good food fareham,restaurant hampshire, fresh fish, game dishes, bar food pubs, restaurants, wickham, uk, free houses, good food fareham

About 1450 the windows were enlarged in typically perpendicular Gothic style, and the south west buttress was added. At some stage a Mass Dial was carved on it. A Mass Dial is a vertical sundial consisting of a circle marked into hours with a hole in the middle. Before bells and clocks, the Priest would place a stick in the hole to indicate the time of the next mass. Presumably attendance was poor on cloudy days! The Dial is still visible today.

About 1510 the remarkably fine turreted and embattled tower was built into the west end of the church. The Tudor tower is thoroughly Glostershire in style and is another reminder of the ancient link with Gloucester. The stone facings inside the tower have interesting decorative markings, indicating that they came from another building, perhaps from the original Norman Church. The pinnacles, which may have been added later, are very similar to those in the nave aisles of Winchester Cathedral and on the Chapel tower of Winchester College. The position of the tower cutting into the original Norman nave indicates the lack of space available. At that time the churchyard extended only as far as the present bank to the west. The architects needed to allow room outside the west door for processions to form up before entering the church.

At this time there would have been a large wooden gallery known as a rood loft extending right across the church from north to south. It would have been 6 to 8 feet wide and on it would have been the crucifix, figures of St John, St Mary, Angels, candles and other ornaments. It would also have been used by the village orchestra to play at services. The rood toft would have been the dominating feature of the medieval church. Entrance to the loft would have been from the south through a door which is now the window just west of the South Transept. In the: South Transept can be seen the stone steps that would have wound round and up to the door. The steps are set 4' from the ground and a small ladder would have been used, which could be removed to prevent unauthorised entry. The door was changed to a window and the stairs blocked up In 1877. Below the rood loft would have been a carved rood screen dividing the chancel from the nave. This was probably removed in the 1877 restoration.

In 1541, following the dissolution of the monasteries, the advowson was granted by Henry VIII to the Dean and Chapter of Winchester, who are the present Patrons. During the next 300 hundred years there are few surviving records relating to the church. However, we know that by 1635 the church was in a "ruinous state". Sir Robert Payne was holder of the Manor at the time as well as being Sheriff of Hampshire and the churchwarden. At his own cost he had the chancel repaired and stone hauled to the churchyard to add a buttress to the south wall. These were difficult times in England, just 7 years before the outbreak of the Civil War. A mob of villagers lead by one Stephen Batchillor, stoned the horses hauling the building materials, and by further violence stopped the work.