Within the tower of the church are preserved the old stocks and whipping-post, together with the pillory, which formerly stood on the site now occupied by the new municipal buildings. In the vestry are also preserved a number of interesting relics, including a pilgrim’s bottle and the massive blade of a battle-axe which, tradition avers, was Harold’s.
There are many monuments and numerous interesting tablets and memorials.
Of the monuments the most noticeable is the tomb of Sir Edward Denny and his wife Margaret, in the chancel. The knight is represented in armour lying on his left side, the figure of his wife reclining below; their ten children are carved in relief, in attitudes of prayer, upon the panel beneath. This Edward Denny was the comrade of Spenser, the poet, and Sir Philip Sidney, and the captor of the rebel Earl of Desmond.
Near by stands the effigy of Lady Elizabeth Greville, first cousin to Lady Jane Grey, widow of Henry Denny (son of Sir Anthony Denny) and wife of Sir Edward Greville, third son of the ancestor of the present Earl of Warwick. This effigy is all that remains of an elegant tomb of alabaster, which formerly stood to the north of the altar.
On the opposite side of the chancel, near the organ, stands the marble tomb of Robert Smith, a wealthy seaman of the seventeenth century. The magnificent choir which was so ruthlessly demolished by Henry VIII. at the Dissolution contained, in addition to the tomb of the founder, the handsome sarcophagi of Baron Hugh Nevil, Lord High Justice of England, temp. Richard I.; Archdeacon Passelew, and numerous abbots, earls, and knights.
There are three mural brasses on the south wall, one being to the memory of Edward Stacey, one of the lay pensioners of the monastery at the time of the Dissolution, and another to Thomas Colte, second son of Sir John Colte, of Nether Hall, Roydon.
The remains of the old choir screen, a beautiful example of carpentry and carving; the ancient Purbeck marble font; the handsome reredos, and the fine rose window above; the marks of the chain that once held the great Bible, on one of the pillars, and many other features are here to interest the visitor. The handsome stained glass in the Rose window, depicting the Creation, and the three lights under the arch were designed by the late Sir Edward Burne-Jones.