Sullington's ancient church is situated at the end of a mile-long lane, south-east of the modern…read morevillage of Storrington. The lane turns south off the busy A283 road and, immediately, you feel far from the modern world. It is like a journey back in time, and one of the loveliest corners of Sussex I have visited in quite a long time. The church itself is located next to a sprawling farm, which has an impressive 17th century tithe barn. It is surrounded by a church yard full of ancient yews, with lovely, sweeping views up to the South Downs. It is listed at Grade I. The church is also ancient, dating from around 1050. The stumpy tower show signs of Saxon 'long and short' work, with corner stones laid alternately horizontally and vertically, and the nave - tall, long and narrow, could also only be Saxon. The main west door (there is no porch) is clearly early Norman, but has been rather over-restored. Much of the rest of the building was rebuilt around 1220 in the Early English style, with tall single lancet windows. The exception is the East Window, a delicate Decorated Gothic design from 1295. There is a small chantry chapel on the north side, dating from 1389, separated from the nave by an elegant two-bay arcade. A very wide 13th century arch separates nave from the chancel, on the right hand side of which is a small low window and the remains of a squint, which would have allowed lepers and others not allowed into the church to watch the service. There are some interesting furnishings, and pride of place must go to the early 13th century effigy of a knight in armour, dating from the reign of Henry III. Although badly damaged (probably in the Reformation), what remains is of high quality. It is thought to be of Sir William de Covert: the de Coverts were local Lords of the Manor. His legs are crossed in the manner of a crusader, and a 'de Covert' is mentioned at the siege of Acre (1189-91). Could this be him? Next to the tomb is a 14th century Perpendicular font, and further along is a Saxon tombstone, depicting an elongated cross, now propped up against the north tower arch. The other furnishings are mostly Victorian, but nicely done, and there is some attractive modern stained glass. It marries ancient and modern together perfectly.

This is a beautiful old church. it is not over ornate andhad a wonderful feel inside. Outside it…read moreis up a country land next to a farm's barn. There are Yew trees surrounding the church that must be over a thousand years old. It is a lovely place to go for some quiet reflection. My half brother is buried in the small churchyard, with a lovely view across the surrounding area.

Ditchling is an attractive little village, built on a cross-roads in the shadow of the South Downs,…read morewith narrow streets which would be lovely were it not for the volume of traffic. But standing above all this is the large and handsome church of St Margaret, situated on a rise above the village green, duck pond and next to the little museum. The present church was built on the site of a Saxon church mentioned in the Domesday Book, the remains of which have been found in parts of the lower walls of the nave. The earliest dateable part of the church is the South Aisle, built by Cluniac monks from the Priory in Lewes in the 12th century, which suggests that the present Nave must have already have been there. The chancel dates from around 1260, the tower later on in the 13th century, and the south chapel called the Abergavenny chapel from the 14th century. Although the arches of the very modest south aisle arcade are simple and plain, the Early English Gothic in the Chancel is unusually rich: the single lancet windows all have shafts with stiff-leaf capitals, and have hoods with human heads at the ends, which may represent Henry III and Queen Eleanor. The crossing arches are later around 1300 but equally rich in style, with more stiff-leaf carving and clustered shafts. The chapel has Decorated Gothic windows, but again with shafts and hoods which may have been re-used from the chancel. The main furnishing of note is the monument to Henry Poole (d. 1580), moved in 1863 from the North Transept to its present position in the Abergavenny Chapel. It originally had four shields, but one was knocked out to 'admit a stove pipe' in Victorian times. Official vandalism is nothing new!

Most people visiting Pevensey get no further than the castle, but its mediaeval church is also very…read moreattractive and well worth a visit. History Although there is some architectural evidence of late 12th century work, the present chancel dates from the reign of King John 1200-1216, at the time the castle was being expanded, with the nave built a little later. As Pevensey declined as a port, the church fell into disrepair, and the chancel was walled off from the nave in the 17th century, to be used for sheltering cattle, storing coals and hiding contraband brandy for smugglers! Restored tastefully in 1875-1900 under George Gilbert Scott Jnr, it remains an excellent and complete example of the Early English Gothic style. The church From the outside, the church is built largely of flint, the most notable feature being the attractive tower, of three stages: Scott rebuilt the second stage and added the third, but kept the broach spire design of the original. The north chapel (built on the site of an early chapel) is also Scott's work. On entering into the nave, the most striking feature are the wonderful arcades of double-chamfered arches, which rest on piers which alternate between octagonal and a clustered quatrefoil designs. There are five bays to the south, and three to the north, leading to a heavily buttressed tower arch. With the exception of the west window, all are lancets, including those of the tall clerestory. All is roofed off by a fine king-post roof. The chancel is entered through a fine, tall Gothic arch of the purest form, with elaborately carved stiff-leaf capitals, which date it to around 1230. The chancel is almost as long as the nave, and has three elegant lancets at the East End, with another two lancets paired on the south wall, with attractive shafts and mouldings on the inside. Fittings of interest include a 13th century stone coffin lid with a cross design in the south aisle, the crude Norman font, but most impressive is the alabaster monument to John Wheatley (d. 1616), which includes an effigy lying on his side. he contributed to £40 to the fitting out of a ship from Pevensey to fight the Spanish Armada. Two piers also have niches for statues, doubtless disposed of during the Reformation.

As well as being one of the prettiest churches in Sussex, St James's church in Ashurst is also one…read moreof the most unusual and complex. It makes a fascinating challenge for students of architecture to 'read', and is a grade I listed building. Situated in the Adur Valley, 3 miles north of Steyning, Ashurst is a small scattered village, set in a thickly wooded landscape. The church is on a small lane, half a mile beyond the village, and almost disappears into the woodland. The first impression of the church is of its massive, squat tower, capped by a shingle spire, with thick-set buttresses. There is an attractive wooden porch with a red-tiled roof, and heavy Horsham slate covers what appears to be the nave. But from the north, a more complex (but still attractive) pattern appears: a jumble of roofs of different heights, with a lean-to and a tile-hung end wall. Inside, things are no easier, but the dominant feature is a huge, single king-post roof covering both nave and south aisle, springing from the arcade. The nave is actually to the north; the lean-to is a small western extension, with a low roof with heavy beams. A Norman doorway with a simple rounded arch pierces the north wall. The chancel is more conventional, and the same size as the nave. The south aisle is wider than both, and at the west end merges with the tower, and at the east end forms what must have been a small chapel, now the home of the organ. An arcade separates nave and chancel: the western arch is rounded, the other three arches pointed, the whole sitting on sturdy round columns with square bases. Some of the capitals have early stiff-leaf decoration. You can be forgiven for being confused, but what seems to have happened is this: a nave was built in the early 12th century, and some time around 1180-1200 the larger south aisle was built, and possibly the tower and lean-to also, and the whole covered by the huge king-post roof. The Chancel itself seems to have been rebuilt in the 13th century, but there is no arch between nave and chancel, just a heavy beam, with quatrefoil decoration. The arch at the east end of the aisle is apparently Victorian. The west windows are both Early English lancets, and those in the chancel are 13th Decorated, with trefoil heads. There are some furnishings of note: a lovely marble font of 13th century date, with a delicate arcade pattern on one side; a 'vamping horn' an early kind of megaphone hangs on one wall; dated 1770, it is actually a replica. This may have used by the choir during services to 'beef up' the tenor or bass line. There are also a number of memorials, dating from the 17th century, including one outside on the east wall, to a former Rector. A more modern memorial records the gift of the Choir Vestry in memory of the actor Laurence Olivier: he lived in Ashurst, and his funeral service was conducted here in 1989. The whole effect is a most attractive and intimate jumble, dominated by the arcade and roof. The church is still actively used for worship, and has a loyal congregation. I think it is one of the nicest churches I have visited in a long time.

St Andrew's is an impressive neo-Gothic Victorian church just south of Worthing station…read more The church was built by the well-known Victorian church architect Sir Arthur Blomfield in 1887-88, executed in the Early English Gothic style, of flint with stone dressings throughout. The chancel has a noteworthy screen and carved wooden reredos, as well as an impressive set of stained glass windows by Kempe. The adjacent hall and original vicarage are co-located and form an impressively uniform architectural grouping. Services are in the Anglo-Catholic tradition.

Spent my boyhood as a choirboy here when Fr. Meade was Priest. I always felt it was a beautiful…read morebuilding although some might think it is quite sombre by todays' type of building.

Twineham occupies an idyllic spot in the Sussex Weald. Although just a few miles west of the busy…read moreA23 dual-carriageway from London to Brighton, this feels like typical rural England, with its lush pasture, hedges thick with mature trees, scattered villages and winding lanes. It is believed that the name 'Twineham' is early English in origin, meaning 'the homestead between the streams'. The church sits at the end of a small lane off the minor road which forms of village of Twineham, in a pretty, wooded churchyard, next to the village primary school. On my visit, the churchyard was idyllic - full of bluebells and other spring flowers, and warmed by the early evening sun. But St Peter's Twineham's is more than just your average village church. It unusually survived mediaeval rebuilding in stone, but when it was rebuilt in the 1516, early in Henry VIII's reign, the new church was built in the very latest building material brick. It is thus one of the oldest brick churches in the country, as well as being one of the last Parish Churches to be completely rebuilt prior to the reformation. Part of its churchyard was also used by Quakers for their burials, between 1694 and 1732 an unusual compromise, as dissenters often faced opposition and persecution. The church is conventional in plan, with a west tower, nave, chancel and porch, and small, narrow window openings. The old brickwork and mortar of the walls has weathered into a beautiful patina over the years, and the roofs are covered with heavy brown 'Horsham slate' stone tiles. The tower has a spire with wooden shingles a Sussex specialty. A sturdy half-timbered porch completes the picture, which contains the remains of some old wooden memorials. Inside, the interior is clean and whitewashed. The walls are nearly two feet thick, and the windows have wide, splayed openings. A shallow Tudor pointed arch separates nave and chancel, but what catches the eye is the picture above the chancel arch of the Holy Family. Once thought to have been by the Italian master Camillo Procaccini, its provenance is now less clear. Below it, there is beautiful Elizabethan woodwork of the Squire's Pew at the front, delicately moulded with classical arched and lozenge motifs, and an impressive Jacobean pulpit. The east window is said to be by Kempe, but is unsigned. The chancel roof may contain timbers from the original church, but this cannot be proven. The hexagonal font is older than the present building, and may date back to the earliest recorded church in 1226. Marks show where there were once staples to lock the Holy Water in the font to stop it being used for superstitious purposes. Under the tower, the ringing gallery can be seen from the nave the church has a peal of 5 bells. There is also a list of Parish priests and Vicars from 1287 until the present day. The church is the centre of an active parish life details on the parish website.

East Chiltington is a small village situated at the end of a lane, itself off a small side road on…read morethe B2116 from Lewes to Burgess Hill. Too small to warrant a dedication, the church was originally a chapel before it became the parish church. It's a wonderfully tranquil spot. The church is mediaeval in origin, with a 12th century nave and a squat 13th century tower, with a tiled pyramidal cap. It has a very attractive exterior, more so because of the ancient yew that guards its entrance said to be at least 1,500 years old. The crown of the tree has long since disappeared, and to keep it upright the villagers have filled the trunk with concrete. Very odd, but it seems to have worked. Once inside, the atmosphere betrays the work of heavy Victorian restoration which, despite the lovely scale small and intimate has nevertheless left feeling it a little soulless, especially the rather large and new-looking chancel arch, the neat tiled floor and modern pews. There are a few items worth noting, though: there's an original 12th-century Norman round-headed window, barely 6 inches wide, piercing the South wall next to the porch, and the inside arch of the South Door also looks ancient. Most of the other windows are Victorian inserts. The roof, with its heavy tie beams, is 17th century, and the pulpit and solitary bell date from the 18th. But it's well worth a look if you are in the area walking, or visiting the nearby Jolly Sportsman pub.

Tucked away on a dead-end lane a mile away from the modern village that bears its name,…read moreWivelsfield's church is a delightful amalgam of building from different periods. History Wivelsfield is first recorded as a village in an 8th century Anglo-Saxon charter as Wifelesfelda, and a church may have existed from around this date. There was certainly a church here before the Norman conquest, as the old Saxon North doorway testifies. The church was first expanded in the 13th century, with an enlarged chancel, the south arcade of two bays and a south chapel. During the 14th century, the nave was extended westwards and the 15th century saw the south aisle wall rebuilt (c. 1500), along with a porch and the addition of the tower. A gallery was inserted in the west of the nave in 1716. Thus it remained until the Victorians removed the gallery and added the north aisle in 1869, thankfully preserving the Saxon doorway by incorporating it in the new north wall. They also added the porch and extended the chancel, incorporating the original East Window in the east end of the north aisle. The church The most striking features on entering the churchyard are firstly a large yew on the left supposedly over a thousand years old and the original Saxon doorway. This is in typical Saxon style tall and narrow, with a carved arch of two orders, carved with simple reeding decoration. The modern entrance is via the south porch, but before entering, take a look at the 14th century west doorway, and then the main south window of the tower: the arch has two carved label stops, on the left an owl and on the right a man playing a rather large wind instrument. Sadly, they are rather eroded. The church guide implies they may have been using Celtic imagery here, with the owl for wisdom and the music for joy and praise. Inside, the south arcade of the nave is in classic Early English style, and the south chapel has a distinctive single lancet window with wide splays. The north arcade and aisle are clearly Victorian, but the east window of the north aisle, a triple lancet under an arch, is the former east window, re-set. The chancel and south chapel have piscinas and the chancel has what may be an Easter Sepulchre, with a small attractive stained glass window depicting St John the Baptist (now lit from the vestry behind). The furnishings include a plain Victorian font and a pulpit. The base of the pulpit is taken from the original Jacobean sounding board, turned upside down.