St Michael & All Angels, Horsted Parva

All Saints, Herstmonceux

St Dunstan, Mayfield

St Denys, Rotherfield

All Saints, Old Heathfield

East Hoathly Church - dedication unknown

St Laurence, Telscombe

Telscombe is a hidden treasure. Although close to the dull suburban sprawl between Brighton and Newhaven, the little village and its ancient church nestle in a steep-sided valley, accessible only from the Ouse valley to the north.

 

History

 

Despite not being mentioned in Domesday, the church is recorded as being given to the monastery of Winchester  in the 10th century, a gift confirmed by King Edgar in 996 AD.

 

The basic form of the church is, however, 12th century: the nave and chancel date from the late 11th or early 12th century, and later in the 12th century the tower, north aisle and Lady Chapel were added. The 14th century provided the east window, and the 15th one of the south nave windows.

 

After that, the 19th century provided a modest restoration, which saw the north wall rebuilt, the chancel arch replaced, a porch added to the south and a matching vestry  to the north. The wall paintings were undertaken in 1905.

 

The Church

 

From the outside this is perfect, small village church. Sitting on a steep slope next to an old row of cottages (now the youth hostel), in summer, it is almost completely hidden by trees. The walls are flint, with simple stone dressings.

 

Inside, there are two sets of arcades, both with simple rounded arches. The nave arcade has simple round piers and plain capitals. The chancel arcade has been rebuilt, but again has round arches but this time the capitals have scallops and crocket leaf decoration. The east respond is clearly original.

 

The east chancel window is an early example of 14th century Decorated Gothic, as are the two lancets. The easternmost nave window dates from the 15th century, with a matching Victorian one further west. Possibly the only 12th century windows are in the west walls of the aisle and tower – two simple round-headed lancets.

 

Furnishings and fittings include a fine late 13th or 14th century font, decorated with pointed arches. The chancel has a kneeling desk incorporating 16th century bench ends, and above the south door is a fine 17th century Royal coat of arms. The chapel window contains coloured fragments of 14th century mediaeval glass.

 

The wall paintings on the chancel arch and east wall were undertaken in 1905; the church guide attributes their design to Clayton and Bell.

 

Although the parish has a population of just a couple of dozen, there is a regular Sunday service, attended mostly by people from Peacehaven.

 

Telscombe Village, East Sussex, BN7 3HY

St Leonard, Aldrington, Hove

St Leonard's is an ancient foundation, now much rebuilt and in a firmly suburban setting, and effectively in Portslade. The main offices of the Diocese of Chichester sit alongside.

History

Originally an Anglo-Saxon settlement, Aldrington is mentioned in the Domesday Book as Eldretune but there is no mention of a church. The predecessor of the present building was erected in the 13th century, but a gradual decline of the settlement - hastened by severe storms in 1703 and 1705 - meant that by 1800 there were just two people in the parish and the church was largely ruinous (the roof having collapsed in 1738). 18th century drawings show it as a single celled building with lancets and a tower.

The arrival of the railway in nearby Portslade in 1840 stimulated a slow process of suburban development, and the church was rebuilt in 1876-8 by Richard Herbert Carpenter (1841-93). He largely followed the pattern of the original building, although the roundel above the two east lancets was replaced by a sexfoil.

Further suburban development necessitated another expansion, consisting of a nave and baptistery to the north (1931) with a new chancel (1936), both by Milburn Pett. This effectively relegated the original church to a south aisle, with an arcade of square piers inserted between. A planned north aisle was never built, and the 'temporary' brick facings on the exterior of the north wall contrast with the neat knapped flints elsewhere. The arcade has, in recent times, been partitioned so the nave and south aisle now form two separate spaces.

The church

The church sits in a pretty and overgrown churchyard (the noticeboard explains that this is intended to foster a wildlife reserve). The carefully knapped flint walls betray its relatively modern origins, but the shingled broach spire, lancets and pretty carved porch give it a pretty, rural feel.

The interior is something of a surprise after this introduction, as the nave and chancel are wide and bright and contrast sharply with the original church, although they are still nominally in the Gothic style. Pevsner didn't like Pett's work at all, describing it in the Sussex volume of the 'Buildings of England' as "very horrible".  The chancel has an elaborate sedilia and piscina in a Decorated style, with three lancets in the east. On the outside of the east wall of the chancel is a stone commemorating the extension in 1936 - surprisingly to modern sensibilities - laid with full masonic honours.

Furnishings are all modern, with some Clayton and Bell glass in the south aisle (the original church).

St Leonard's, New Church Road, Hove BN3 4ED

St Mary, Barcombe

Barcombe is a small, scattered village, which in Victorian times had three mills on the river Ouse. It has an attractive church in a pretty churchyard, a short detour from the Ouse Valley Way long-distance path.

History

The Domesday book mentions three and a half mills, but no church in Barcombe. However, one must have been begun shortly after, as the nave dates from around 1100. To this were added, in the 13th century, the tower, chancel and a small south chapel. A small south aisle was added around 1400, and also from this time date the tower arch and west and north doorways.

The church was heavily restored in 1879, when the aisle and transept were replaced by the present, large south aisle and a vestry was added further to the east. Most of the windows were also replaced. More recently, a lovely parish room was added further to the south.

The church

From the exterior, the most notable feature is the tall broach spire, the base of which is actually lower than the nave roof. Inside, the wide arches of the arcade mean that the nave and south aisle work together to feel like a single, unified space. The two arches of the aisle are distinctively different from the smaller, third arch, which opened originally into the south transept.

The only windows of any age are one of the north wall lancets (13th century), and the two- and three-light windows, both of which are from the 15th century. One of these has interesting glass, dated 1657, from Goltho Church in Lincolnshire. There is some glass by Kempe in the south aisle. The font is from the 14th century, and has interesting incised decoration consisting of trefoil lancets and quatrefoils.

The church remains the centre of a vibrant worshipping community, with regular services, and a variety of groups for children.

Church Road, Barcombe, Lewes, East Sussex BN8 5TS

St Peter, Hamsey

Hamsey is a wonderful place: an inland island (the name is Anglo-Saxon for ‘settlement on the island’) formed by a loop of the River Ouse, north of Lewes, its isolated and unrestored church is hugely atmospheric.

History

The exact origins of Hamsey are obscured by time, but it was important enough in Saxon times for King Athelstan to hold his court there in 925AD, and there is mention of a church in the Domesday Book in 1086. However, the village declined in the late mediaeval period when the population moved west to the nearby village of Offham. Remains of a Manor House were visible near the church until 1777.

The nave and chancel of the present church date from the 12th century, although a number of windows were enlarged as lancets around 1300, when the east window of the chancel was inserted and a north chapel (demolished in the 17th century) was also built. A robust Perpendicular tower was added late in the 14th century, and a porch in the early 15th century.

Hamsey remained the parish church until the middle of the 19th century, by which time the local Vicar was complaining that it was poorly located for the parishioners, who lived mostly in Offham. A new church was built there in 1860, and Hamsey thereafter went into decline, though for a time it was used as a mortuary chapel for the graveyard.

However, plans to demolish it were never carried out, and some people still chose to have their memorials erected in the church. Repairs were undertaken in the 1920s.

The Church

The church is principally interesting for the isolated and atmospheric hilltop location, and its unrestored condition. This is how many churches must have felt around 1800, before Victorian restoration and the advent of electricity.

The chancel arch is a simple Norman feature, without ornament; there are small Norman windows in both nave and chancel. The early 14th century three-light east window is particularly attractive. There is a distinctive, low squint between the south side of the nave and chancel, and the 15th century south door was clearly inserted below a much taller 12th century one.

Furnishings of interest include a Perpendicular font; remnants of mediaeval glass in a south window; a fine tomb, to Edward Markwick (d. 1538) in the form of a recessed tomb-chest with cusped quatrefoil decoration, next to the High Altar; and a well preserved decorated piscina.

The walls are crowded with monuments, many dating from after the building of the new church in 1860; those on the chancel’s south wall commemorate the Shiffner family, who lived at nearby Coombe Place. Above the chancel arch are the Royal Arms of George III, and several funeral hatchments adorn the nave walls. The furniture includes some rustic, old pews, which add to the atmosphere.

It now forms part of the parish of Offham; monthly services are held in summer (there is no electricity), as well as occasional concerts, and a popular candlelit Carol service is held in winter.

Ivors Lane, Hamsey, Lewes, East Sussex BN8 5TD

Streat Parish Church

Streat has a small but delightful parish church next to the impressive and historic house of Streat Place.

There has probably been a church on this site since Saxon times, but the core of the present nave (north and west walls) is Norman, probably from the late 12th century. The chancel was added in the 13th century, but extended around 1840-50. The east and south windows also date from this time. A more thorough restoration in 1854 added the south aisle (including the nave arcade) and replaced most of the windows. The porch and vestry were added in 1882. The age of the pretty bell turret is not known, although the church had a bell dated 1520, replaced by three new bells in 1900 when it was found to be cracked.

The interior of the church now has a very Victorian feel, but is delightful nevertheless. Most of the stained glass was added in the 19th century, but the north wall has an interesting depiction of St Francis dating from the 1960s.

There are a number of attractive memorials on the walls, but the most interesting fittings are the two early 18th century iron floor memorial slabs. The larger one, to the Gott family, is reputed to be the largest in England, weighing a ton. There is a also a hatchment with the coats of arms of Charles II, dated 1660, above the chancel arch.

The church is part of a joint parish with Ditchling and Westmeston. All three churches have regular services and are well worth a visit.

Streat Lane, Streat, Hassocks, East Sussex BN6 8RU

St Andrew & St Mary the Virgin, Fletching

Fletching is a pretty village, a few miles north of the A272 between Hayward's Heath and Uckfield. The impressive church dominates the centre of the village and has many historically and interesting fittings.

History

Although not mentioned in the Domesday book, the details of the tower indicate a date on the cusp of the Saxon-Norman overlap, probably late in the 11th century. The church was enlarged in in the Early English style 1230, but substantially rebuilt in 1340, when it acquired its present dimensions, leaving the tower as the only significant Norman remnant. It was restored by John Oldrid Scott in 1880, who remodelled the chancel into its present form.

It was witness to an important event in English history, when in 1264 Simon de Montfort prayed and attended mass here the night before the Battle of Lewes, where he defeated the forces of Henry III.

The church

The church sits in an expansive churchyard on a mound in the middle of the village, surrounded by mature trees. The most notable feature is the tower with its shingled spire. The bell openings in the tower are early Norman, as is the slim buttress on the north east side. The spire and deep corner buttresses date from around 1340. Entry into the church is via the south porch, built in the 15th century, and through the original 15th century door, which has Perpendicular Gothic decoration.

Inside, the church is dark thanks to the extensive scheme of Victorian stained glass. The plan is cruciform, with an aisled nave and a long chancel, making the church over 140ft long. The nave arcades, transepts and chancel date from the early 13th century. The arcade arches rise as they get nearer to the crossing, and there is a squint from the north transept into the chancel. On the south arcade can be seen remains of early Norman windows; the clerestory windows date from the 1340 rebuilding. The tower door is of Saxon dimensions, but renewed by the Victorians. The East window, although restored in the 19th century, is said to be based on the original late 13th century design.

The fittings are unusually rich, particularly the monuments in the south transept. Pride of place goes to the tomb chest, inlaid with a magnificent and well preserved brass, presumed to be of Sir Walter Dalyngrygge and his wife, c. 1380. He is shown in full armour, his wife in a long mantle, beneath elaborate Gothic canopies. The tomb originally had a vaulted canopy, but this was lost after 1820.

Close by is a humble but unique brass, consisting of a name plate above a pair of gloves, to Peter Denot, a glover. It has been dated to the 1450s. He took part in Jack Cade's Rebellion of 1450 but was pardoned

The largest tomb is that of Richard Leche (d. 1596), High Sheriff of Sussex and Surrey, and his wife Charitye. This is a splendid affair in alabaster, with the effigies of excellent quality (and in a remarkable state of preservation). The charity he established for the poor of the parish is still in operation today. His wife married again, but the second marriage was said to be unhappy, and she chose - unusually - to be included in her first husband's memorial, while she was still alive.

Other items of interest include the Jacobean pulpit; four funeral hatchments to different members of the Sheffield family; funeral armour (helmet, gauntlets, swords and spurs) of members of the Nevill family, the Earls of Abergavenny, dating from around 1720. The East and south transept windows have Victorian glass by Kempe.

An unusual feature is the mausoleum added on to the north side of the north transept for the Earls of Sheffield (who lived at nearby Sheffield Park) in the late 18th century. The mausoleum was also the burial place of Edward Gibbon, author of _The Decline and Fall of The Roman Empire_ and a close friend of the first Earl.

St Andrew & St Mary the Virgin, Church Street, Fletching, near Uckfield, East Sussex TN22 3SS

St Peter, Chailey

Although Chailey is recorded in the Domesday Book, the first reference to the church is in a 13th century will of one Richard de Plaiz in 1269. The chancel, with its lancet windows dates from the 13th century, as does the tower, and there is 14th century work in the south aisle. It was substantially enlarged with the addition of a new north aisle in 1846, and a further north aisle was added in 1878.

The dominant feature from outside is the robust tower, capped by a substantial pyramidal cap. The chancel shows evidence of Victorian restoration, but the three northern lancets and east window are from the original 13th century design. The south aisle is believed to date from around 1350, and contained a gallery used by the servants of the Hooke and Ades estates, removed in 1878.

Two of the most interesting features can be seen in the chancel, where the shafts of the rere-arches of two of the north wall lancets have interesting capitals: the westernmost one shows a ‘Green Man’, spewing foliage from his mouth, while the easternmost has two entwined serpents biting each other. Four of the tower’s bells date from 1737, with additional bells cast in 1818 and 1882.

Chailey Green, Chailey, Lewes, East Sussex BN8 4DA

St Mary, Newick

St Mary’s is one of those churches which rewards careful study, of what is an unusually complex building history. Tucked off a lane to the east of the present (and very modern) expanse of the village, it has a lovely churchyard overlooking fields, sheltered by two particularly fine cedars.

The oldest part of the present building is the south nave wall, either side of the porch, which contains an original round-headed window. The church guide dates this to around 1080. The porch and tower are also mediaeval, the porch from around 1400 (still with some original roof timbers) and the tower a robust 15th century Perpendicular design with angled buttresses. In 1836 a north aisle was added.

However, in 1886-7, under the careful and sympathetic guidance of John Oldrid Scott (1841-1931), the chancel was taken down and rebuilt further east, and both the nave and north aisle were extended to match, doubling its size and altering its proportions from those of a humble village church to the impressive building we see today. Thus the chancel, although largely Victorian, retains late 13th century details in the bar tracery of three of its windows (a fourth was reset in the choir vestry).

Many of the most distinctive features belong to Scott’s work: at the east end of the north aisle, an unusual setting of twin gothic arches leads to the choir vestry. More impressive still is the chancel itself. This has a complete Victorian decorative scheme of high quality, with elaborate and rare encaustic wall tiling, above which are walls patterned with stencil designs, all covered with a wagon roof, also with stencil designs. Further decorative work is found in the beautiful, delicate wrought iron chancel gates.

The other furnishings of note are pre-Victorian, and include fragments of mediaeval stained glass in the chancel windows, a Decorated Gothic font with ogee panels, and a dignified Jacobean pulpit topped with a sounding board.

Church Road, Newick, Lewes, East Sussex BN8 4JZ

Chiddingly Parish Church

This large and impressive church, with its landmark spire, sits in the middle of an attractive and historic village.

History

The village name is Saxon, recorded in Domesday as ‘Cetelingei’, the place of Cedd’s people, but it is unclear exactly when the church was first built. However, when the chancel was rebuilt in the 19th century, traces were found of Norman masonry from the 11th and 12th centuries, suggesting there was an earlier church on the site.

The present nave was probably built in the 13th century, from which period it is clear the chancel arch and two lancets in the aisles remain. The nave arcades are later, probably 14th century, as are the Perpendicular windows in the north and south walls of the aisles, which presumably replaced smaller, earlier windows. The south transept (of which more later) has a large, rectangular Elizabethan window with transoms. The chancel itself was rather thoroughly rebuilt in 1864.

The church

The fine tower, with its 60ft spire, dominates the exterior; the west door beneath has label stops in the shape of the "Pelham buckle", a familiar feature in the area, denoting the generosity of the Pelham family in 14th century donor.

Inside, the interior is dark thanks to some particularly heavy Victorian glass, but the nave at least retains its 18th century box pews. There are three bays to the nave arcade, and a king-post roof (possibly 14th century), but eyes are drawn to the church’s most prized possession, the Jefferay monument, in the south transept.

This huge 16th century monument, executed in pink alabaster, commemorates Sir John Jefferay (d. 1578), Chief Baron of the Exchequer under Elizabeth I, and MP for Arundel and East Grinstead. He lies in his legal robes, some height above his first wife, Dame Alice, also recumbent. Very unusually for the period, they are flanked by the upright, life-sized figures of their only daughter, Elizabeth, and her husband Sir Edward Montagu. (Only one other monument of this period in England has standing figures). Below is a kneeling grand-daughter, also Elizabeth.

Lady Elizabeth Montagu is dressed in the most incredibly elaborate costume, with a tall collared ruff, a remarkably revealing cleavage and a huge farthingale; Pevsner described her costume as ‘preposterous’. More humorously, a friend of mine suggested her outfit would make a perfect model for a toilet-roll holder. Regardless, the monument is generally well preserved.

Other monuments include a charming wall tablet to William Jefferay, (d. 1611) with his wife, attended by his two sons and seven daughters. The tablet records that all the children survived – a rarity in the 17th century. The eldest son, Thomas, emigrated to America in 1631 and is recorded as living in Weymouth, Connecticut in the New England registers.

In the nave floor is a brass commemorating John Jefferay, the first of the local Jefferay family, who died in 1512, and his wife Agnes. Other memorials include a fine polished black stone slab in the chancel to the Bromfield and French families, local iron-founders.

Other furnishings of note include the 18th century pulpit, its sounding board with an unusual ogee cap; and a rather intimidating 20th century carved wooden eagle lecturn, brought from a derelict church at South Heighton.

Chiddingly, near Lewes, East Sussex BN8 6HT

St Bartholomew, Chalvington

This little church, with its pretty weather-boarded bell turret, has a nave dating from the late 13th century, with windows mostly in the late Early English style, with simple bar tracery. The chancel dates from the 14th century and its windows have the more familiar Decorated Gothic form. Outside, the east and west walls of the nave are tile hung, and above the north doorway are fragments of Norman zig-zag carving.

The interior is unusual for the absence of a chancel arch - in fact the chancel walls project into the nave. The east end of the nave roof has a most complex arrangement of beams, with six braces attached to the easternmost king-post.

The most interesting features are the stained glass: in the curvilinear Decorated east window are 14th century fragments relating to the donor, the rector, Thomas Diliwyt, who held the living between 1388 and 1409. The glass includes the inscription: John Diliwyt Rector Huise Ecclesie Me Fieri Fecit. But better still are the remains in the south east nave window, which depict St Thomas a Becket, dressed as a Bishop, his right hand raised in blessing and his left holding a crozier, with the letters ‘S. T.OM.AS’. This glass is thought to be late 13th century, making it the oldest in East Sussex.

Church Farm Lane, Chalvington, Hailsham, East Sussex BN27 3TD

St John the Baptist, Ripe

Ripe is an exceptionally pretty village, complete with pub and village shop. The church is set at one end of the village, overlooked by two impressive houses and the junior school.

History

The village is mentioned in the Domesday Book, appearing as Achiltone, with various spellings. Although there was certainly a church here in the 11th and 12th centuries, the present nave and south porch date from the 13th, with a late Decorated chancel (c. 1350) and a fine Perpendicular tower, which bears the buckles of the Pelham family as label stops, indicating their patronage.

The church

The interior is exceptionally attractive, and all eyes are immediately drawn to the east window, with its beautiful curvilinear tracery. The north-east corner of the nave retains the two doors of a staircase that once led to the rood loft, and between them and the chancel arch is a delicate Decorated arch indicating the site of a nave altar, with a plainer matching one on the south side; records legacies left for two altars, one to St John and St Dominic, and one to Our Lady of Pity. To the west, the tower has a very handsome Perpendicular window.

Furnishings of note include a much restored late 13th or early 14th century font, a fine sedile and piscina in the chancel, and substantial fragments of mediaeval glass in the otherwise clear east window. The outside door jambs of the south door are worth a look for their graffiti, which include a votive cross on the east jamb, and a heraldic shield with three Pelham buckles on the west jamb.

Outside, there are some fine 18th century headstones with fearsome skulls, and in the west graveyard is the grave of Malcolm Lowry (1909-1957), the troubled writer best known for his novel ‘Under the Volcano’, who died while living in a boarding house in the village.

Church Lane, Ripe, Lewes, East Sussex BN8 6AU

All Saints, Laughton, Sussex

This pretty and unusually village church sits at the end of a long lane from the crossroads in the centre of the village, set in a spacious churchyard.

History

The area has been settled since Palaeolithic times, with a continuous history through the Bronze Age, Roman and Saxon periods. First mentioned in the Domesday book, it is probable that there was a church here in Saxon times.

The present building, however, is firmly 13th century, with a fine 15th century tower and chancel arch, and a chancel replaced in the 18th century, in an early example of the ‘Gothick’ style. The tower in particular is of interest, one of a number in the area financed by the local Pelham family, and the west door carries the distinctive ‘Pelham buckles’ as label stops – recalling the tradition that Sir John Pelham and another knight captured the French King at the battle of Poitiers in 1356, for which Pelham was awarded the buckle of the King’s sword belt.

The church

The church has a very wide, unaisled nave leading to a chancel in the east and the tower room in the west. Two lancet windows in the nave date it to the 13th century, but the others are later perpendicular Gothic, along with the tower and chancel arches. The nave roof has fine old tie-beams and king-posts.

The chancel is sizeable, square and rather bare inside; the east window is a decent attempt at Perpendicular, but the two south windows have very odd tracery, with round-headed arches with hexagonal upper lights. Between them is a priest’s door, framed on the outside by a most impressive ogee arch. Other external details of interest include large, diagonally set crocket pinnacles and a band of quatrefoils on the jambs.

Furnishings of note include two helms, one Tudor from about 1540, and one from about 1660. These may have carried at a knight’s funeral or hung above his tomb. Behind the altar, the screen incorporates the tracery of the mediaeval rood screen within more modern wooden panelling. There are piscinas and aumbries in the nave, indicating the place of nave altars.

Memorials of note include an impressive war memorial, and several to the Pelhams between the 17th and 19th centuries, including one to Sir James Pelham (1792-1873), Lord Mayor of London (1848), which includes a pretty carving of a ship, recalling his naval career.

Church Lane, Laughton, Lewes, East Sussex BN8 6AH

St Andrew, Jevington

Jevington has an impressive church for a small village, with a well preserved Saxon tower, set in a steep-sided valley running down through the South Downs to the sea.

The tower is obviously the earliest part: although later altered, the remains of the short, robust Saxon windows with Roman tiles as crude voussoirs, and the baluster shaft on the bell openings, are impressive. The date is less certain: the church guide claims 900-950, though others claim a mid to late 11th century date. Inside, the tower arch is also probably 11th century (the openings either side are Victorian).

There must have been a nave here when the tower was built, although the details of the present nave – for example the south porch – date from around 1200. The chancel was built around 1230, although the East Window is later in date, around 1300, on the cusp of the Early English – Decorated divide. The squints either side of the chancel arch were inserted during a Victorian restoration. The north aisle added later in the 13th century. This is unusual, with a central transverse arch, presumably added for strength. The north wall lancets are original in style but renewed, whereas the windows in the south nave wall date from around 1500. The heavy, dark roof is also from around this period, with alternating hammer-beams and kingposts.

The church has some unusual and interesting fittings. Most celebrated is the late Saxon sculpture on the north wall, showing Christ in a loin cloth, piercing a rather diminutive beast with a cross-topped lance, with Urnes-style interlacing at his feet. This may depict Psalm 91, verse 13: You will tread upon the lion and the cobra; you will trample the great lion and the serpent.

The square font is 14th century in style, with corner pillars on the broad stem, and there is a 14th century piscina in the chancel. Various memorials are also of interest: in the south chancel, a large monument to Charles Rochester (d. 1758) has a bold portrait in a medallion, with his wife Leonora (d. 1756) standing just behind him. Opposite is a cartouche with pilasters and broken pediment to Robert Rochester (d.1723), two sons and a grandson.

On the south wall at the west end of the chancel are three brasses to the Markwick family; that to Elizabeth (d. 1608) was lost for over 90 years before being found in an antique shop. Opposite, a black marble tablet to a former Rector, Nathaniel Collier, depicts the date as 1691/2 – demonstrating the dispute over the start of the New Year (25th of March in the Julian calendar or 1st January in the Gregorian calendar) – not settled until 1752.

On leaving, go via the churchyard towards the village, through the fine, centrally hinged Tapsel Gate.

Church Lane, Jevington, Polegate, East Sussex BN26 5QE

St Peter, Folkington

Found at the end of a narrow lane and surrounded by dense woodland, Folkington’s diminutive church, with its intimate interior, nestles in the lower slopes of the South Downs. Its parish today is home to just 60 parishioners.

The church is a simple 13th century building with lancet windows, neither aisles nor chancel arch, and the familiar Sussex flint walls and red tiled roof. Part of the dark king-post roof, as well as the bell turret, may also be of this date. From the 15th century come two nave windows, as well as the attractive octagonal font, with a moulded bowl and panelled stem. The Victorians rebuilt the west wall and inserted the window with Y-tracery.

The nave contains a group of spacious and high 18th century box pews, the seating arranged to face the pulpit, which may be late 18th or early 19th century. The sanctuary contains a cartouche memorial to Lady Barbara Thomas, (d. 1697), with two putti, opposite one to her husband, Sir William Thomas, Bt. (d. 1720), surmounted by his coat of arms, an urn and two more veiled putti.

The inscription reads (in rather odd rhyme):

A right worthy Gentleman
Deservedly Remarkable
For his great Zeal for ye Publick good
For his generous Hospitality
For his strict Justice
And extensive Charity

Outside in the graveyard is the tombstone to Elizabeth David (1913-1992), the cookery writer who did so much to open British minds to continental food. It is carved with vegetables and a cooking pot. Over the wall, a wild garden contains two sculptural images of the Long Man of Wilmington; unlike the original, they stride defiantly forward, proudly displaying their manhood...

Folkington Road, Folkington, Polegate, East Sussex BN26 5SD