Church of St. Nicholas, Thames Ditton

St Nicholas Church stands in Thames Ditton, a village beside the River Thames in Elmbridge, Surrey. Parts of the building date back to the 12th century, when it was linked to Merton Priory after the Norman Conquest. The church passed into private hands after Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries in the 16th century. Imber Court’s owners supported the curate for centuries before King’s College, Cambridge, took over in the 19th century. The structure mixes flint, brick and tile, showing many changes over time. Little of the original Norman work remains visible today. The church holds rare 12th-century carvings on its font and a painted Doom Picture from 1570. The Doom Picture, discovered under whitewash in 1893, shows the Day of Judgement in vivid colours. Erasmus Forde’s brass memorial, with figures of his eighteen children, includes one of the earliest uses of the phrase “Que Sera, Sera.” A Hatton family chapel was rebuilt as a vestry in the 18th century. Six bells, recast in 1962, hang in a new frame from 1981. Inside, the east window by Geoffrey Webb depicts St Nicholas in 20th-century glass set within 14th-century tracery. Other windows by Lavers, Barraud and Westlake show scenes such as the Three Maries at the Sepulchre. The north wall of the chancel and the tower still contain original Norman lancet windows. The vestry began as a burial vault built in 1676. The church’s varied materials and later additions tell a long story of use and change.