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INTRODUCTION
The Roman conquest of Britain in A.D. 43 spread its influence to
the Kingdom of Wessex of which this Parish was a part. The fall
of Rome in A.D. 410 left Britain defenceless against Saxon or
Dane, but Roman influence was to return.
Urged by appeals from England, Gregory the Great directed
Augustine to Kent where he pursued his mission in A.D. 597. Forty
years later Birinus arrived, on his self-imposed task in Wessex.
There followed a company of secular Canons, later Augustinians,
who built a Church and a dwelling for themselves at Twinham (Christchurch).
As priests, physicians, school-teachers, assistance officers and husbandmen they won to
the Faith the people of the area, which was to become the King's
New Forest after the Norman Conquest. All the Forest, and much
more, became their Parish but it was at Brockenhurst that they
probably founded their first mission.
Our next record is the Charter of Baldwin de Redvers c.l160
preserved in Christchurch Priory. Brockenhurst had become part of
the great de Redvers fief, for we read that its "chapelry"
was confirmed by Baldwin to the Canons of Holy Trinity, Twinham,
"for the service of God and my soul's salvation."
The Lord of the Manor was obliged to accommodate the King when he
came hunting. "Litter for the King's bed and fodder for his
horse". The Manor, being adjacent to the Church, it is
almost certain that the Norman and Angevin Kings, and their
entourages, must have worshipped in St. Nicholas. Brockenhurst
was the centre of the Kings' hunting and its chief importance in
those times.
Next we have the "Speculum Prioris" (Cotton M.S. Brit: Mus: A.D. 1362) a stocktaking of all the Christchurch possessions.
It affirms that this Church "To the Church of Christ belongs
as to a mother" (tanguam ad matrem).
In 1539, the Priory was dissolved and the community of 58 Canons
dispersed. No longer were they to serve this Church. The manor
and advowson fell to John Fitzalan, Earl of Arundel, and
eventually in 1709, was acquired by Edward Morant Esq:, whose
successor, Edward Morant Esq:. ninth of his line, holds them
today.
The church is beautifully situated at the top of a hill, a
quarter of a mile south-east of the level crossing, on a mound
which may be partly artificial. It has been suggested that there
may have been a pagan temple on the site; or a Romano-British
church. There can be little doubt that there was a Saxon church
here, built for and endowed by the local land-owner, to provide a
place of worship for himself and the people on his estate. The
existence of a church at Broceste (which is how the compilers
spelled the name of the village) is recorded in Domesday Book.
All through the centuries, between then and now, the parishioners
have cared for their church, repairing it, adding to it, and
altering it, according to the changing taste of the passing years.
The PORCH dates from the late 13th century.
The entrance is under a plain chamfered arch. On the right side
is a memorial board with the names of the Brockenhurst men who
died during the two World Wars. Until it was set up here it stood
in a sort of shrine on the site now occupied by the War Memorial,
in Sway Road. On the west (back) wall of the church there are
plans and drawings of the church.
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The font |
INTERIOR
The South side of the NAVE.
In the corner at the west end is the Font, dating from the 12th
century, a lead-lined bowl of Purbeck stone with shallow arcading
and leaf-patterns on the four sides, with a wooden cover of 17th
century design. The stand is modern. Nearby, behind a curtain, is
a Tudor arch over the entrance to the ground floor of the tower.
The window above the font probably replaces an earlier one. In
the middle of the south side of the Nave is the plain Norman
doorway. Next is a two-light Tudor window with glass depicting
King David holding his harp and St. Cecilia holding her hand-organ,
a memorial to a former lord of the manor who was an enthusiastic
musician. The pulpit is modern. There is what appears to be some
"herring-bone" masonry, characteristic of the Saxon
period, in the lower part of the wall between the south doorway
and the east end of the Nave.
The
CHANCEL ARCH
This presents an architectural problem. It is not the kind of
arch that the 12th century builders of the church, or the 13th
century builders of the present chancel, would have been likely
to put in. One suggestion is that it belongs to a much later
century, possibly the 17th. Rough chases, or indents, on either
side, seem to indicate that there was a chancel-screen at one
time. Above the arch there are remains of mural painting in a
trellis design. Similar patterns are noted in medieval churches
in England and in Brittany.
The
CHANCEL
At the west corners of the chancel, it may be noted that the
Early English stone-work was not bonded into the Norman walls.
The four side-windows, good examples of the late 13th century
style stonework, are of two-lights each. They are filled with
strongly-coloured glass of naturalistic design, representing a
vine with grapes, sunflowers, lilies, and passion-flowers. As
this glass was mentioned in Hampshire notes and Queries in 1887
it was probably inserted during the restoration carried out ten
years earlier. The tomb-recess in the south wall has a finely-moulded
canopy with cusps. Beneath it there may have been an effigy of a
locally-important person buried there. In the corner beyond the
priest's doorway is the original piscina in the wall, with a
second later one cut into the sill and splay of the window. (By
the end of the 13th century it had become customary for the
priest to wash the sacred vessels in one piscina, and his fingers
in another). The 18th century sanctuary-rails, with turned
balusters and moulded sills, have ramped ends which are more
graceful than convenient. The Communion-Table is modern. In the
four-light east-window the moulded mullions are continued in
curves to form intersecting tracery at the head. The glass,
depicting the four evangelists, is said to be of early 19th
century date and of poor quality. On both of the side-walls of
the chancel are mural-tablets to members of the family of Morant
of Brockenhurst Park, lords of the manor since the last quarter
of the 18th century, and patrons of the living since 1864. Let
into the floor at the north-west corner of the chancel is a slab
of stone incised with a Latin inscription, only partially legible,
in the style of the 17th century, from which it appears that the
unknown gentleman commemorated had been a kind father.
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The interior of St Nicholas |
The
NORTH AISLE
This was added in 1832, to provide church-room for the increasing
population of the parish. After it was finished new pews were
provided for the enlarged church. These were replaced towards the
end of the 19th century, by the present seating.
At the east end of the aisle are a number of memorials to members
of the Bowden-Smith family of Careys and the Fisher family of
Whitley Ridge. Above the doorway to the clergy vestry hangs a New
Zealand flag. Its significance is explained by the framed letters
on the wall beneath.
There are four panels of good modern glass
in the windows on the north side, three of them portraying St
Francis with the birds, St Christopher with the Christ-child, and
St Nicholas (the patron saint of this church) standing in a ship.
The fourth commemorates Cdr. G. K. Gandy O.B.E. with a striking
map of Africa worked into the glass.
The box-pew in the north-west comer is a modern reproduction of the "Squire's Pew" (destroyed
by fire in 1975) which has been removed from its original
position in front of the chancel on the north side of the nave.
At the west end of the aisle is the choir-vestry added in 1908.
The
GALLERY
When the north aisle was built the gallery was made to extend
across the width of the church. It is where the church-musicians
used to play their violins and clarinets and other instruments,
until the last Sunday of the year 1855; after that a harmonium
was installed, to be replaced years later, by an organ. The
present organ was installed in 1958. Access to the gallery is by
a small wooden staircase. More stairs, behind the organ, go up to
the door of the belfry.
BELLS
Eight bells are hung in the tower in a two-tier frame. In 1924
the wooden frame from which were hung the three Salisbury bells
was found to be in a dangerous condition and the tenor bell
cracked. The tenor was recast and three new bells added by Mears
and Stainbank, one of which (No.4) is dedicated to the memory of
New Zealand Soldiers buried in the Churchyard (see p. 11) Two
further bells were added in 1979, one of which commemorates the
ninth centenary of the New Forest and of Winchester Cathedral.
The bells are rung from the ground floor ringing chamber which is
panelled with old oak removed from Lymington Church in 1913.
The tenor weighs 4cwt. 1 qtr. 12 Ibs.
by Whitechapel Bell Foundry 1979;
by Whitechapel Bell Foundry 1979;
by Mears and Stainbank 1924;
by Mears and Stainbank 1924;
by Clement Tozier of Salisbury 1714;
by Mears and Stainbank 1924;
by Clement Tozier of Salisbury 1712;
(by John Danton of Salisbury 1637)
recast by Mears and Stainbank 1924.
ROOF
The barrel-vaulting of the chancel is said to be of 17th century
date. It has moulded oak ribs with moulded and pierced pendants.
The author of the original Guide described it as "set to a
four-centred curve on 14th or 15th century roof trusses with
collars and braces".
WALL
TABLETS
Three of the many memorials in the church should, perhaps, be
briefly mentioned. They are those to the Reverend Arthur Chambers,
whose writings on the subject of life after death had a world-wide
circulation; to Frank Jenvey and Jack Hull who both in their time
served as Parish Clerk for many years; and to H. A. L. Fisher,
the distinguished humanist whose History of Europe was a standard
work for students.
The
ROYAL ARMS
These are in high relief, coloured and gilded. They are the arms
borne by Queen Anne after the Union with Scotland (1707) until
her death (1714); Quarterly, I stand 4th, England impaling
Scotland; 2nd, France*; 3rd, Ireland. On a scroll beneath is the
Queen's personal motto: Semper ' Eadem (Always the same).
*An interesting point is that the fleurs-de-lys are arranged one
over two instead of the usual two over one.
EXTERIOR
The first thing to be noticed on coming out of the church is the
remains of a small scratch-dial or "mass-clock" cut
into the stone, about five feet from the ground on the east side
of the porch arch-way. A metal gnomon fixed in the centre hole
would throw a shadow, when the sun was out, indicating the
approximate hour of the day, so that the officiating priest would
know when to say mass. The nave window on the east side of the
porch is of exceptional interest. Above it, in the middle of the
dripstone, is a small shield with the arms of Fitzalan (a lion
rampant) quartering those of Maltravers (a fret); and, on either
side, are sculptured finials which, there is every reason to
believe, represent the heads of Henry Fitzalan, 12th Earl of Arundel, and his son Henry,
Lord Maltravers. The Earl, a prominent Tudor noble-man, was
instrumental in securing the Crown for Queen Mary. It was
probably during her reign that the window was put into the church
at Brockenhurst, which was one of his manors, perhaps as a
memorial to his young son, who died in 1556. The two chancel windows and the priest's
doorway between them are in the later Early English style. Round
the south-east corner, at about eyelevel, is the cross cut on one of the quoins, to be anointed with holy
oil by the bishop (see drawing on lower right) who consecrated
the new building some seven centuries ago. It is from this angle
that the best view is to be had, with the more recent additions out of sight, and the light
falling on the lichened roofing and the mottled weathering of the
masonry. The stone is supposed to have come partly from the Isle
of Wight and partly from the old quarries at Burley. It is
obvious that the walling has been repaired from time to time. The
east window has retained its simple beauty unimpaired. On the
north side is the clergy vestry, of the same date as the aisle,
which is of red brick with stone architraves to the semi-circular-headed
windows. It was re-roofed in 1908, when the choir-vestry was
built at the west end. The handsome tower, completed in 1763, has quoin angles and a moulded cornice, with semi-circular heads to
the west doorway and the belfry lights. An earlier tower,
assumed to have been contemporary with the archway at the east
end of the nave, was in such bad condition by the middle of the
18th century that a faculty was obtained for taking it down and
building a new one. The result, although out of keeping with the
old stonework, is a fine example of Georgian brick architecture.
Surmounting the tower is a short octagonal spire on a domical
base, both roofed with mathematical tiles. Damage to the spire
was discovered in 1990 and the replacement of some tiles caused
difficulties.
Mathematical tiles are probably so called because they were
applied with great precision. They are also sometimes called
brick tiles or Hampshire weather tiles. They were first made in
the early 1700's in Hampshire or the Isle of Wight and are so
designed that the outside of the tiled surface appears to be of
brick. They have the advantage over real brick of being lighter.
Thus they were very useful for facing the upper storeys of
buildings which overhung the streets and, therefore, could not
have any direct support below.
The tiles were made in a variety of places in Southern England
including Exbury. Colours and shapes vary, the colour largely
depending on the clay used. Examples of early uses of
mathematical tiles have been found mostly in Southern England but
also in East Anglia and Wales. They are now relatively rare in
Hampshire and are of considerable archaeological interest.
Because of their rarity now and matching the colour of the clay,
much research had to be undertaken to find suitable replacements.
Close to the Tower, on one of the quoins at the south-west corner
of the nave, is a small incised cross, probably cut when the
Norman church was consecrated: it is about three feet above the
bench-mark.
The
GREAT YEW-TREE
Its girth, which was 15 feet in 1793 and over 18 feet fifty years
ago, is now (at 5 feet from the ground) more than 20 feet. As the
trunk is hollow the increase may be partly due to the spreading
of the split sides of the trunk. Some of the branches reach out
to a distance of thirty feet. The tree is, as Gilbert White wrote
of the Selborne yew, "probably coeval with the church, and
therefore may be deemed an antiquity". Various reasons have
been suggested for the planting of yew-trees in church-yards: to
screen the church from the violence of the wind; to shelter the
assembling congregation; to serve, by their funereal appearance,
as an emblem of mortality; and possibly to provide wood for long-bows, a theory
often advanced but now questioned.
The Yew was carbon dated in the mid 1980's and a certificate
stating that it is over 1,000 years old will be found on the wall
by the font.
The yew tree can be seen, behind an oak tree which no longer
exists, in the old view of the west end of the church in about
1850. Reproduced below. It shows the thatched shed where the (non-resident)
clergyman used to leave his horse.
THE
CHURCH-YARD
In the older part, particularly on the south side of the church,
are many head-stones of good design and workmanship, some of them
dating from the 17th century, and a few with rhymed inscriptions
worth the effort of deciphering. The first extension was made
about 1864, down the slope on the north side, to take in land
given by Mr. John Morant, who reserved a small enclosure on the
east side for the use of his family. Extensions were acquired in
1955 and 1995. The responsibility for the burial grounds was
taken over by the Parish Council in 1964. (There is a list of the
old graves in the church)
The
NEW ZEALAND CEMETERY
On the east side of the central level of the cemetery are the
graves of more than a hundred New Zealand, Indian and other
soldiers who died in the field hospitals at Brockenhurst during
and after the first World War. By order of the Imperial War
Graves Commission the original white wooden crosses were replaced,
in 1924, by engraved head-stones, and the impressive memorial
cross was erected in 1927. An annual service is held here on the
Sunday next to Anzac Day, attended by a representative of the New
Zealand High Commission and of the New Zealand Forces.
(For more
information see New Zealand General Hospital pages
)
BRUSHER
MILLS
The sculptured head-stone to "Brusher" Mills, a local
snake-catcher, is near to the New Zealand cemetery.
THE
STORY OF BRUSHER MILLS
The Advowson
It is not known how the church passed into the possession of the
powerful family of de Reviers (or Redvers), by one of whom it was
granted, in the middle of the 12th century, to the college of
canons at Twynham which was converted into Christchurch Priory of
Augustinian Canons in 1150. In the charter confirming this grant
Boldre is referred to as a church, with Lymington and
Brockenhurst as chapels. After the dissolution of the Priory, in
1539, the advowson of Boldre, with the chapelry of Brockenhurst,
was sold to George Mills. It eventually
came (before 1819) to John Peyto Shrubb. In 1862 the benefice of
Brockenhurst was separated from Boldre and constituted a
perpetual curacy; in 1864 the advowson of Brockenhurst was
conveyed, by the Rev. Charles Shrubb, to Mr. John Morant; and in
1866 Brockenhurst was declared to be a Vicarage in its own right.
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