Description

TG 21 NW HORSHAM ST. FAITH & CHURCH STREET
NEWTON ST. FAITH (north side)

2/36 The Priory.
19/1/52 (formerly listed as Abbey
G.V. I Farmhouse incl. Barn)

House, built on the site of, and incorporating elements of the refectory range
of the Benedictine Priory of St. Faith. Fabric dating from C12 with remodelling
c.1600 and later to form the present farmhouse. Roof rebuilt after a fire
of 1924. Flint and brick with some limestone dressings; roofs plain-tiled
and pantiled. 'L'-shaped plan, two storeys; colourwashed brick range to north-
west later and not of special interest. Fenestration of irregular pattern,
mainly casement windows with glazing bars or mullions and transoms with leaded
glazing. Some windows set in chamfered stone reveals. On the south facade
two upper two-light windows, C15, with trefoiled heads, now partially blocked
by massive staged buttresses of brick, flint and limestone. Two large ground
floor openings, one with segmental head and C20 glazed doors, one with sash
window and fanlight with glazing bars. Doorway to cross-passage with four-
centred arch in square-headed chamfered reveal. Corresponding doorway in
north wall with good C16 door and frame in roll-moulded reveal. C15 trefoil
headed window adjoining doorway. Three large staged buttresses on northside,
the easternmost later and entirely built of brick. At the north-east corner,
entrance to chapel with chamfered stone reveal partly rebuilt in brickwork
C20. Blocked two-light window adjoining doorway. Lean-to at west gable con-
taining C12 doorway on south wall. Axial chimney, and internal stacks at
east and west gables. Interior contains very fine mid-C13 wall paintings,
discovered mid-C20, when an inserted first floor of C16/C17 date was removed
to display them. On the east wall of the refectory chamber, a large Crucifixion
scene (the upper section missing) and a pictorial history of the founding
of the Priory by Robert of Caen and his wife Sybilla. On the north side of
the crucifixion, a fine crowned female figure whose identity is uncertain,
possibly St. Faith or St. Margaret, Queen of Scotland. Other fragments survive
throughout the building, including some reputedly earlier work at the south-
west corner, now masked by later casing of the wall. Some good C16 fireplace
jambs. Cloister walls and remains to south a Scheduled Ancient Monument,
County No. 285.

Listing NGR: TG2159715176

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17535737

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  The green guide for historic buildings: how to improve the environmental performance of listed and historic buildings
• 
  Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990: Updated version
• 
  This Old House: Restoring, Rehabilitating, and Renovating an Older House
• 
  Oxfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, and Peterborough (Pevsner Architectural Guides): Written by Charles O'Brien, 2014 Edition, Publisher: Yale University Press [Hardcover]
• 
  The Listed Buildings and Other Principal Structures at the Royal Gunpowder Mills Waltham Abbey