Sunday 5 August 2018

St Nicholas, West Worldham


St Nicholas is the archetype of a small and quiet parish church, located in the hamlet of West Worldham.
The approach is via a small gate up the slope of a small but well-kept churchyard to a pretty 15th Century wooden porch. Small square lanterns on the gate post and porch lend a quaint feel - compounded by the musty smell of damp inside.

Entry is through a 13th Century Early Gothic south doorway, with a suitably heavy and ancient door. Inside the nave and chancel are one, without sub-division. There are Early English lancet windows in the north wall, although those in the east (their jambs still visible) have been replaced by a larger Perpendicular Gothic window: the west window is 16th Century. All blends happily together.
The church has few furnishings: an octagonal font, a piscina in the sanctuary and two in the nave, and some plain wall monuments.

One plaque records that the electric lighting was a thanksgiving gift for the hamlet being spared damage in an air raid in 1944. On our visit, the church was filled with exquisite flower arrangements: apparently in preparation for a funeral.
St Nicholas, Blanket St, West Worldham, GU34 3BD

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