Hardham
Encyclopedia
Hardham is a small village
in the Horsham
District of West Sussex
, England
. It lies on the A29
road 1.2 miles (2 km) southwest of Pulborough
.
The small Anglican
parish church, dedicated to St Botolph
, has some of the oldest surviving wall paintings in the country, including an image of St George at the battle of Antioch. The village is on the line of the Roman road
Stane Street, which changes direction here, leaving the modern A29 road which has followed it from Capel, to head south west to Bignor
and Chichester
. The Sussex Greensand Way from Lewes
joined Stane Street here and remains of a Roman way station or mansio
have been found. In the late eighteenth century a canal tunnel was built on the Arun Navigation to avoid a large loop of the River Arun
. The railway line from Pulborough to Midhurst
passed over the tunnel, and when the canal closed the railway company broke into the tunnel and filled that part of it under the rails with chalk
. Standing on higher ground on the south side of the village Hardham Priory, the Priory of St. Cross, was an Augustinian monastery, established in the mid thirteenth century.
The painters used colours made from locally available materials - red and yellow ochre, lime white, carbon black and a green from copper carbonate.
The paintings are in two tiers on each wall and originally had inscriptions describing the scenes above them. One if these can still be seen on the east wall of the nave.
The paintings have the following themes:
Village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...
in the Horsham
Horsham (district)
Horsham is a local government district in West Sussex, England. Its council is based in Horsham. The district borders those of Crawley, Mid Sussex, Mole Valley, Chichester, Arun and Adur....
District of West Sussex
West Sussex
West Sussex is a county in the south of England, bordering onto East Sussex , Hampshire and Surrey. The county of Sussex has been divided into East and West since the 12th century, and obtained separate county councils in 1888, but it remained a single ceremonial county until 1974 and the coming...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. It lies on the A29
A29 road
The A29 is a major road in England. It runs for approximately 34 miles from Capel, south of Dorking, leaving the A24, running through Billingshurst and Pulborough, crossing the South Downs at Bury Hill and passing Fontwell Park Racecourse before terminating on the B2166 on Bognor Regis sea...
road 1.2 miles (2 km) southwest of Pulborough
Pulborough
Pulborough is a large village and civil parish in the Horsham district of West Sussex, England, with some 5,000 inhabitants. It is located almost centrally within West Sussex and is south west of London. It is at the junction of the north-south A29 and the east-west roads.The village is near the...
.
The small Anglican
Anglicanism
Anglicanism is a tradition within Christianity comprising churches with historical connections to the Church of England or similar beliefs, worship and church structures. The word Anglican originates in ecclesia anglicana, a medieval Latin phrase dating to at least 1246 that means the English...
parish church, dedicated to St Botolph
St Botolph's Church, Hardham
St Botolph's Church, the Anglican parish church of Hardham in the district of Horsham, is a Grade 1 listed building. It contains the earliest nearly complete series of wall paintings in England. Among forty individual subjects are the earliest known representation of St. George in England...
, has some of the oldest surviving wall paintings in the country, including an image of St George at the battle of Antioch. The village is on the line of the Roman road
Roman road
The Roman roads were a vital part of the development of the Roman state, from about 500 BC through the expansion during the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire. Roman roads enabled the Romans to move armies and trade goods and to communicate. The Roman road system spanned more than 400,000 km...
Stane Street, which changes direction here, leaving the modern A29 road which has followed it from Capel, to head south west to Bignor
Bignor
Bignor is a village and civil parish in the Chichester district of the English county of West Sussex, about six miles north of Arundel....
and Chichester
Chichester
Chichester is a cathedral city in West Sussex, within the historic County of Sussex, South-East England. It has a long history as a settlement; its Roman past and its subsequent importance in Anglo-Saxon times are only its beginnings...
. The Sussex Greensand Way from Lewes
Lewes
Lewes is the county town of East Sussex, England and historically of all of Sussex. It is a civil parish and is the centre of the Lewes local government district. The settlement has a history as a bridging point and as a market town, and today as a communications hub and tourist-oriented town...
joined Stane Street here and remains of a Roman way station or mansio
Mansio
In the Roman Empire, a mansio was an official stopping place on a Roman road, or via, maintained by the central government for the use of officials and those on official business whilst travelling.-Background:The roads which traversed the Ancient World, were later surveyed,...
have been found. In the late eighteenth century a canal tunnel was built on the Arun Navigation to avoid a large loop of the River Arun
River Arun
The Arun is a river in the English county of West Sussex. Its source is a series of small streams in the St Leonard's Forest area, to the east of Horsham...
. The railway line from Pulborough to Midhurst
Midhurst
Midhurst is a market town and civil parish in the Chichester district of West Sussex, England, with a population of 4,889 in 2001. The town is situated on the River Rother and is home to the ruin of the Tudor Cowdray House and the stately Victorian Cowdray Park...
passed over the tunnel, and when the canal closed the railway company broke into the tunnel and filled that part of it under the rails with chalk
Chalk
Chalk is a soft, white, porous sedimentary rock, a form of limestone composed of the mineral calcite. Calcite is calcium carbonate or CaCO3. It forms under reasonably deep marine conditions from the gradual accumulation of minute calcite plates shed from micro-organisms called coccolithophores....
. Standing on higher ground on the south side of the village Hardham Priory, the Priory of St. Cross, was an Augustinian monastery, established in the mid thirteenth century.
The Wall Paintings
The wall paintings at St Botolph's Church date from the early 12th century. They survived by being covered by plaster until uncovered in 1866.The painters used colours made from locally available materials - red and yellow ochre, lime white, carbon black and a green from copper carbonate.
The paintings are in two tiers on each wall and originally had inscriptions describing the scenes above them. One if these can still be seen on the east wall of the nave.
The paintings have the following themes:
- Adam and EveAdam and EveAdam and Eve were, according to the Genesis creation narratives, the first human couple to inhabit Earth, created by YHWH, the God of the ancient Hebrews...
- the life of ChristChristChrist is the English term for the Greek meaning "the anointed one". It is a translation of the Hebrew , usually transliterated into English as Messiah or Mashiach...
- the JudgmentLast JudgmentThe Last Judgment, Final Judgment, Day of Judgment, Judgment Day, or The Day of the Lord in Christian theology, is the final and eternal judgment by God of every nation. The concept is found in all the Canonical gospels, particularly the Gospel of Matthew. It will purportedly take place after the...
and the ApocalypseApocalypseAn Apocalypse is a disclosure of something hidden from the majority of mankind in an era dominated by falsehood and misconception, i.e. the veil to be lifted. The Apocalypse of John is the Book of Revelation, the last book of the New Testament... - the Labours of the MonthsLabours of the MonthsThe term Labours of the Months refers to cycles in Medieval and early Renaissance art depicting in twelve scenes the rural activities that commonly took place in the months of the year...