wide with the bricks tapering to 25″ which are the exact dimensions of the stone Altar!
It appears the villagers took the ancient stone out of the chapel and moved it back to its original position in the sacred east bay of the Oratory. They then removed the east wall with its religious oak features, installed ceilings to make the building look like a simple cottage, and built the fireplace around the stone Altar to hide it from the Kings soldiers!
This may explain why the chimney is off centre, because although at a glance the chimney appears to be in the middle of the roof apex, it is actually aligned with the north part of the apex, leaving the stone Altar on the south, hidden over the bread oven.
There was also a fireplace within an outshot on the south side of the cottage, with a shorter chimney below the height of the Chapel. Therefore if the inglenook at the east was the kitchen fire, the ground floor may also have been heated by the fire in the west bay and the upstairs was heated by the small fire in the east chimney.
Church Cottage and the Chapel of Ease, with Outshot buildings at the East and South elevations. The frames of the buildings were of ancient oak, thought to have been built around c1450 – c1480, before the fireplaces and chimneys.
In the newspaper article, Henry Napper also stated that the stone Altar had been recovered and taken to Wisborough Green Vicarage many years before he was writing in 1883, and in fact Altars were being restored to parish churches from around c1660. The stone may therefore have been in the vicarage garden for 100’s of years, when in 1933 it was found by a new Vicar, under some bushes and covered in moss, just where Mr Napper had said it would be!
The stone was examined and thought to be one of the finest examples of its kind anywhere in the Country. On December 5th 1937 the stone was reconsecrated by the Bishop of Chichester Dr G.K.A Bell to be used in everyday worship as the Altar for Wisborough Green Church, where it can be seen today.
The Altar is set below the east window which is dedicated to John Loxwood King, who held numerous positions of office, including being the Chairman of the Loxwood Chapel Trustees and on the right is a memorial to Henry Napper snr, Churchwarden at Wisborough Green, responsible for the Chapel of Ease, who passed on the story of the Altar stone and who’s ancestor was Richard Napper one of the Petitioners in 1404. Three of the original five consecration crosses can be seen on the top of the Altar, from where Lord Bishop Robert Rede marked the position of the crosses with his thumb when he consecrated the Altar in 1407.
The story of how the stone Altar came back to the church is truly remarkable but it must be remembered that the villagers risked their lives during a time of terrible religious turmoil to save the Altar and the cottage from destruction, and it is due to their bravery that both are still being used to this day.
The next period saw the Country go through the transformation from centuries of Roman Catholic beliefs and government to being control by the Church of England with the monarch as its head. In Loxwood the priest house bore the scars of that turbulent period and the apotropaic markings carved into beams and in a doorway are permanent reminders of the villagers pleas for divine help. With the cottage fully floored across the three bays very little was changed after that, and the oak structure remained as it was set at the Reformation. In 1791 Samuel Hieronymus Grimm arrived in the village and he painted Drungewick Manor, Loxwood place and the Chapel of Ease. His paintings are the first ‘window’ into life in the village and his depiction of the chapel shows the front of the Nave in poor condition. Grimm was famed for painting scenes as they were, in other words he depicted reality and this is borne out in the final chapter of the Old Church site, which starts with The Georgian Chapel.
During the Reformation c1540 the stone Altar of the Chapel of Ease was hidden in the Priest House at Loxwood to save it from King Edward VI soldiers. Many years later the stone was recovered and is now at Wisborough Green Church, being used in daily worship.
Ancestry.com
Andy Gammon Art and Design
British Library
Buckwell, J, C. The Stories of Loxwood
English Heritage
Findmypast.co.uk
Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England
National Archives
Lambeth Palace Church Archive
Loxwood Church of St John the Baptist Archive
Loxwood History Archive
Oldmapsonline.org
Oxford Dendrochronology Laboratory
Stevens, S. Archaeological investigations at the site of Loxwood Place Farm
Surrey History Centre
Sussex Record Society Bishop Robert Rede’s Register Volume I & II
West Sussex Record Office
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This historical summary has been compiled from research using a wide range of sources. The information, dates and details are based on that research, but Loxwood History does not guarantee the original source contained accurate information. While Loxwood History uses reasonable efforts to include accurate and up-to-date information in its articles, Loxwood History makes no warranties or representations as to its accuracy. Loxwood History assumes no liability or responsibility for any errors or omissions in the content of this article and any reliance you place on the information is entirely at your own risk. Please contact us if you believe any of the details in this article are inaccurate, and we will review those details and where appropriate, amend the article accordingly.
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