COLLECTION NAME:
R. H. C. Davis Notebooks Collection
Record
Identifier:
exws_RHCDavis_b1nb18
Title:
R. H. C. Davis Notebook 18
Title Alternative:
Volumn XXII
Creator:
Davis, R. H. C. (Ralph Henry Carless), 1918-1991
Date:
1948-01-15/1951-06-22
Description:
R. H. C. Davis's field notebook surveying church and castle architecture throughout South East England. His title from the inside front cover reads: Volume XXII Lamb house, Christ's Hospital, Horsham, Sussex. The entries begin on January 15, 1948 and continue intermittently to December 18, 1949, and then jump to June 22, 1951. The index is at the front of the notebook. The entries are written on the front of the page with corrections or later additions from research added on the back. Many of the entries begin with a list of key, historical dates typically from another source and include events such as when the building was raised, phases of construction, restorations, transfer of ownership, and when it was destroyed. After the historical events are descriptions of the architectural elements from observation to support historical dating. In particular, he notes Norman influences. Major themes in this notebook include mason marks, ownership history, theories about the purposes of building certain features, summaries from research with architectural evidence and, at times, Davis's own perspective on other scholars' conclusions, describes ornamentation and remarks on oddities, and Norman influences, all to place the building within a historical context. Davis includes firsthand accounts from local guides and others. The entry at Cissbury includes the following note: excursion with Hugh Shelton, Michael Cherniawsky [Cherniavsky], Lee, Gay, and Asteraki.
Contents:
Arundel Collegiate Church (Sussex); Saint Michael's Church, Amberley (Sussex); Amberley Castle (Sussex); North Stoke Church, near Amberley (Sussex); Sedgwick Castle in the parish of Nuthurst (Sussex); Shipley Church (Sussex); Pulborough (Sussex); Old Place, Pulborough (Sussex); Pulborough Church (Sussex); Hardham Church, S. Botolph (Sussex); Great Bookham Church (Surrey); Poynings Church (Sussex); Steyning Church, S. Andrew (Sussex); Slaugham Church (Sussex); Sompting Church, B.V.M. (Sussex); Bignor Church, Roman Villa (Sussex); Itchingfield Church, S. Nicolas (Sussex); Cissbury (Sussex); Buncton Chapel, Wiston (Sussex); Lingfield Church, SS. Peter and Paul (Surrey); Cowdray House, Midhurst (Sussex); Stopham Church (Sussex); Petersfield Church (Hants); Horsham Church, S. Mary the Virgin (Sussex); Bodiam Castle (Sussex); All Saints Church, Maidstone (Kent); Alfriston Church, S. Andrew (Sussex); Clayton Church, St. John the Baptist (Sussex); the Church of St. Thomas Becket at Cliffe, Lewes (Sussex); the Priory of St. Pancras, Lewes (Sussex); the Church of St. Anne, Lewes, in West-out (Sussex); Bosham Church (Sussex)
Illustration Description:
The illustrations throughout the notebook are in pencil or pen and feature the architectural details of English churches and castles. Features include spandrels; window chancels; bases; mason's marks; ground floor plans; mouldings of windows, stringcourses and doorways; patterns on capitals; a zig-zag pattern on chancel archway; sketch of the spire at Sompting Church; sketch of ditches at Cissbury (Sussex) showing the collapse of the dike and infill over time; diagram of chancel from the outside; detail of frescoes at Buncton Chapel; genealogical trees of building's owner; outline of tower arch at Stopham Church; details of column capital decoration at the bases at Petersfield Church; heraldic shields of Worderex? Dalyngrippe?, and a sketch of a tutor rose in oak leaves in the tower doorway of Church of St. Thomas Beck at Cliffe. Throughout the notebook, are various inserted papers (some loose, others pasted in) which include maps of sites, site plans, sketches of frescoes, the layout of the Cowdray House ruins, tracing of the Enclosure of the heavenly city and angel at Clayton Church, and photocopy of painting.
Subject:
Architecture--England
Subject:
Church architecture
Subject:
Architecture--Research
Subject:
Architectural decorations & ornaments
Subject:
Architectural design
Subject:
Banker marks
Subject:
Architecture, Norman
Buildings Identified:
Fitzalan Chapel (Arundel, West Sussex, England)
Buildings Identified:
St. Nicolas Church (Great Bookham, Surrey, England)
Buildings Identified:
Holy Trinity Church (Poynings, West Sussex, England)
Buildings Identified:
St. Andrew and St. Cuthman Church (Steyning, Sussex, England)
Buildings Identified:
St. Mary's Church (Slaugham, Sussex, England)
Buildings Identified:
Church of St. Mary the Blessed Virgin (Sompting, West Sussex, England)
Buildings Identified:
Church of the Holy Cross (Bignor, Sussex, England)
Buildings Identified:
Bignor Roman villa (Bignor, West Sussex, England)
Buildings Identified:
St. Nicolas Church (Itchingfield, West Sussex, England)
Buildings Identified:
Cissbury Ring (West Sussex, England)
Buildings Identified:
All Saints Church (Buncton, West Sussex, England)
Buildings Identified:
St. Michael's Church (Amberley, West Sussex, England)
Buildings Identified:
St. Peter and St. Paul's Church (Lingfield, Surrey, England)
Buildings Identified:
Cowdray House (England)
Buildings Identified:
St. Mary the Virgin Church (Stopham, West Sussex, England)
Buildings Identified:
St. Peter's Church (Petersfield, Hampshire, England)
Buildings Identified:
St. Mary the Virgin (Horsham, West Sussex, England)
Buildings Identified:
Bodiam Castle (Bodiam, England)
Buildings Identified:
All Saints Church (Maidstone, Kent, England)
Buildings Identified:
St. John the Baptist's Church (Clayton, Sussex, England)
Buildings Identified:
St. Thomas à Becket at Cliffe (Church: Lewes, England)
Buildings Identified:
Priory of St. Pancras (Lewes, England)
Buildings Identified:
Amberley Castle (Amberley, West Sussex, England)
Buildings Identified:
St. Anne's Church (Lewes, England)
Buildings Identified:
Holy Trinity Church (Bosham, England)
Buildings Identified:
St. Andrew's Church (Alfriston, East Sussex, England)
Buildings Identified:
North Stoke Church (North Stoke, West Sussex, England)
Buildings Identified:
Sedgwick Castle (Nuthurst, West Sussex, England)
Buildings Identified:
Church of St Mary the Virgin (Shipley, West Sussex, England)
Buildings Identified:
Old Place Manor (Pulborough, West Sussex, England)
Buildings Identified:
St. Mary's Church (Pulborough, West Sussex, England)
Buildings Identified:
St. Botolph's Church (Botolphs, West Sussex, England)
Places Identified:
Sussex (England)
Places Identified:
Surrey (England)
Places Identified:
Kent (England)
Places Identified:
Hampshire (England)
Places Identified:
Pulborough (England)
People Identified:
J. H. H.
People Identified:
Shelton, Hugh
People Identified:
Cherniavisky, Michael Theodore, 1920-1992
Keywords:
notebooks; Research; Diaries; Castles; Travel; fieldwork (research); Archaeological sites; Illustrations; Historic buildings; Ruins; Floor plans; History; Architectural decorations & ornaments; Capitals (Columns); Moldings
Collection:
R. H. C. Davis Notebooks Collection
Location:
England
Time Period:
1940 - 1949
Time Period:
1950 - 1959
Language:
eng
Source:
R. H. C. Davis Collection (02-exws_davis), Notebook 18, "Vol.XXII", Box 1, Folder 18, Western Michigan University Special Collections
Format:
image/tiff
Rights Status:
In Copyright
Access Rights:
Digital reproduction published by Western Michigan University and made available for private study, scholarship or research use under applicable U.S. Law. Access to digital reproductions provided by Special Collections at Zhang Legacy Collections Center, Western Michigan University.
Publisher:
Western Michigan University
Digital Date:
2025