All Saints Church, Lindfield is a

Grade II* listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

Church of England church in

Lindfield, West Sussex Lindfield is a village and civil parish in the Mid Sussex District of West Sussex, England. The parish lies to the north-east of Haywards Heath, and stands on the upper reaches of the River Ouse. The name 'Lindfield' means 'open land with li ...

, England, built in the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

in the

Early English style English Gothic is an architectural style that flourished from the late 12th until the mid-17th century. The style was most prominently used in the construction of cathedrals and churches. Gothic architecture's defining features are pointed a ...

. The church is built of

Sussex Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...

and

Ardingly Ardingly ( ) is an English village and civil parish in the Mid Sussex district of West Sussex, England. The village is in the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty about south of London and east-north-east of the county town of Chic ...

sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...

and dates mainly from the early 14th century. In the late 16th and early 17th centuries the church fell into decline and became almost derelict. It was fully restored in the mid-19th century, largely thanks to the efforts of the curate Reverend Francis Hill Sewell, a Cambridge graduate who remained the incumbent at Lindfield until his death in 1862.

History

Anglo-Saxon origins

The church is associated with the earliest beginnings of the village of

. Lindfield first appeared as Lindefeldia, "open land with lime trees", in a

Saxon The Saxons, sometimes called the Old Saxons or Continental Saxons, were a Germanic people of early medieval "Old" Saxony () which became a Carolingian " stem duchy" in 804, in what is now northern Germany. Many of their neighbours were, like th ...

charter of 765 AD, in which King Ealdwulf granted lands for the building of a

minster church Minster is an honorific title given to particular churches in England and Wales, most notably York Minster in Yorkshire, Westminster Abbey in London and Southwell Minster in Nottinghamshire. The term ''minster'' is first found in royal fou ...

, which may be on the same site as the present church.

12th century

In 1150 Archbishop

Theobald Theobald is a Germanic dithematic name, composed from the elements '' theod-'' "people" and ''bald'' "bold". The name arrived in England with the Normans. The name occurs in many spelling variations, including Theudebald, Diepold, Theobalt, Ty ...

confirmed the grant of the Manor of Lindfield and its land to the College of Canons at South Malling, near

Lewes Lewes () is the county town of East Sussex, England. The town is the administrative centre of the wider Lewes (district), district of the same name. It lies on the River Ouse, Sussex, River Ouse at the point where the river cuts through the Sou ...

, whose dean – as the archbishop's representative – became the rector of the church. The post required him to be resident in Lindfield for at least three months of the year, and to direct necessary repairs to the church.Field, p. 6.

14th century

The present church dates mainly from the early 14th century. It was built of Sussex and Ardingly

ashlar with a Horsham stone slab roof. The tower has a shingled spire with an iron weather vane. The church consists of a nave of two bays with two bay lower

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the Choir (architecture), choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may termi ...

s. The West Tower also dates from the 14th century and was built in three stages with a trefoiled window to the west on the bottom stage, a lancet window to the middle stage and an Oculus (architecture), oculus window to the top stage. The chancel was built with north and south chapels with typical English Gothic architecture, Late Perpendicular thin piers.

17th century

In the late 16th and early 17th centuries the church fell into decline and became almost derelict. In July 1617 Archbishop George Abbot (bishop), George Abbot granted a licence to the churchwardens "to build the said church then in ruins without battlements". The state of the church continued to be a burden on the parish, whose membership numbered only 290 "conformist" and 10 "non-conformist" ratepayers. One Thomas Pelling was fined £5.16.3d for "refusing to pay his taxation for the repayring of the decayed church of Lindfeild".Field, p. 8.

18th century

During the 18th and 19th centuries the state of the church continued to be a problem, and both church and parish were in such a state of neglect that it was said that "no part of England was more desolate". In 1758 records from Lambeth Palace show that the then curate stated that he was allowed just £20 per year and that this was inadequate, and he appealed to the Archbishop for an increase – which was rejected. This led to the absence of any officiating priest, and services were no longer held.

19th century

In the mid-19th century the income from rectoral tithes remained low at just £35 per annum. This sorry state of affairs changed in 1841 with the arrival of the Reverend Francis Hill Sewell as curate, a Cambridge graduate who remained the incumbent at Lindfield until his death in 1862.Field, p. 9. In 1847 the view of the influential Cambridge Camden Society, whose purpose was to return church architecture to the splendour of the

, was: Sewell himself contributed more than £650 of his own money towards the estimated £2,000 total needed. The church was fully restored in the mid-19th century.

20th Century

On 10 September 1951 the church was declared a Grade II* listed building.

Today

Today the church still retains many of its historic features. A number of tombs, for example, survive from the 18th Century. The North chapel boasts a marble wall plaque to John Court Esq who died 1794, and an obelisk with oval medallions. The south chapel has a wall plaque dedicated to Sarah Board, who died 1765, and boasts a draped urn and coat of arms.Pevsner, p. 561. In 2013 the "Aspire" project was launched to "repair, re-order and re-vitalise" the church. Much of the work was completed in 2018, which included removing the Victorian pews and replacing the flagstones with a modern stone floor equipped with under floor heating. Today the church continues to serve the spiritual needs of Lindfield parish, led by Reverend Steve Nichols.

Gallery

Walter Lucas Plaque in All Saints Church, Lindfield.jpg, Walter Lucas Plaque in All Saints Church, Lindfield

Notes

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References

* Pevsner, N., ''Sussex'', The Buildings of England (London: Penguin, 1965). * Field, Brian V., ''All Saints' Lindfield: A Guide to the History of the Church'' (Lindfield: All Saints Church, 1995).

External links

All Saints Lindfield Official Site
Last retrieved 2 March 2022
Reverend Francis Hill Sewell at the Lindfield History Project Group
Retrieved 4 January 2020 History of Sussex Church of England church buildings in West Sussex Grade II* listed churches in West Sussex