Dorking
Deanery: Dorking
Parish: Dorking with Ranmore, (Union of Benefices, 1960)
Church: St Martin (R1873)
This parish has its own website at www.stmartinsdorking.org
Address: Church Street, Dorking
Post Code: RH4 1DW
Contact Name: Revd Richard Cattley (Rector, day off Monday)
Contact Address: St. Martin's Vicarage, Westcott Road, Dorking, RH4 3DN
Contact Telephone Number: 01306 882875
Contact Fax Number:
Contact E-mail: richardmcattley@aol.com
Service Times:
8am Holy Communion (Prayer Book)
9.30 Parish Communion
11am Methodist Service
6pm (First Sunday in month) Choral Evensong
Church Organizations, Activities etc:
History of the Church:
For more than a thousand years Christians have worshipped on this site in the centre of the busy market town of Dorking, though the buildings have evolved to meet the changing needs of the community and continue to do so.
In 1086 the Church was recorded in the Domesday Survey. The Church was rebuilt in the middle of the 12th century in a cruciform shape with a central tower. Side aisles were added in the 14th century and several windows (particularly the window over the high altar) were increased in size to beautify the Church – for the glory of God. In 1637 a massive wooden pulpit was installed in a central position to emphasise the importance of preaching. Later in the same century the chancel was partitioned off with the transepts being used as schoolrooms. The inside of the medieval Church had changed almost beyond recognition.
The building became very dilapidated, and by the beginning of the 19th century it was also too small for the expanding township of Dorking. In consequence, by 1837 the nave had been replaced by a large rectangular building with extensive galleries supported by cast iron columns. This ‘Intermediate Church’ was not attractive and soon fell out of favour.
The first part to be altered however, was the medieval chancel, which was rebuilt as it is today, to the glorious designs of Henry Woodyer, from 1866 to 1868.The rest of the present church, also the work of Woodyer, followed between 1872 and 1874, with the spire finally completed in 1877. Little has changed since, except for the addition of the Lady Chapel, which was created between 1905 and 1913, and the removal in 1965 of the screen which used to separate the nave and chancel. The most recent addition has been the creation of a special prayer corner in the south aisle.
Ranmore
Deanery: Dorking
Parish: Dorking with Ranmore (Union of Benefices, 1960)
Church: St Barnabas, (1859)
Address: Ranmore Common Road, Dorking
Post Code: RH5 6SP
Contact Name 1: Rev’d Lyndi Trombetti (Parish Priest, Thursday & Friday)
Contact Address 1:
Contact Telephone Number 1: 01306 884360
Contact Name 2: Revd Richard Cattley (Incumbent/Rector; Monday)
Contact Address 2: St. Martin's Vicarage, Westcott Road, Dorking, RH4 3DN
Contact Telephone Number 2: 01306 882875
Contact Fax Number:
Contact E-mail 1: theflyingtrombettis@talktalk.net
Contact E-mail 2: richardmcattley@aol.com
Service Times:
1st Sunday – 11am Matins (BCP)
3rd Sunday – 11am Holy Communion (BCP)
4th Sunday – 11am Matins (BCP)
Church Organizations, Activities etc:
History of the Church: St. Barnabas, RANMORE, The Church on the North Downs Way, was built at the sole expense of Mr. George Cubitt, MP, who later became the First Baron Ashcombe. An estate church, it was consecrated on All Saints Day 1859 and was intended to serve the people employed on the Cubitt family's recently acquired estate of Denbies on the outskirts of Dorking. The Church was designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott, the Architect who is famous not only for his restoration of many of England's cathedrals, but also for the Albert Memorial and St. Pancras Station in London and St. Mary's Cathedral in Edinburgh. The Church benefits from its site on the ridge of the North Downs and is noted for its octagonal tower and tall slender spire which stands over 700 feet above sea-level. The tower contains a ring of eight bells cast by Mears & Stainbank, the Tenor weighing just under 1 Ton. With the help of the Guildford Diocesan Guild, the Surrey Association of Church Bellringers, Mr. Adrian White, the present owner of Denbies, and other interested parties the bells were restored and rehung in 1990.
Inside, the Church has survived almost unaltered, with all its original fittings. The East window was a gift, with stained glass by J.G. Crace. The most outstanding feature of the interior of the church is the extensive use of marble, the Font and High Altar being especially notable. The Altar was given in 1905 in memory of Lady Laura Ashcombe by her children. To the south of the Altar is a memorial to the First Baron Ashcombe depicting him in peer's robes, kneeling and offering the Church to God.
The Organ was built in 1859 by Joseph Walker. Until 1954 it was confined in a small chamber on the North side of the Chancel. In 1954 it was moved to the North Transept and rebuilt with the original pipework, but with a new console and casework and an electric blower. In 1986 an electronic action was installed and the specification of the organ was improved.
In 1920 the South Transept was converted into a chapel by the Second Baron Ashcombe in memory of his three sons killed in the Great War of 1914-18. The Retable, Altar and Footpace are of Greek marble. The Reredos is of carved beerstone. The mural paintings on the East wall are by Reginald Frampton, the last of the pre-Raphaelites. They are painted directly on to the stone and not, as is usual, on to plaster. The parclose screen is of oak.
Until the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939 the Church thrived. Over 300 people were employed on the estate and all were expected to attend church regularly. Inevitably the decline of the fortunes of the estate from 1945 also affected those of the Church and the Cubitt family, who had for so long been its benefactor, could no longer give its support. In 1962, following the death of the Third Baron Ashcombe, the patronage of the Church was handed over to the Church Commissioners, after which it was decided to unite St. Barnabas with St. Martin's Dorking, the Vicar of Dorking also becoming the Rector of Ranmore.
The building next to the Church was a school and the schoolmaster's house built by Lucy Cubitt in 1858 and enlarged in 1893 and again in 1909. Gilbert Scott was the original architect. The house opposite the church was the Rectory. All are now private homes.
For topical information please see our Newsletter September 2010
