All Saints Church, Little Bookham, Surrey UK - This Old Church on Waymarking.com

All Saints Church dates largely from the 12th century. Now comprised of a single room with a bell-cote.
During a watching brief by Surrey County Archaeological Unit, a number of finds were recovered from the site, including three sherds of pottery ranging in date from the Bronze Age to the Middle Iron Age, three pieces of struck flint, and several pieces of calcined flint, providing evidence of prehistoric activity in the vicinity.
All Saints’ Church has been tucked away in the quiet village of Little Bookham down the secluded Manor House Lane next to the school.
There has been a church here for nearly 1000 years.
It is in one of the smallest parishes in the country, being five miles long from north to south and about half-a-mile wide.
It is most likely that the church was built about 1100, as a manorial chapel by the Halsard family
The original church was a small, simple building comprising the nave from the tower to the chancel. The only surviving features of this are the north and west walls. In or about 1160 the chancel and a south aisle were added. In the 13th century the south wall of the nave was replaced by arcading, and the side aisle rebuilt. However, by the latter half of the 15th century the south aisle had been removed, and the arcading filled with material from the south wall. A scratch dial, that would originally have been on the south wall of the church can now be seen in the top left-hand reveal of the second window from the east end of the nave. The remains of the arcading can still be seen both inside and outside the church.
As they did in many other parts of the country, the Victorians made alterations to the church. The East window of the chancel is a modern insertion of 13th century design; the organ chamber incorporating 503 pipes and the porch were added in 1901, and a two-roomed vestry was added at the same time. This unfortunately was not under-pinned and in the late 1990s began to fall away from the church. In 2001/2 a new vestry was built, and was dedicated by the Bishop of Dorking in January 2003.
There are two windows that appear to be original – the west window and the western-most window in the north wall. These are early 12th century with deeply splayed round-headed reveals and sloping cills. At the south east of the chancel is an unusual piscina with two drains, probably of 13th century, over which is a 15th century cinquefoiled head.
Close to the entrance to the church stands a yew tree believed to be the oldest tree in the area. There is a certificate inside the church signed in 1988 by the Archbishop of Canterbury and others on behalf of the Conservation Foundation (Yew Tree Campaign) stating that the tree is 1300 years old. This would date it to the time when the parish was probably first formed.

Copied and edited most of the above from the Leatherhead History, Surrey History and official church websites. Thanks

Date the Church was built, dedicated or cornerstone laid: 01/01/1100 Age of Church building determined by?: Church website If denomination of Church is not part of the name, please provide it here: Church of England If Church holds a weekly worship service and "all are welcome", please give the day of the week: Sunday Indicate the time that the primary worship service is held. List only one: 10:00 AM Street address of Church: Manor House Lane Little Bookham, Surrey UK KT23 4EL Primary website for Church or Historic Church Building: [Web Link] If Church is open to the public, please indicate hours: Not listed Secondary Website for Church or Historic Church Building: Not listed

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Date Logged Log User Rating   07/13/2011 dave-harris visited it