Architecture

St Edward the Confessor, Sutton Park

Paul Waddington takes a look at this delightful little Surrey church

The East end: ‘St Edwards could easily be mistaken for a pre-Reformation village church’

Sutton Place is a Tudor manor house, about three miles to the north east of Guildford in Surrey. It dates from 1525, when Sir Richard Weston, a courtier of Henry VIII, built it as his country home. The house, which is now a Grade I Listed Building, was built in a style influenced by the Italian renaissance. The manor lay within extensive parkland, where Sir Richard entertained his guests on hunting expeditions.

Following the Reformation, the Weston family remained loyal to the Catholic faith, although in 1569, Sir Henry Weston, grandson of Sir Richard, did outwardly conform to the Established Church. This action not only helped him to maintain the family fortune, but also enabled him to be a Member of Parliament and the Sheriff of Surrey. Queen Elizabeth I is known to have visited Sutton Place in 1591. However, Sutton Place was searched in 1587, and again in 1591 by officials looking for evidence of Catholic priests, which indicates the true allegiance of the family. Much later, after penal restrictions were eased in the late 18th century, hiding places for priests were discovered, one concealing a casket of relics and another a chalice and paten.

The ownership of Sutton Place was passed on through many generations of the Weston family, until 1782 when the owner, Melior Mary Weston, died without an heir. She bequeathed the property to a distant cousin named John Webbe. Thereafter, ownership changed many times, and the estate drifted out of Catholic ownership. One notable owner was J Paul Getty, a recluse, who bought Sutton Place in 1959, and lived there until his death in 1976. At the time when he purchased Sutton Place, J Paul Getty was the richest private citizen in the world.

The Lady Chapel

Throughout the years that Sutton Park was owned by the Weston family, Masses were offered in the house. During penal times, its secluded location enabled priests to come and go unnoticed. Later, following the Catholic Relief Acts, Mass was offered at Sutton Place more openly.

Medieval appearance

The Church of St Edward the Confessor was built in 1875 within the grounds of Sutton Place. The architect was Charles Alban Buckler, who had converted to Catholicism in 1844, and is buried in the cemetery that surrounds the church. His other works include parts of Arundel Castle, and several Catholic churches, mostly in the southern part of England. Perhaps his biggest commission was the Church of St Dominic in Haverstock Hill in London, which he designed for the Dominican Order.

St Edward’s, by contrast, is small. Built in the Early English style, using locally sourced knapped flints with stone dressings, Buckler was extremely successful in creating a church that is truly medieval in appearance. Its walled churchyard with lychgate, together with the rural setting, add to this impression. St Edwards could easily be mistaken for a pre-Reformation village church.

It has had many distinguished parish priests, including Dr Arthur Hinsley, later to become Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster. During his tenure (between 1905 and 1911), the reredos, designed by Frederick Walters, and funded by Lord Howard of Glossop, was added, as was much of the stained glass. Dr Hinsley was an energetic man, cycling two or three times a week to St John’s Seminary, Wonersh where he taught history and sacred scripture. He also instituted an annual Corpus Christi procession at the parish, which continued until interrupted by the COVID epidemic.

Another distinguished parish priest was Fr Gordon Albion, who had responsibility for public broadcasting of Masses. During the late 1950s and early 1960s, Mass was broadcast from St Edward’s on several occasions, including Midnight Mass for Christmas which the BBC broadcast in 1957.

The church consists of a rectangular nave with an apsidal chancel. To the north is a lean-to side aisle housing the Lady Chapel, and an octagonal baptistery. There is a gabled porch at the south side, where a statue of a seated St Edward is mounted in a niche above the door. The church has a tiled roof above corbelled eaves, with a small belfry at the west end. There are lancet windows at the south side, and at the west end, but the chancel has three larger windows.

The interior of the church is every bit as attractive as the outside. The stone High Altar is beautifully carved, and is embellished with marble pillars at the corners. It is fortunate that the High Altar has survived post Vatican II reordering, it remaining intact although slightly repositioned. Behind is a relatively simple reredos with tabernacle and monstrance throne, which was designed by Frederick Walters. As noted above, this was installed in 1911. The sanctuary, which occupies not only the apse but also the first bay of the nave is fronted by a very ornately carved wooden communion rail, complete with its gates. In front of this on the epistle side is an equally ornately carved wooden pulpit.

A three bay arcade divides the nave from the north aisle, its circular columns having floriated capitals. The stone Lady Altar, which is located in the north aisle, resembles the High Altar, although without the pillars. Awkwardly placed, partially in front of it, is a drum-shaped baptismal font. This was translated from the original baptistery, and is a less successful aspect of post Vatican II reordering. There is a small single manual pipe organ at the west end of the aisle.

Ruff of St Thomas More

A number of interesting items are exhibited in the passage that leads to the former baptistery and elsewhere in the church. These include a bloodstained ruff that belonged to St Thomas More, as well as vestments.

The stations of the cross appear relatively modern, but are, nonetheless, impressive. St Edward’s has some fine stained glass. The windows in the south aisle and the lancets in the west wall are the work of Mayer of Munich and the Hardman Company of Birmingham. Other windows are by unknown designers and are of lower quality.

The Church of St Edward the Confessor, which is now one of a cluster of churches belonging to the Guildford parish, has been well looked after, and is certainly deserving of its Grade II Listed status. Any reordering that has taken place has been done sensitively, with a clear intention to retain original features. A Low Mass in the Extraordinary Form is offered in the church on Friday evenings.

Stained glass at the west end