On a roasting hot day, it was wonderful to seek sanctuary in this lovely old building which was deliciously cool!
The chancel of this church dates from about 1200, and despite Victorian restoration, the shafts with rings round the windows together with the band of palmettes under them are substantially original. The north chapel dates from the same period and was attached to the manor of Horselunges in the parish.
The nave was rebuilt in the 14th century.
Various kinds of stone have been used in the building, which has undergone many restorations, including a major one in 1869 when the tower was built and possibly the nave was shortened. Certainly the west walls of both aisles are contemporary with the tower. Previously, documents tell us, the church had a "mean wooden spire with a good peal of six bells". A clock was added to the tower in 1837 to commemorate the accession of Queen Victoria. Unusually for this part of the country the tower and the south wall are battlemented.
The chancel has a slight declination to the south and the eastern lancet windows are by Wm. Morris & Co., London. They depict the ascending Lord and the two patron saints. Pictures of the stained glass windows of this church can be found here.
In the north wall of the chancel are two fine Norman windows, filled with fragments of old glass.
The organ is situated on a west gallery and was built by N P Mander Ltd, London. It replaced an older organ, situated in the north transept which is remembered by a brass plate near the organ which reads "This organ was enlarged by Parochial Subscription in 1927. T Wood Robinson being Vicar and finished by the Generosity of T Stroud, Organist from 1897 to 1932. G Busck, Vicar. Ade Mierre, T Richardson, Churchwardens".
Here is a view of the nave from the chancel. At the west end and oak screen divides the vestry from the nave. A brass plate erected by the Vicar and church wardens in 1898 records that it and the brass lectern were the gift of Frederick Gorringe, Esq. a native of the parish and one of its benefactors.
The font.
Here is the view towards the north door. The brick paths were constructed in 1824, when 8,450 bricks were laid by unemployed labourers.
I have transcribed the war memorials in this church on the Sussex OPC site.
Digital photographs
Visitors to this album since June 2003
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