The Church at Tatsfield

Tatsfield church is 790ft. above sea level, on one of the highest pieces of land in surrey. As you enter the churchyard, there is an old lichgate. Some lichgates had flat tops, which a coffin could be rested on whilst waiting for the clergyman.
There is a benchmark at the entrance door (a benchmark measures heights and depths in tidal observations). The arch separating nave and chancel was probably built about 1260, of firestone. In some old churches the chancel is enclosed with iron lattices. The oak beams in the roof are very old - some of these are called 'tie beams', because they act as a tie.
In the 14th century there was an old entrance door beside the place where the new organ is to day, and the gravestones on the floor are very old. The font, where many babies have been baptized, is a basin carved out of plain, square stone, and is over 500 years old. The picture of the 'crucifixion' on the wall, was given to the church, and is regarded as containing genuine brushwork of the great Dutch painter Rubens, but it is mostly the work of Rubens' pupils. There are two tiny windows on the north side, which are of Norman origin, and are called lancet windows. A lancet window is a high narrow window, shaped like a lancet, this being a sharp knife used by the Normans. In the chancel near the altar, one each side of the chancel, there are two windows. One of these has had alterations over the years, but the one on the left-hand side is still in perfect condition, and folk come specially to see it. On the outside it is quite plain, but inside it has beautiful stonework, richly moulded over 700 years ago, with a pillar at each side. It looks, ''as if it had strayed by accident from a cathedral into our village church of Tatsfield". The east window above the altar has a soft harmony of colour, in a scene depicting the angel Gabriel bringing the good news to the Madonna - the Madonna, of course, being the Virgin Mary.