St George's Church is an

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

church in the village of

Eastergate Eastergate is a village, ecclesiastical parish and former civil parish, now in the parish of Barnham and Eastergate, in the Arun District, Arun district of West Sussex, England. It is located five miles (8 km) east of Chichester. In 2011 t ...

in West Sussex, England. It is the ancient

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in com ...

of Eastergate, although since 1992 it has been administered as part of a joint

ecclesiastical parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

with the churches in neighbouring Barnham and

Aldingbourne Aldingbourne is a village, Anglican parish and civil parish in the Arun District of West Sussex, England. Its centre is north of Bognor Regis and east of Chichester with the A29 and A27 main roads running through it. The civil parish is na ...

. As part of this group, the building is still in regular use for worship on Sundays and weekdays. Eastergate village school has links with the church, and pupils regularly attend services. There is historic and structural evidence of a Saxon place of worship on the site, and some 11th-century work survives in the chancel, but the present appearance of the church is mostly 13th-century. It was then restored in the Victorian era, and some further rebuilding work was undertaken in the 20th century. The "long, straggling village" of Eastergate is administratively located in the

district A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municip ...

of Arun, one of seven local government districts in West Sussex. The church is in a rural situation south of the village street; it is approached through a farmyard next to the

manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were usually held the lord's manorial courts, communal mea ...

, and a "magnificent" Elizabethan granary building that was originally part of the farm has been used by the church for various purposes since the 1970s.

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, a battlefield, medieval castles, Roman forts, historic industrial sites, Lis ...

has listed both buildings for their architectural and historical importance: St George's Church at Grade II*, and the former granary at the lower Grade II.

History

In its earliest form, the parish of Eastergate covered of flat, flood-prone land on the Sussex coastal plain, about northeast of the modern seaside resort of

Bognor Regis Bognor Regis (), also known as Bognor, is a town and seaside resort in West Sussex on the south coast of England, south-west of London, west of Brighton, south-east of Chichester and east of Portsmouth. Other nearby towns include Littleham ...

and a similar distance southwest of the ancient town of

Arundel Arundel ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the Arun District of the South Downs, West Sussex, England. The much-conserved town has a medieval castle and Roman Catholic cathedral. Arundel has a museum and comes second behind much la ...

Romans Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

apparently occupied the area, and may have established a

villa A villa is a type of house that was originally an ancient Roman upper class country house that provided an escape from urban life. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the f ...

near the modern village. A church in the parish was recorded in the

Domesday survey Domesday Book ( ; the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book") is a manuscript record of the Great Survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

of 1086; it was near the western edge of the parish, so St Mary the Virgin's Church at Barnham was more convenient for some parishioners, and likewise some residents of the neighbouring parish of

worshipped at Eastergate. By the following year, it was associated with the

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 9th and 10th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norma ...

Abbey of Séez, whose other holdings in the area included the manors of Atherington (with Bailiffscourt Chapel) and

Littlehampton Littlehampton is a town, seaside resort and civil parish in the Arun District of West Sussex, England. It lies on the English Channel on the eastern bank of the mouth of the River Arun. It is south south-west of London, west of Brighton and ...

. The present building was started around the time of the

Norman conquest of England The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Normans, Norman, French people, French, Flemish people, Flemish, and Bretons, Breton troops, all led by the Du ...

. Several church historians have come to different conclusions about its origins: it has been suggested that the

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 ...

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 ...

, that the whole building is the one recorded in the ''Domesday Book'', that it is "possibly pre-Conquest", or that (per

Gerard Baldwin Brown Gerard Baldwin Brown, FBA (31 October 1849 – 12 July 1932) was a British art historian. Life Brown was born in London, the son of church minister James Baldwin Brown and his wife, Elizabeth, a sister of the sculptor Henry Leifchild. He atten ...

) it dates from "within 50 years of the Norman conquest" and lacks any "distinctive Saxon features". An ancient surviving feature is the

herringbone pattern The herringbone pattern is an arrangement of rectangles used for floor tilings and road pavement, so named for a fancied resemblance to the bones of a fish such as a herring. The blocks can be rectangles or parallelograms. The block edge lengt ...

masonry in the south wall of the chancel: this extends to about and is up to thick. Some more herringbone brickwork, now covered up, exists in the south wall of the nave. Much Roman brickwork has been reused, both in the herringbone work and in the form of a

course Course may refer to: Directions or navigation * Course (navigation), the path of travel * Course (orienteering), a series of control points visited by orienteers during a competition, marked with red/white flags in the terrain, and corresponding ...

of long bricks in the south wall of the chancel. Again, sources disagree as to whether this reuse of old material is a late Saxon or early Norman feature. Elsewhere, only one window survives from the church's earliest times: a "primitive" narrow opening in the north wall of the chancel. The nave in its present form dates from the 13th and 14th centuries: no features remain from the original structure. There is a wide range of medieval windows throughout, ranging from 14th-century openings in the nave and

Early English Gothic 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 ...

lancets in the chancel to a 15th-century

Perpendicular Gothic Perpendicular Gothic (also Perpendicular, Rectilinear, or Third Pointed) architecture was the third and final style of English Gothic architecture developed in the Kingdom of England during the Late Middle Ages, typified by large windows, four-ce ...

east window in the chancel and an arched window of 1534 in the west wall. The church was re-roofed internally in two stages: the nave in the 16th century (it was given a

crown post A crown post is a term in traditional timber framing for a post in roof framing which stands on a '' tie beam'' or '' collar beam'' and supports a ''collar plate''.Alcock, N. W.. Recording timber-framed buildings: an illustrated glossary. Londo ...

roof), and the chancel in the following century. A structural survey in 1776 indicated that the chancel was deteriorating but the nave was sound. The first round of

Victorian restoration The Victorian restoration was the widespread and extensive wikt:refurbish, refurbishment and rebuilding of Church of England church (building), churches and cathedrals that took place in England and Wales during the 19th-century Victorian era, re ...

came in 1856, when a gallery was inserted; the chancel was rebuilt and heightened between 1876 and 1877; and in 1883 the nave was altered, a

vestry A vestry was a committee for the local secular and ecclesiastical government of a parish in England, Wales and some English colony, English colonies. At their height, the vestries were the only form of local government in many places and spen ...

was added, the gallery was taken out and a wooden bell-turret was built at the west end of the building. Nikolaus Pevsner stated that after this work, the church was "too heavily restored to be attractive", and others have noted that the present appearance of the church is derived mostly from its 19th-century modifications. Later work included the replacement of the Victorian vestry with a new equivalent in the 1920s, the replacement of some

stained glass Stained glass refers to coloured glass as a material or art and architectural works created from it. Although it is traditionally made in flat panels and used as windows, the creations of modern stained glass artists also include three-dimensio ...

and internal fittings around the same time, and the provision of modern facilities including a "welcome area" near the entrance, toilets, kitchen facilities, new heating and better lighting in 2000. A modern wooden sculpture of

Saint George Saint George (;Geʽez: ጊዮርጊስ, , ka, გიორგი, , , died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was an early Christian martyr who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to holy tradition, he was a soldier in the ...

has also been provided, and a late-20th-century

tapestry Tapestry is a form of Textile arts, textile art which was traditionally Weaving, woven by hand on a loom. Normally it is used to create images rather than patterns. Tapestry is relatively fragile, and difficult to make, so most historical piece ...

commemorates the history of Eastergate parish and the church. It makes reference to the ''Domesday Book'' entry for the village, which uses its original name of ''Gate''.

Architecture

St George's Church has a nave with no aisles, a narrower chancel and a bell-turret at the west end of the roof. There is a vestry on the north side. Most walls are

roughcast Roughcast and pebbledash are durable coarse plaster surfaces used on outside walls. They consists of lime and sometimes cement mixed with sand, small gravel and often pebbles or shells. The materials are mixed into a slurry and are then throw ...

covering flint rubble; the chancel is mostly of uncovered flint with some herringbone brickwork. The roof is tiled, and the bell-turret is laid with

shingles Shingles, also known as herpes zoster or zona, is a viral disease characterized by a painful skin rash with blisters in a localized area. Typically the rash occurs in a single, wide mark either on the left or right side of the body or face. T ...

. It is an "uncomplicated building with no

buttress A buttress is an architectural structure built against or projecting from a wall which serves to support or reinforce the wall. Buttresses are fairly common on more ancient (typically Gothic) buildings, as a means of providing support to act ...

es" and little ornamentation, although

Nikolaus Pevsner Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner (30 January 1902 – 18 August 1983) was a German-British art historian and architectural historian best known for his monumental 46-volume series of county-by-county guides, ''The Buildings of England'' (195 ...

described the offset, overhanging bell-turret as "frilly". It contains a single bell dated 1737 and inscribed with the name of a former churchwarden. Enclosed shingled bell-turrets were uncommon in the Victorian era: the addition of open-sided stone-built bellcotes was more popular. The nave measures . At the corners are

quoins Quoins ( or ) are masonry blocks at the corner of a wall. Some are structural, providing strength for a wall made with inferior stone or rubble, while others merely add aesthetic detail to a corner. According to one 19th-century encyclopedia, ...

made up of stones of various sizes—as large as tall in one case. A 14th-century doorway survives on the north side, although it is now walled up. The

lancet window A lancet window is a tall, narrow window with a sharp pointed arch at its top. This arch may or may not be a steep lancet arch (in which the compass centres for drawing the arch fall outside the opening). It acquired the "lancet" name from its rese ...

s date from the 14th and 15th centuries but have been restored. One on the south side has the remains of some contemporary

showing the

coats of arms A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic ac ...

of the FitzAlans (the

Earls of Arundel Earl of Arundel is a title of nobility in England, and one of the oldest extant in the English peerage. It is currently held by the Duke of Norfolk, and it is used (along with the earldom of Surrey) by his heir apparent as a courtesy title. ...

) and the de Warennes (the

Earls of Surrey Earl of Surrey is a title in the Peerage of England that has been created five times. It was first created for William de Warenne, 1st Earl of Surrey, William de Warenne, a close Companions of William the Conqueror, companion of William the C ...

). Designed in quarters, it dates from the 1360s. The others are paired lancets with cinquefoil (five-lobed) lights above. In the west wall of the nave is a three-light window paid for in 1534 under the terms of a will; it has plain arched heads without cusping. Money from the same bequest paid for a small extension () to the nave, and a new doorway was added at the same time. The chancel's dimensions are . As on the nave walls, there are stone quoins. The oldest surviving window in the church is a slit-style Norman opening in its north wall. On the outside, the jambs are formed of three substantial stones with slight

chamfer A chamfer ( ) is a transitional edge between two faces of an object. Sometimes defined as a form of bevel, it is often created at a 45° angle between two adjoining right-angled faces. Chamfers are frequently used in machining, carpentry, fur ...

ing—the lowest and uppermost laid flat and the middle stone standing upright. Between them is a sloping sill, and at the top a semicircular arch connects the jambs. It is placed high in the wall, just below the roofline. The south wall has two 13th-century windows, and the three-light east window of the 15th century has stained glass as a memorial to

Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener Field Marshal Horatio Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener (; 24 June 1850 – 5 June 1916) was a British Army officer and colonial administrator. Kitchener came to prominence for his imperial campaigns, his involvement in the Second Boer War, a ...

. Internal fittings include 18th-century

altar rails The altar rail (also known as a communion rail or chancel rail) is a low barrier, sometimes ornate and usually made of stone, wood or metal in some combination, delimiting the chancel or the sanctuary and altar in a church, from the nave and ot ...

and a rare pair of priest's stalls in a mixed Gothic and

Classical style Classical architecture typically refers to architecture consciously derived from the principles of Greek and Roman architecture of classical antiquity, or more specifically, from ''De architectura'' (c. 10 AD) by the Roman architect Vitruvius. Va ...

, dating from the early 19th century. They face each other across the chancel and consist of paired wooden pillars and an "oddly out of place ... severely Classical" tester. Fragments of wall paintings of the 11th and 12th centuries remain above some of the chancel windows: they were uncovered in 1907. These were "convincingly linked to the 'Lewes Group' of 12th-century wall paintings in the Sussex churches of Hardham, Clayton and Coombes."Rickerby & Shekede unpublished report for the Parish and the Council for the Care of Churches, July 2005 In 2003, the collapse of a wall monument revealed traces of painting on the exposed plaster beneath. A palimpsest was present with traces of post-Reformation text painting. This has been conserved as a 'window' on the historic plasters and painting layers. The church is reached by walking through the grounds of Manor Farm; it is common for ancient Sussex churches to stand close to farms, but for one to stand in a farmyard is unusual. Standing outside the approach to the church is a "magnificent"

granary A granary, also known as a grain house and historically as a granarium in Latin, is a post-harvest storage building primarily for grains or seeds. Granaries are typically built above the ground to prevent spoilage and protect the stored grains o ...

apparently dating from the 17th century (one source attributes it to the late

Elizabethan The Elizabethan era is the epoch in the Tudor period of the history of England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603). Historians often depict it as the golden age in English history. The Roman symbol of Britannia (a female per ...

or early

Stuart period The Stuart period of British history lasted from 1603 to 1714 during the dynasty of the House of Stuart. The period was plagued by internal and religious strife, and a large-scale civil war which resulted in the Execution of Charles I, execu ...

, and others claim a date of 1600). The hipped-roofed building is constructed of red brick with

timber framing Timber framing () and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy Beam (structure), timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and Woodworking joints, joined timbers with joints secure ...

. It stands on

staddle stones Staddle stones, or steddle stones, were originally used as supporting bases for granary, granaries. The staddle stones lifted the granaries above the ground, thereby protecting the stored grain from vermin and water seepage. They were also used o ...

—mushroom-shaped supports that lift the structure clear of the ground as a safeguard against damp and vermin. Some restoration has been carried out. Originally, it was part of the neighbouring Manor Farm—"one of the best farmhouses in this part of Sussex" according to

—but since the 1970s it has been used for various purposes by St George's Church.

The church today

St George's Church was listed at Grade II* by

on 5 June 1958. Such buildings are defined as "particularly important ndof more than special interest". As of February 2001, it was one of 24 Grade II* listed buildings, and 960 listed buildings of all grades, in the district of Arun. The former granary near the church entrance was listed at Grade II on the same date. Buildings listed at this grade are "nationally important and of special interest". Both the church and the farm are also part of the Eastergate (Church Lane) Conservation Area, one of 33

conservation areas Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural or cultural values. Protected areas are those areas in which human presence or the exploitation of natural resources (e.g. firewood ...

in Arun. In its assessment of the area, which was designated in June 1992, the district council stated that it "retains its rural character and the essential historic characteristics of a rural agricultural settlement based on the

, St George's Church and farm buildings". The ecclesiastical parish includes St Mary the Virgin's Church,

, St Mary the Virgin's Church, Barnham and St George's Church. It covers the three villages and the surrounding rural area, and

hamlets A hamlet is a human settlement that is smaller than a town or village. This is often simply an informal description of a smaller settlement or possibly a subdivision or satellite entity to a larger settlement. Sometimes a hamlet is defined f ...

such as Norton, Fontwell, Lidsey and Woodgate. The larger village of Westergate is also part of the parish. St George's is one of 30 Anglican churches in the

Rural Deanery In the Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion as well as some Lutheran denominations, a rural dean is a member of clergy who presides over a "rural deanery" (often referred to as a deanery); "ruridecanal" is the corresponding adjective ...

of Arundel and Bognor, a division within the

Archdeacon An archdeacon is a senior clergy position in the Church of the East, Chaldean Catholic Church, Syriac Orthodox Church, Anglican Communion, St Thomas Christians, Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox churches and some other Christian denomina ...

ry of Chichester and the

Diocese of Chichester The Diocese of Chichester is a Church of England diocese based in Chichester, covering Sussex. It was founded in 681 as the ancient Diocese of Selsey, which was based at Selsey Abbey, until the see was translated to Chichester in 1075. The cathe ...

. Regular services are held in the church, which can accommodate 80 worshippers with ease. On special festivals it often accommodates in excess of 150 worshippers Every Sunday morning,

Mattins The Daily Office is a term used primarily by members of the Episcopal Church. In Anglican churches, the traditional canonical hours of daily services include Morning Prayer (also called Matins or Mattins, especially when chanted) and Evening Pray ...

and

Holy Communion The Eucharist ( ; from , ), also called Holy Communion, the Blessed Sacrament or the Lord's Supper, is a Christian rite, considered a sacrament in most churches and an ordinance in others. Christians believe that the rite was instituted by J ...

are celebrated using the ''

Book of Common Prayer The ''Book of Common Prayer'' (BCP) is the title given to a number of related prayer books used in the Anglican Communion and by other Christianity, Christian churches historically related to Anglicanism. The Book of Common Prayer (1549), fi ...

''. A family service, usually with Holy Communion, is held at 10.00 am, and at 6.00 pm there is an evening prayer service or

Evensong Evensong is a church service traditionally held near sunset focused on singing psalms and other biblical canticles. It is loosely based on the canonical hours of vespers and compline. Old English speakers translated the Latin word as , which ...

, depending on the Sunday of the month. A Holy Communion service also takes place on Wednesday mornings. The present

rectory A clergy house is the residence, or former residence, of one or more priests or ministers of a given religion, serving as both a home and a base for the occupant's ministry. Residences of this type can have a variety of names, such as manse, p ...

was built in the 1920s and given to the Parish by the Davenport family in 1976 on the main road to Barnham, but two earlier buildings were also used for this purpose. The rector was known to live in the village by 1440, and the original rectory was first described in 1473. Vacated by the early 18th century, it became ruinous and was demolished in the 1830s in favour of a

Tudor-style Tudor Revival architecture, also known as mock Tudor in the UK, first manifested in domestic architecture in the United Kingdom in the latter half of the 19th century. Based on revival of aspects that were perceived as Tudor architecture, in rea ...

flint building on Church Lane. This was used by the rector until the present building was donated.

References

Notes

Bibliography