St Margaret's Church (dedicated in full to St Margaret of Antioch) is an
Anglican church in the village of
West Hoathly
West Hoathly is a village and civil parish in the Mid Sussex District of West Sussex, England, located south west of East Grinstead. In the 2001 census 2,121 people, of whom 1,150 were economically active, lived in 813 households. At the 201 ...
in
Mid Sussex, one of seven
local government districts
The districts of England (also known as local authority districts or local government districts to distinguish from unofficial city districts) are a level of subnational division of England used for the purposes of local government. As the st ...
in the
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
county of
West Sussex
West Sussex is a county in South East England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the shire districts of Adur, Arun, Chichester, Horsham, and Mid Sussex, and the boroughs of Crawley and Worthing. Covering an ...
.
By the late 11th century, a simple single-room stone building existed on the high, open ridge upon which the village developed. A series of medieval expansions doubled its size by the 15th century, and the present building has changed little since then—despite a
Victorian restoration
The Victorian restoration was the widespread and extensive refurbishment and rebuilding of Church of England churches and cathedrals that took place in England and Wales during the 19th-century reign of Queen Victoria. It was not the same proc ...
overseen by architect
R. H. Carpenter. A major addition was the heavily
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 buildings, as a means of providing support to act against the lateral ( ...
ed
Perpendicular Gothic west tower, topped with a tall
broach spire and containing a peal of ancient bells. The large, steeply terraced churchyard also serves as a public cemetery and has far-reaching views across the
Weald
The Weald () is an area of South East England between the parallel chalk escarpments of the North and the South Downs. It crosses the counties of Hampshire, Surrey, Sussex and Kent. It has three separate parts: the sandstone "High Weald" in the ...
. The original dedication to
Saint Margaret of Antioch fell out of use for many centuries until a researcher rediscovered it. The church serves a large rural parish which was reduced in size in 1882 when two residents of the
hamlet
''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...
of Highbrook paid for an additional church to be built there.
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, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses.
The charity states that i ...
has
listed
Listed may refer to:
* Listed, Bornholm, a fishing village on the Danish island of Bornholm
* Listed (MMM program), a television show on MuchMoreMusic
* Endangered species in biology
* Listed building, in architecture, designation of a historicall ...
it at Grade I for its architectural and historical importance.
History
West Hoathly stands on a high ridge in the
Weald
The Weald () is an area of South East England between the parallel chalk escarpments of the North and the South Downs. It crosses the counties of Hampshire, Surrey, Sussex and Kent. It has three separate parts: the sandstone "High Weald" in the ...
, south-southwest of the ancient market town of
East Grinstead.
Worth, now part of the
Crawley urban area but originally a large parish with a
Saxon church
Church may refer to:
Religion
* Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities
* Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination
* Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship
* C ...
, lies a similar distance to the northwest.
The land rises to just outside the village, and outcrops of
sandstone
Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks.
Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates ...
(such as the mushroom-shaped "Great-on-Little")
are nearby.
The area was already settled by the 11th century, and names recorded at that time include ''Hadlega'' and ''Hodlega'' — later standardised to ''Hodlegh'' and ''Hothelegh'', then (West) Hoathly.
In the
Sussex dialect, the pronunciation "West Ho'ly" is sometimes heard.
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 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...
of 1086 did not mention a church or settlement at West Hoathly,
but architectural evidence suggests that the core the present church dates from about 1090,
when it would have been merely "a little
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 10th and 11th centuries
** People or things connected with the Norm ...
building".
At that time it would have been a simple single-cell structure consisting of a
nave
The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...
and
chancel
In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse.
Ov ...
and "possibly ... an
apse
In architecture, an apse (plural apses; from Latin 'arch, vault' from Ancient Greek 'arch'; sometimes written apsis, plural apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome, also known as an '' exedra''. ...
".
It was situated overlooking the surrounding forests on the ridge which forms the
watershed between rivers flowing north towards the
Thames
The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...
and south towards the
English Channel
The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...
. Along with the church at
Rotherfield, it was — and remains — the only ancient church in the whole of the Weald to stand right on the crest of this ridge.
Within a century, the church underwent the first of several major structural alterations which have resulted in "seven different medieval styles
ndbuilding periods" being represented.
Around the end of the 12th century, the nave was extended by the addition of a south aisle, for which the south wall of the nave was removed. A "typical Norman arcade" was inserted in its place.
Next, about 1200, the west end of the chancel was altered and the chancel arch leading to the nave was removed without replacement.
More significant and "far more interesting"
work was then undertaken on the chancel in the third quarter of the 13th century: it was extended to the east, making it longer than the nave — a very rare pattern, whose only equivalent in a Sussex parish church is
St Laurence's Church at
Guestling
Guestling is a village and civil parish in the Rother district of East Sussex, England. The village is located north-east of Hastings on the A259 road to Rye. Its parish church is dedicated to St Laurence.
History
Guestling, referred to in t ...
according to one authority.
A pair of windows, one a
lancet and the other a plain two-light opening set below a
quatrefoil, were inserted in the north wall, around 1250; they are "a most remarkable example of the beginnings of
tracery
Tracery is an architectural device by which windows (or screens, panels, and vaults) are divided into sections of various proportions by stone ''bars'' or ''ribs'' of moulding. Most commonly, it refers to the stonework elements that support the ...
".
The fifth stage of development consisted of the construction of a
Lady chapel
A Lady chapel or lady chapel is a traditional British English, British term for a chapel dedicated to "Our Lady", Mary, mother of Jesus, particularly those inside a cathedral or other large church (building), church. The chapels are also known as ...
on the south side in about 1270.
A two-
bay arcade supported on octagonal
piers separated this from the chancel.
Early in the 14th century, a sixth stage of rebuilding took place: this was a major redevelopment, possibly caused by fire or other structural damage.
The narrow south aisle was rebuilt in the
Decorated 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 ar ...
style
to make it wider than the adjacent Lady chapel
(this lasted longer than the rest of the contemporary work);
an arch was inserted to link the chapel and aisle;
diagonal
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 buildings, as a means of providing support to act against the lateral ( ...
es were added to support the east wall of the chancel;
two "rather coarsely executed" windows were inserted in the rebuilt south wall; and a new south entrance, a holy water
stoup
A holy water font or stoup is a vessel containing holy water which is generally placed near the entrance of a church. It is often placed at the base of a crucifix or religious representation. It is used in the Catholic Church, Anglican Churches ...
and a
piscina
A piscina is a shallow basin placed near the altar of a church, or else in the vestry or sacristy, used for washing the communion vessels. The sacrarium is the drain itself. Anglicans usually refer to the basin, calling it a piscina. For Roman Ca ...
were inserted.
At the start of the 15th century, a
Perpendicular Gothic tower with "the usual
shingled broach spire"
was built at the west end.
It obscured the nave's original west window, so a new window was inserted in the north wall instead.
The church, originally a small and simple building, had "doubled its size in 250 years" as a result of these alterations: "the perfect example of a church steadily expanding ... to fulfil its local requirements".
A new south door was added in 1626:
wrought iron
Wrought iron is an iron alloy with a very low carbon content (less than 0.08%) in contrast to that of cast iron (2.1% to 4%). It is a semi-fused mass of iron with fibrous slag inclusions (up to 2% by weight), which give it a wood-like "grain" ...
nails in the woodwork spell out the date .
Earlier, during the
Jacobean era
The Jacobean era was the period in English and Scottish history that coincides with the reign of James VI of Scotland who also inherited the crown of England in 1603 as James I. The Jacobean era succeeds the Elizabethan era and precedes the Ca ...
, a
pulpit with scrollwork-decorated panelling was installed.
A wooden gallery was built at the west end in 1723. Re-shingling of the spire was carried out in 1731 (by craftsmen from
Rotherfield, well-known locally for its shingling industry), 1734 and 1741, when part of the south wall of the chancel was also shingled to make it damp-proof.
The church was
restored in 1870 by
William Slater and
Richard Herbert Carpenter. They removed many 17th-century features, added a porch and
vestry
A vestry was a committee for the local secular and ecclesiastical government for a parish in England, Wales and some English colonies which originally met in the vestry or sacristy of the parish church, and consequently became known colloquiall ...
(described in 1935 as "perfectly deplorable examples"),
tiled the floor
and re-roofed the nave and chancel.
Slater and Carpenter's work, directed by the latter,
has been called "unnecessarily costly",
but their work on the chancel work was praised as "enterprising" by
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'' (1 ...
.
Further work took place in 1935, undertaken by W.H. Shelford.
The glazed tiles and wood flooring were removed, revealing old tombs including one dating from 1624 near the
altar rails, and the floor was relaid in stone.
The altar, which had been placed on a step, was lowered to its original height again. A new set of altar rails were also installed, and were positioned to run straight across the chancel; they were not newly constructed, but dated from the late 17th century and apparently came from
St Mary's Church, Barcombe. They were bought in an antique shop in
The Lanes
The Lanes are a collection of narrow lanes in Brighton, in the city of Brighton and Hove famous for their small shops (including several antique shops) and narrow alleyways.
The Lanes are commonly taken to be bounded by North Street to the no ...
in
Brighton.
In 1935, the church's dedication to
Saint Margaret of Antioch—rare in England—was rediscovered, having been lost for centuries. A member of the
Sussex Archaeological Society found a 13th-century document with details of the dedication while undertaking research.
Architecture
Descriptions of St Margaret's Church include "large and interesting",
"the main point of interest ...
na village full of charm and beauty",
and "a rather typical wealden church ... seeming from every side to form an integral part of the landscape".
In this respect it is similar to many ancient churches in the area, established by
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 10th and 11th centuries
** People or things connected with the Norm ...
settlers in forest clearings in the Weald—then a remote area with little access.
It is built of
sandstone
Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks.
Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates ...
rubble quarried from the local area, and has a chancel, nave,
Lady chapel
A Lady chapel or lady chapel is a traditional British English, British term for a chapel dedicated to "Our Lady", Mary, mother of Jesus, particularly those inside a cathedral or other large church (building), church. The chapels are also known as ...
and adjacent aisle on the south side, tower with an octagonal spire,
vestry
A vestry was a committee for the local secular and ecclesiastical government for a parish in England, Wales and some English colonies which originally met in the vestry or sacristy of the parish church, and consequently became known colloquiall ...
in the southwest corner and an entrance porch.
The stone is laid in wide
courses. Some of the
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, t ...
have stone dressings,
and
Horsham Stone
Horsham Stone is a type of calcareous, flaggy sandstone containing millions of minute sand grains and occurring naturally in the Weald Clay of south-east England.Roger Birch, Sussex Stone, The Story of Horsham Stone and Sussex Marble, 2006, It is ...
slabs and tiles cover the roof.
Although this layout is straightforward and common, the parts are not perfectly aligned and the nave is slightly wider than the chancel on both sides.
The dimensions of the nave are ; of the chancel, ; of the Lady chapel, ; of the aisle, ; and of the tower, .
The tower is apparently lower than intended: it extends just above the tops of the corner
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 buildings, as a means of providing support to act against the lateral ( ...
es.
Above it, the "comparatively tall" octagonal
broach spire is topped by a copper
weather vane
A wind vane, weather vane, or weathercock is an instrument used for showing the direction of the wind. It is typically used as an architectural ornament to the highest point of a building. The word ''vane'' comes from the Old English word , m ...
.
The oldest fabric dates from the early Norman era: the west and north walls of the nave, built in about 1090, survive.
The north wall of the chancel may also be original. The extension of the chancel in the 13th century approximately doubled its length; it was originally square.
The arcades leading to the Lady chapel and the aisle are both of two
bays; they have conventional Norman octagonal
piers and "fat short round piers" respectively.
The arches of the aisle arcade have double
chamfers. The south aisle was widened in the
Decorated 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 ar ...
style in about 1330.
A round-arched doorway dating from the 12th century was moved to the Lady chapel, and the
string course on the outer wall may also have been moved there from the original south wall of the chancel, which was removed to make way for the chapel.
The chancel arch was taken out in the 13th century
(although the ''
Victoria County History of Sussex'' gives 15th century, coinciding with the installation of a
rood
A rood or rood cross, sometimes known as a triumphal cross, is a cross or crucifix, especially the large crucifix set above the entrance to the chancel of a medieval church.
Alternatively, it is a large sculpture or painting of the crucifixion ...
).
![Stained_glass_window_by_James_Powell_and_Sons](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/54/Stained_glass_window_by_James_Powell_and_Sons.jpg)
There are windows of various dates, and others were removed during the frequent extensions and alterations. The east window of the chancel was altered during the 17th and 20th centuries, but has 13th-century origins in the form of
chamfered vertical sections with
moulded splays. There are three lights set into a pointed-arched recess. A similar window is set in the east wall of the Lady chapel. Most of the other windows in the chancel are 13th- and 14th-century
lancets, including one that is now blocked. Some are
trefoil
A trefoil () is a graphic form composed of the outline of three overlapping rings, used in architecture and Christian symbolism, among other areas. The term is also applied to other symbols with a threefold shape. A similar shape with four ring ...
- or
quatrefoil-headed.
The Lady chapel is lit by a pairt of two-light windows with trefoil heads and a quatrefoil above, both with plate
tracery
Tracery is an architectural device by which windows (or screens, panels, and vaults) are divided into sections of various proportions by stone ''bars'' or ''ribs'' of moulding. Most commonly, it refers to the stonework elements that support the ...
. There is also one smaller lancet window. One original 11th-century opening survives in the nave wall, but it is now blocked. The other windows are 15th-century, arched and
hood-moulded. Two
ogee
An ogee ( ) is the name given to objects, elements, and curves—often seen in architecture and building trades—that have been variously described as serpentine-, extended S-, or sigmoid-shaped. Ogees consist of a "double curve", the combinat ...
-headed windows dating from about 1330, and representing "a further advance in design" on the slightly earlier windows of the Lady chapel, are in the wall of the south aisle.
The "heavy, low" two-stage tower, again built of sandstone rubble, is supported by four-stage diagonal
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 buildings, as a means of providing support to act against the lateral ( ...
es. It is topped with
ashlar; the shingled
broach spire sits on this. There are some small 15th- and 16th-century windows of various styles. A
two-centred arch with
chamfered columns and mouldings gives access from the nave.
Inside, there is a 12th-century font of
Sussex Marble
Sussex Marble is a fossiliferous freshwater limestone material which is prevalent in the Weald Clay of parts of Kent, East Sussex and West Sussex in southeast England. It is also called Petworth Marble, Bethersden Marble or Laughton Stone in relat ...
. It was repaired in the 19th century using the similar
Purbeck Marble, as the supply of local material from the quarries at
Petworth was exhausted.
The south aisle has an
chest
The thorax or chest is a part of the anatomy of humans, mammals, and other tetrapod animals located between the neck and the abdomen. In insects, crustaceans, and the extinct trilobites, the thorax is one of the three main divisions of the crea ...
believed to be about 800 years old;
another, dating from the 16th or 17th century but with a renewed lid, stands in the
vestry
A vestry was a committee for the local secular and ecclesiastical government for a parish in England, Wales and some English colonies which originally met in the vestry or sacristy of the parish church, and consequently became known colloquiall ...
. Also in the vestry are three early 17th-century
cast iron
Cast iron is a class of iron– carbon alloys with a carbon content more than 2%. Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature. The alloy constituents affect its color when fractured: white cast iron has carbide impur ...
grave tablets commemorating members of the locally important Infeld family of
Gravetye Manor.
On the earlier two, dated 1612 and 1624, text is engraved directly on the ironwork. The other, dated 1635, has a much rarer feature: a brass plate attached to the slab.
Medieval wall-paintings and
mural
A mural is any piece of graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage.
Word mural in art
The word ''mural'' is a Spani ...
s were once a common feature in Sussex churches, but many have been lost. Figurative scenes predominated, but representations of foliage were sometimes painted in awkward locations such as sloping walls. Few of these decorative images survive, but at St Margaret's Church some painted vines are visible in one of the window splays.
The "very delicate painting" is on the inside of one of the windows in the chancel's south wall, which was inserted in the mid-13th century. The present west gallery was erected in 1899 as a replacement for the original, installed in 1723 but removed during Slater and Carpenter's renovations of 1870.
Stained glass
The church has a number of stained glass windows.
Two are war memorials from World War One. The larger of the two is by
Douglas Strachan
Douglas Strachan (26 May 1875, Aberdeen, Scotland – 20 November 1950) is considered the most significant Scottish designer of stained glass windows in the 20th century. He is best known for his windows at the Peace Palace in The Hague, Netherl ...
and is a three light window in the north wall commemorating Major William Arbuthnot.
The smaller window of Sir Galahad is by WE Tower of the workshop of
Charles Eamer Kempe
Charles Eamer Kempe (29 June 1837 – 29 April 1907) was a British Victorian era designer and manufacturer of stained glass. His studios produced over 4,000 windows and also designs for altars and altar frontals, furniture and furnishings, lich ...
and is a single lancet in the south wall commemorating Arbuthnot's nephew Captain Archie Middleton who fell in the same action in 1915. There is a further window by Charles Eamer Kempe at the west end of the South wall behind the entrance door. This is a memorial window to Helen Middleham Arbuthnot. Both Kempe windows are signed, the Arbuthnot window by Kempe with his wheat sheaf mark and the Galahad window by WE Tower who signed his work with a tower within Kempe's wheatsheaf.
The East window, Christ in Majesty, is by
Clayton & Bell
Clayton and Bell was one of the most prolific and proficient British workshops of stained-glass windows during the latter half of the 19th century and early 20th century. The partners were John Richard Clayton (1827–1913) and Alfred Bell (1832 ...
. On the south side there are two further two light Clayton and Bell windows (1891) showing a) Mary Magdalene washing Christ's feet, b)
Noli Me Tangere, and c) the Publican and the Pharisees. The window immediately on the east of the main door on the south wall is a two light window by
James Powell and Sons
The firm of James Powell and Sons, also known as Whitefriars Glass, were London-based English glassmakers, leadlighters and stained glass window manufacturers. As ''Whitefriars Glass'', the company existed from the 17th century, but became well k ...
. It portrays The
Supper at Emmaus
According to the Gospel of Luke, the road to Emmaus appearance is one of the early post-resurrection appearances of Jesus after his crucifixion and the discovery of the empty tomb. Both the meeting on the road to Emmaus and the subsequent suppe ...
and Christ baptising.
Churchyard
St Margaret's Church has an extensive terraced churchyard with far-reaching southward views across the Weald to the
South Downs
The South Downs are a range of chalk hills that extends for about across the south-eastern coastal counties of England from the Itchen valley of Hampshire in the west to Beachy Head, in the Eastbourne Downland Estate, East Sussex, in the eas ...
. Set across six levels, it is heavily planted with trees and flowers—more than 100 species have been documented—and has several seats and a signposted viewing area.
It has been extended several times. One extension, described in 1935 as "recent", brought an artificial cave, possibly of medieval origin, into its boundaries. It is hewn out of the rock near the floor of the valley above which the churchyard sits.
An ancient Sussex custom, also encountered at a few other churches nearby (such as those at
Lindfield 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 Chich ...
), applied for many years at West Hoathly: every landowner in the parish was responsible for the upkeep of a specific section of the churchyard wall. Each person was listed and the piece of wall they had to maintain was marked. A list dated 1752 survives, showing 60 landowners' names. Some parts of the wall still have initials and dates inscribed upon them.
As well as serving the church, the churchyard is licensed as a public burial ground. 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 cath ...
does not directly manage it: instead it is looked after by the Parochial Church Council, who (along with the Friends of the Churchyard Trust, an independent body) pay for maintenance and improvements. The
Heritage Lottery Fund
The National Lottery Heritage Fund, formerly the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), distributes a share of National Lottery funding, supporting a wide range of heritage projects across the United Kingdom.
History
The fund's predecessor bodies were ...
awarded the church a grant in 1996 to restore many of the ancient tombs.
Bells
The church has a
peal of six bells. One bell is from 1510; one from 1581 (both of these are listed as being of historical significance);
); two are from 1712; one 1887; and the newest, the treble, from 1937. Details of the bells are as follows:
# Cast by
Mears & Stainbank (Whitechapel Bell Foundry), 1937
#
#
#
# .
#
The wording "Joseph Carter made me better" suggests that bell 5 was restored in 1581 rather than being newly cast in that year (and it was recast again in 1887).
A reference to a bell in a will of 1554, when John Bryan wrote "Also I bequeth unto the church of Westhothleygh to the casting of a bell vj s viij d", may refer to bell 3,
which was cast in the early 16th century by Thomas Bullisdon, another London-based bell-founder.
An additional treble to bring the old ring of five to six, was added in the 20th century.
The church today
![All Saints Church, Highbrook (IoE Code 302817)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5c/All_Saints_Church%2C_Highbrook_%28IoE_Code_302817%29.JPG)
St Margaret's Church was
listed
Listed may refer to:
* Listed, Bornholm, a fishing village on the Danish island of Bornholm
* Listed (MMM program), a television show on MuchMoreMusic
* Endangered species in biology
* Listed building, in architecture, designation of a historicall ...
at Grade I by
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, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses.
The charity states that i ...
on 28 October 1957.
Such buildings are defined as being of "exceptional interest" and greater than national importance.
As of February 2001, it was one of 16 Grade I listed buildings, and 1,028 listed buildings of all grades, in the district of Mid Sussex.
The ecclesiastical parish of West Hoathly covers a large rural area of West Sussex near the towns of
East Grinstead (to the north),
Haywards Heath (to the south) and
Crawley (to the west).
Ashdown Forest
Ashdown Forest is an ancient area of open heathland occupying the highest sandy ridge-top of the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It is situated some south of London in the county of East Sussex, England. Rising to an elevation
o ...
lies to the east. The parish boundaries are not coterminous with those of the
civil parish
In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...
of the same name; they take in the villages of West Hoathly and
Sharpthorne and the fields and farms surrounding them.
Although the ecclesiastical parish of Highbrook has been separate ever since
All Saints Church was built in 1882 on the initiative of two wealthy sisters who lived in the hamlet,
the parishes are informally "twinned" and are part of a united
benefice with the official title ''The Benefice of Highbrook and West Hoathly''.
This was formed in September 1975.
The
advowson
Advowson () or patronage is the right in English law of a patron (avowee) to present to the diocesan bishop (or in some cases the ordinary if not the same person) a nominee for appointment to a vacant ecclesiastical benefice or church living ...
(the right to appoint clergy) was first recorded the last decade of the 11th century, when it was held by Ralph de Cheyney of
St Pancras Priory at
Lewes on behalf of
William de Warenne, 2nd Earl of Surrey. The
Bishop of Chichester
The Bishop of Chichester is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Chichester in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers the counties of East and West Sussex. The see is based in the City of Chichester where the bishop's sea ...
was authorised to hold the advowson from 1346, but in the late 14th century (in 1391 according to one source)
the church was
appropriated again by Lewes Priory. This relationship ceased after the
Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1538; the advowson then passed in turn to
Thomas Cromwell
Thomas Cromwell (; 1485 – 28 July 1540), briefly Earl of Essex, was an English lawyer and statesman who served as chief minister to King Henry VIII from 1534 to 1540, when he was beheaded on orders of the king, who later blamed false char ...
,
Anne of Cleves
Anne of Cleves (german: Anna von Kleve; 1515 – 16 July 1557) was Queen of England from 6 January to 12 July 1540 as the fourth wife of King Henry VIII. Not much is known about Anne before 1527, when she became betrothed to Francis, Duke o ...
and then
The Crown
The Crown is the state in all its aspects within the jurisprudence of the Commonwealth realms and their subdivisions (such as the Crown Dependencies, overseas territories, provinces, or states). Legally ill-defined, the term has different ...
.
See also
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All Saints Church, Highbrook
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Grade I listed buildings in West Sussex
The county of West Sussex in South East England has 176 Grade I listed buildings. Such buildings are described by English Heritage, the authority responsible for their designation, as "of exceptional interest ndsometimes considered to be intern ...
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List of places of worship in Mid Sussex
Notes
References
Bibliography
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External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:West Hoathly, West Hoathly
11th-century church buildings in England
Grade I listed churches in West Sussex
Church of England church buildings in Mid Sussex District