This is the east end of the parish church, showing the 12th century chancel in the centre with two chapels, the north and south chapels, that date from the 13th century. The chancel was extended eastwards in the 14th century. The north chapel had a lean-to roof until the church was altered in 1840, when its north wall was moved outwards. These alterations can be seen in a largely unlabelled ground plan published in Samuel Welman's history of the church^[1]. The two buttresses, on the diagonal, that we can see on the outer corners of the chancel, were added in the fourteenth century. They are shown in a sketch by Welman, alongside the new large chancel window that had replaced two narrow lancet windows of the earlier chancel^[1]. This was replaced in 1856^[2].

The early twentieth century card shows this part of the graveyard surrounded by some rather formidable railings. It is unclear if the gate could be locked, but the spikes were lethal! Behind them are the ageing gravestones. No new monuments had been added since the churchyard closed in 1857 when the Nightingale Cemetery had opened on Deanery Road to alleviate the overcrowding.

Owen Manning, who had been Vicar of Godalming for over thirty seven years, died in 1801. As well as being commemorated on a white marble tablet inside the church, his gravestone in the churchyard (not shown here) also bore a lengthy inscription citing his virtues^[1].

Just over ten years before the churchyard's closure, Edward Wedlake Brayley had noted in his Surrey History that: "In the church-yard are numerous tombs and other memorials of respectable families connected with this parish...—At the east end of the church are two tablets and several headstones, in memory of the Steadmans of Godalming; of whom, Mr. RICHARD STEADMAN died on the 6th of February, 1772, at the advanced age of ninety-five; and JOHN STEADMAN, on the 9th of May, 1827, aged eighty eight[3]." This memorial is on the buttress to the left of the altar window, John Steadman is similarly commemorated a few feet away and Steadman headstones are on the opposite side of the path below the window.

In the foreground are the headstones of Elizabeth Steadman, wife of Richard (d. 1825, aged 77)
and Richard Steadman (d. 1776, aged 63).
Behind Richard's memorial is the headstone for the grave of Thomas Harrison, aged 63 years
(bu. 21 Apr 1853) and his daughter Mary (d. and bu. 6 Sep 1834, aged 11).

Albumen print from about 1910.
Written on the back: E. Window of S. Chapel, c.1270.
The MI on the outer wall reads:
IN MEMORY OF | ELIZ Wife of | JOHN HENDERSON | who died Decr 8th 1809 | Aged 75 years^[4].

Welman, writing about the church in 1900 tells us that "The window at the east end of the south chantry, which is an early example of a large tracery window, may be dated at about 1260. The east and west ends of the church also probably had new and enlarged windows inserted in them^[1]."

Post WW1 view of the east and north sides of the church, from the Memorial Gardens.
The field gun on the left also features in a 1922 postcard of the Church and War Memorial, but this view
may have been taken before then as the War Memorial does not seem to have been built.
The northern boundary of St. Peter & St. Paul is marked by a stone retaining wall as the churchyard is higher than the land closer to the River Wey.

Tucked in the corner between the north transept and the north chapel is a small tower or turret, sometimes referred to as a "vice". It can be seen in a photograph taken during the 1879 restoration that was published in Welman's book[1] and is said to date from then[2]. It contains a spiral staircase that gives access to the tower and has slit windows and a "Caernarvon" arched doorway, which perhaps seems a slightly strange addition to introduce to a Surrey church although may have been used because space was very limited. Also of note are the ornamental Victorian hoppers on top of the lead drainpipes and the patterns on the lead guttering.

In the north east corner, overlooking the Lammas lands and River Wey, is the magnifcent chest tomb of the Holland family with its columns, pediment and pitched lid. It is one of a number of tombs within the churchyard that are Grade II listed.

The Holland family vault is raised on a podium. On the left is the base of Godalming's War Memorial.

- The left hand panel between the columns is dedicated to Mary Ann (d. 1850), wife of William Elphs Holland (d.1869) and their son William Barrett Holland (d. 1828).
- The right hand panel commemorates Rowena Grace (d. 1903) and Mary Ann (d.1910).
- The single panel on the right hand side commemorates Henry Frederick Holland, M.D. (d. 1920) and his wife Gertrude (d. 1926). 16:45 15/11/2024They had lived for a time at Violet Bank on Charterhouse Road. Whilst a student at Charing Cross Hospital Dr. Holland had attended the Duke of Wellington at Apsley House. He was later known as "the Grand Old Man of Godalming" and was a member of Godalming Town Gouncil when he passed away in his 92nd year.

There are more inscriptions on the far sides.

Related pages

Church & Church House

Parish Church, the South

War Memorial

Church from River

Church Interior

References:

^[1] Welman, Samuel (1900) "The Parish and Church of Godalming" Published by Elliot Stock.

^[2] "A Guide to the Parish Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul" (1978) Bott, Alan M.A., F.S.A. © Alan Bott and Parochial Church Council of St. Peter and Paul. Edited and designed by David Coombs.

^[3] "A Topographical History of Surrey", Edward Wedlake Brayley & John Britton (1844). ... The Illustrative Department under the superintendence of Thomas Allom, M. I. B. A. Published Dorking by Robert Best Ede and London by David Bogue, Fleet Street, p.208.

^[4] Elizabeth Henderson was buried at SS. Peter and Paul on 10 Dec 1809; her husband pre-deceased her and was buried on 3 Jun 1808.