St Paul, Knightsbridge

St Paul’s, Knightsbridge, is one of those surprises that London specialises in: so close to the busy thoroughfares of Knightsbridge and Belgrave Square, so close to the touristy hot-spot of Hyde Park Corner, and yet unknown to most of those who pass by.

Perhaps that is to the benefit of those who do know about it: a church that is open on most days, its neo-Gothic splendour - and splendour is the right word here - providing an oasis of calm and tranquility in the midst of rushing madness.

History

The need for church here was becoming clearly evident in the early 19th century, as the development of the Belgravia and Knightsbridge areas started in earnest. The church was built mostly by private subscription: Thomas Cundy the younger was appointed architect, and the work was undertaken 1840-1843.

The church was perhaps the first in London to champion the principles of the Oxford Movement, which emphasised a return to the rituals and traditions of the Catholic church, and debates and controversy arising from this dominated the first 50 years of its life. The Chancel was lengthened in 1871-2 and again in 1892 by the well-known church architect G F Bodley, with the addition of a side chapel by the equally well-known A Blomfield in 1889.

Architecture

The church itself is built in the Perpendicular Gothic style, of yellow brick with Bath stone dressings. It has a prominent (though to me, slightly incongruous) western clock tower.

The exterior is handsome enough, but rather plain. It does not prepare you at all for the interior: the first impression is one of a vast space - the nave is both wide and high - and of the unusual retention of large galleries, supported on cast-iron columns on the north, south and west sides. The Chancel is separated by a full and elaborate rood screen - the work of Bodley, as is the design of much of the rest of the lavish decorative scheme, including the East Window.

The theme of elaborate decoration continues unabated throughout the church: the walls have tiled panels depicting scenes from the life of Christ (by Daniel Bell) interspersed with painted stations of the Cross (by Gerald Moira), and statuary and paintings abound. My favourite is actually the ceiling, a wonderful structure supported by impressive wooden ceiling trusses. Unsurprisingly, it is a Grade-II* Listed Building.

The church is today centre of a very busy parish life. In its past, it has been associated with the great and the good, although these days it emphasises its inclusiveness. It has a rich tradition of music, and is also a venue for regular concerts.

Wilton Place, Knightsbridge, London SW1X 8SH Nearest tube: Hyde Park Corner

The Church of the Good Shepherd

Pevsner states in the Sussex volume of his Buildings of England series that Lullington church '..will not easily be forgotten'. Once visited, I am sure you will agree.

The church is one of those which has lost its village: what remains of this little hamlet is now at the bottom of the hill, half a mile away. Just a single house stands next door.

The easiest approach to the church is in fact from Alfriston, via the footpath which crosses the 'white bridge’ over the Cuckmere River. You continue straight ahead, cross the South Downs Way, walk up a short flight of steps to the right of Plonker’s Barn, and rise gently up the hill until the path enters a thickly wooded copse. Just beyond the copse is the little clearing where the church sits. There is a narrow, slippery brick path ahead to the adjacent lane, but it’s hard to find from the road.

Once there, it becomes clear that it is not just its remoteness that makes it special: this is Sussex’s smallest church, and may well be the smallest in England. Once rather larger, the church is said to have burned down in Cromwellian times, and the villagers rebuilt only the Chancel (and not even all of that) as their church. It seats just 20 people; services are held in the summer only, as there is neither heating nor lighting.

The exterior is of flint, with a red tiled roof and a weather-boarded and shingled bell turret. The extent of the original church can be traced on the ground. Inside, the details inside suggest a late 13th century or 14th century date, with Early English and trefoil lancet windows, and a small piscina. But it is the atmosphere you come here for, not the architecture, and that is very special indeed.

Lullington (off the Litlington to Wilmington lane), East Sussex, BN26 5QY

Saint Andrew, Alfriston

Alfriston is the largest, best preserved and most touristy of all the villages in the Cuckmere Valley. It’s little High Street is thronged by traffic and tourists all year round. The parish church of Saint Andrew, however, seems to stand aloof from all this: standing on a bluff in a loop of the Cuckmere River, it dominates the spacious village green.

It was built in 1360, in the plan of a Greek cross, the architecture presenting perfectly the change from Decorated Gothic to Perpendicular: there are windows of both types throughout the church. The crossing piers have unusual concave sides and matching capitals. The Easter Sepulchre, Piscina and Sedilia are elaborate and full of ogee arches and gables.

What surprises most visitors first time, however, is its size: for a small village, this is one big church, which has won it the epithet 'the Cathedral of the Downs’. Although memorials are few, it has some superb stained glass: a mediaeval figure of Saint Alphege high in the north transept, and one by Kempe (1912) in the south. The bells date from 1390 onwards and, because of the central crossing tower, are rung from the floor of the church.

Once outside, admire the view: next door, in the care of the National Trust, is the Old Priest’s House and gardens, worth a visit in its own right.

The Tye, Alfrsiton, East Sussex BN26 5TL

St Michael & All Angels, Berwick

Berwick is a surprising little village: in many ways it is no prettier, charming or attractive than dozens of other villages on the edge of the Sussex Downs. But its church draws big crowds every year, with a constant stream of visitors wending their way down the single little lane to St Michael’s.

What they find is a conventional building, dating from the 12th or 13th century, set in an attractive churchyard. The exterior is standard Sussex: flint walls, tiled roof and a shingled broach spire, all nearly hidden by an ancient yew.

Inside, a south aisle arch suggests a 13th or early 14th century century date, there’s a 14th century Decorated Gothic Easter Sepulchre in the chancel, and a primitive Saxon font at the west end.

But, if I’m honest, you won’t notice any of those, because what grabs the attention are the modern wall paintings and the astonishing north aisle arcade. The latter dates from a restoration in 1856, and its strange style - a Gothic arch on twin columns - was hated by Pevsner: 'illiterate and clumsy’ he states in the Buildings of England. The church guide calls it 'innovative’. It’s certainly different. Perhaps more successful is the idea of filling the large Victorian windows with clear glass: this lets light flood in, and the Sussex countryside provides a stunning vista.

And then there are the paintings: these date from 1942-3, in the midst of war, a bold idea of the then Bishop of Chichester. The idea was to revive the mediaeval tradition of wall paintings found so often in other Sussex churches, in the hope that others might follow.

Duncan Grant, Vanessa Bell and Quentin Bell (part of the 'Bloomsbury Group’) were the artists, and the subjects were traditional biblical scenes, given modern and local twists: Christ is shown in Majesty while servicemen in World War II uniforms look on; the Nativity is acted out in a Sussex barn.

The colours are bright and fascinating, but whether you like them or not is a matter of taste. I’m not entirely convinced - the overall scheme hangs together well enough, but the plethora of colour on the architectural details is a bit too much for me. But there is only one way to decide, of course: go and have a look for yourself.

Berwick, near Polegate, East Sussex BN26 6SP

Alciston Church

Alciston is a Domesday Village whose name derives from the Anglo-Saxon “Aelfsige’s Tun” (Aelfsige’s Place). As well as several farms and a good pub, the Grade-I listed church is adjacent to a fine 14th century tithe barn and mediaeval dovecote.

The church dates back at least as far as the Norman period, but excavations have revealed remains of an Anglo-Saxon apse beneath the east end. The chancel was rebuilt in the 12th or 13th century and shortened in the 15th century - the remains of a third lancet window, chopped in half, are visible outside. The porch was added in the 15th century, though its outer doorway is a fine 13th century example of Early English Gothic. It was rebuilt in 1951.

Inside, the chancel has a single, small Norman window, but there are Early English lancets and a trefoil-headed lancet, as well as later Victorian additions. The chancel has a blocked priest’s door, visible inside and out. The exterior walls have a number of mediaeval scratch sundials - used to determine the times of the Mass. The impressive kingpost roof was rebuilt in 1898.

The fittings are spartan: there is a 15th century font, and an unusual free-standing organ (in need, apparently, of repair), an 18th century altar table and 16th century chair. But it’s still an atmospheric place in a wonderfully rural setting.

The Village, Aciston, East Sussex

St Mary, Selmeston

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Selmeston is a tiny one-street village just off the A27, with a lovely little church. The village and church were mentioned in the Domesday Book, although most of what now remains of the latter dates from a Victorian restoration in 1867.

The church is built of flint in the typical Sussex style, with a red-tiled roof and a tall bell-turret with tiled walls and a shingled spire.

Inside, the nave is dominated by the unusual wooden arcade, with octagonal wooden columns with curved braces rather than arches. These are 1867 replacements for the originals. The windows are also copies of the originals, the one in the chancel with glass by Kempe. On the floor is an attractive memorial ledger stone to Ann Cox (d. 1741), and in the chancel a 16th monument, used as an Easter Sepulchre. The interior has the following inscription:

1532
Here lyeth Dam Beatris Bray
svm tyme the wyffe of Syr
Edward Bray and dawgter of
Raffe Sherley of Wyston
and Wyfe of Edward Elderton

Another memorial in the vestry floor has very strange wording indeed, almost a riddle: It reads:

Here lyeth ye body of Henry Rochester
Dyed May 28 1646
Apostrophe AD
Omnes.
This life that’s packt with ielovsles and fears
I love not. That’s beyond the lists of fears.
That life for me. For here I cannot breathe
my prayers ovt. There I shall have breath
to say Ovr Father that’s in heaven wth me
where chores of sancts and innocents there be
Christianos.
No sooner christened bvt possession
I took of the heavenlie habitation.

Strange indeed.

The Street, Selmeston, off the A27, East Sussex, BN26 6UD

All Saints, Westdean

The modern village of Westdean (or West Dean) near Seaford is a thickly wooded and hidden place, albeit well known to those hiking the South Downs Way, which passes through it. Few will know that the village was once surrounded by open Downland – the surrounding Friston Forest is a 20th century creation, and fewer still will know it was once important enough to be visited by both Alfred the Great (in 885) and Edward I in 1305.

But perhaps more will make the short detour to visit the charming and ancient church of All Saints. The exact age of the church is not known, but dates probably from the end of the Saxon period, around the time of the Norman Conquest. Subsequent additions date from the 13th and 14th centuries, right up to sensitive Victorian and modern restorations.

On walking up the lane towards it, the most notable feature of the little flint church is the broad, heavily buttressed west tower, with a half-hipped tiled spire, likened in the church guide to a monk’s cowl, its windows resembling a face. The lower part is Norman, the upper part 14th century, although the large Perpendicular window is Victorian. The porch is also Victorian, but is happily a gentle addition to the church.

Inside, the plan is simple: the tower room opens through a 14th century arch into a nave and chancel of equal height and width, with no chancel arch. On the north wall is a small Saxon window, the others being either 14th century Decorated or later Victorian replacements. The roof is modern but in keeping, and was rebuilt in 1984.

The church is quite remarkable for its range of fittings, both ancient and modern. On the north wall in the chancel are two Decorated Gothic canopies, the first (west) dating from the late 13th century and the second early one from the 14th century. They are, alas, missing their effigies, but almost certainly belonged to Sir John Heringod and his wife Isabella: he was Lord of the Manor and a member of Parliament for Sussex, and died c. 1325. To the east is the whimsical 17th century monument to Susanna Tirrey, the memorial tablet flanked by precocious cherubs holding a spade and upside-down torch.

Opposite is the large and impressive alabaster wall monument to William Thomas (d. 1639), a wealthy citizen of Lewes who bought the Manor of West Dean in 1611, and his wife: their kneeling figures face each other under an elaborate pediment, complete with flanking angels.

More modern monuments comprise bronze busts to commemorate the painter Sir Oswald Birley (d. 1952) by Clare Sheridan, and to Lord Waverley by Jacob Epstein, unveiled in 1960 by Harold Macmillan. The octagonal font at the west end is 14th century, as is the shell-like piscina in the chancel.

As you leave, the clergy house in front of you is worth a look: dating from the late 13th century, this lovely domestic dwelling is a rare survivor.

Westdean, near Seaford, East Sussex, BN25 4AL