St Peter's Church is the
Church of England parish church of the parish of
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 ...
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 ...
. The present building dates from the 14th century and was restored during the
Victorian era
In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardia ...
, but Christian worship on the site has a much longer history. The stone-built,
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 church, west of the village centre, has been designated a Grade I
Listed building
In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
.
History
Ardingly developed as a settlement during the
Saxon era, when a forest clearing (''leah'' in
Old English
Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the mid-5th c ...
) was created on a piece of high ground near a
tributary
A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drai ...
of the
River Ouse, which runs across this part of 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 area cleared for settlement included a hill high,
and the
Normans
The Normans ( Norman: ''Normaunds''; french: Normands; la, Nortmanni/Normanni) were a population arising in the medieval Duchy of Normandy from the intermingling between Norse Viking settlers and indigenous West Franks and Gallo-Romans. ...
founded a church on this site in the 11th century. (It is possible, although not confirmed, that this replaced an earlier church on the same site, which would have been founded by Saxon or pre-Saxon pig-farmers or ironworkers who travelled through the area. More than 150 such churches, usually of wood with thatched roofs, were built between the 7th century, when
Sussex was converted to Christianity, and the Norman era.)
William de Warenne, 1st Earl of Surrey
William de Warenne, 1st Earl of Surrey, Lord of Lewes, Seigneur de Varennes (died 1088), was a Norman nobleman created Earl of Surrey under William II Rufus. He is among the few known from documents to have fought under William the Conqueror ...
has been identified as the likely founder of the 11th-century church.
His son,
William de Warenne, 2nd Earl of Surrey, granted 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 ...
of the church to
Lewes Priory
Lewes Priory is a part-demolished medieval Cluniac priory in Lewes, East Sussex in the United Kingdom. The ruins have been designated a Grade I listed building.
History
The Priory of St Pancras was the first Cluniac house in England and h ...
in about 1100.
Little is known about the history of the Norman church. By the middle of the 14th century, the village had developed a successful wool trade, and the new wealth available led to the construction of a new church on the same site. This had 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 ...
with one aisle on the south side and a
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 ...
. It was built between about 1330
and 1350,
in the popular
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, and almost all traces of its 11th-century predecessor were removed.
The lower section of the tower also dates from the mid-14th century,
as does a tomb in the chancel which bears the (now damaged)
effigy of a priest.
The priest has a
lion couchant at his feet, representing the triumph of good over evil.
The substantial stone tower was built early in the 15th century.
Unusually for the area, it lacks a spire; this may be because it was used as a defensive structure against possible French invaders, or because its top was used as a fire-beacon to warn locals of invasion.
It is tall, square ()
and has walls thick.
Inside the tower, and contemporary with it, an oak staircase carved from large blocks of wood rises from the north wall.
The
English Reformation of the 1530s led to
Henry VIII assuming control of all property held by
England's monasteries and priories. 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 ...
of St Peter's Church, and all others held by Lewes Priory, was transferred to the King in 1535. He in turn granted the patronage to his chief minister,
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 ...
, who held it until he was beheaded in 1540.
It finally passed out of the
Crown's possession in 1550,
and passed through a series of private patrons (many of whom were associated with the nearby
Manor of Wakehurst)
until the
Church Pastoral Aid Society
The Church Pastoral Aid Society (CPAS) is an Anglican evangelical mission agency. It was founded in 1836.
History of the Society
The CPAS was founded in 1836 in the midst of the social upheaval of the Industrial Revolution to take 'the gospel t ...
assumed the patronage in 1925.
By 1724, when 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 ...
Thomas Bowers commissioned a survey of all churches in his diocese, St Peter's Church was in poor structural condition, but repairs were carried out soon afterwards. A new bell, cast in 1719 in nearby
Horsham, was installed in the tower at the same time.
Another, cast in London and paid for by the congregation, was added in 1766. Around this time, the Lydell family—owners of the Wakehurst Place estate and patrons of the church—built a burial vault in the church and turned the south aisle into their private chapel.
Restoration and refitting of medieval churches was commonplace in the
Victorian era
In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardia ...
, and two rounds of changes were made to the structure and internal fittings: first in 1853, with some advice from Sir
George Gilbert Scott,
and again in 1887.
The ancient
rood screen was moved into the tower in 1853,
the
pew
A pew () is a long bench seat or enclosed box, used for seating members of a congregation or choir in a church, synagogue or sometimes a courtroom.
Overview
The first backless stone benches began to appear in English churches in the thirt ...
s were replaced, and the pulpit and the
gallery
Gallery or The Gallery may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Art gallery
** Contemporary art gallery
Music
* Gallery (band), an American soft rock band of the 1970s
Albums
* ''Gallery'' (Elaiza album), 2014 album
* ''Gallery'' (Gr ...
were removed.
These changes reduced the capacity of the church slightly, to just over 200.
The rood screen was later moved again to cover the arch inside the tower,
and the rector bought the church its first proper
organ, built by a
Brighton-based firm for £133 (£ in ).
This was in turn replaced with a new organ, which cost £1,100 (£ in ), in 1887, during the main period of
restoration
Restoration is the act of restoring something to its original state and may refer to:
* Conservation and restoration of cultural heritage
** Audio restoration
** Film restoration
** Image restoration
** Textile restoration
* Restoration ecology
...
; the church was closed for about a year while
Benjamin Ingelow
Benjamin Ingelow (17 April 1835 – 1 January 1926) was an English architect who practised from an office in London.
Biography
Ingelow was born in Ipswich, Suffolk, where his father was a banker. His training started when he was articled to Arth ...
and
Richard Herbert Carpenter added a
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 ...
, north aisle with 50 seats, pulpit and lectern, and carried out structural repairs.
The capacity of the church rose to about 280 as a result of the improvements.
Ingelow and Carpenter's work uncovered a stone
capital which dated from the 12th century. It was retained and put on display in the north aisle, and is the only fragment that definitely survives from the Norman church—although some stone blocks incorporated into the wall of the south aisle may also have come from it.
Additions in the 20th century started with the
liturgical East
Liturgical east and west is a concept in the orientation of churches. It refers to the fact that the end of a church which has the altar, for symbolic religious reasons, is traditionally on the east side of the church (to the right in a diagram) ...
window, a memorial to a local man who was prominent in the Wealden iron industry. This dates from 1900 and may have been designed by
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 ...
.
Other stained glass was provided by the local firm Clayton & Bell.
A new
lychgate
A lychgate, also spelled lichgate, lycugate, lyke-gate or as two separate words lych gate, (from Old English ''lic'', corpse), also ''wych gate'', is a gateway covered with a roof found at the entrance to a traditional English or English-style ch ...
,
reredos and altar were installed in 1913; all were donated to the church as memorials.
Another new organ replaced its predecessor in 1939;
this was in turn removed in 1972 in favour of a better model, which cost about £6,000 (£ in ).
A large churchyard surrounds the church, but when this became full it was extended on to land on the opposite side of Church Lane, which was donated by the owner of Wakehurst Place. This extension, made in 1944,
prevented the ancient gravestones in the original churchyard being removed to make way for new burials.
As a result, many old and unusual gravestones survive, including one which depicts a woman being stabbed with a
lance
A lance is a spear designed to be used by a mounted warrior or cavalry soldier (lancer). In ancient and medieval warfare, it evolved into the leading weapon in cavalry charges, and was unsuited for throwing or for repeated thrusting, unlike s ...
by a
skeleton, as angels watch.
Architecture
The church was built of stone 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.
The main body of the church consists of, from liturgical West to East, a square tower, nave, chancel and altar. A north aisle runs the length of the nave, and a vestry adjoins the chancel and the north aisle. On the opposite side of the nave is the south aisle and a 15th-century wooden entrance porch. The roof is tiled with locally quarried Horsham stone.
The chancel has
hood-moulded 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 ...
ed windows in its liturgical North and South walls. Also in the south wall is an ornate priest's door with a pointed-arched head.
A hood-moulded
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 ...
and
aumbry
An ambry (or ''almery'', ''aumbry''; from the medieval form ''almarium'', cf. Lat. ''armārium'', "a place for keeping tools"; cf. O. Fr. ''aumoire'' and mod. armoire) is a recessed cabinet in the wall of a Christian church for storing sacred vesse ...
, both dating from when the church was built, are also visible on the chancel walls. An archway separates the chancel from the vestry, but there is no arch leading into the nave. The roof has
king post
A king post (or king-post or kingpost) is a central vertical post used in architectural or bridge designs, working in tension to support a beam below from a truss apex above (whereas a crown post, though visually similar, supports items above f ...
s inside. The outside walls are
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.
Medieval
stained glass is still visible in some of the chancel windows.
The nave has two unequal
bays. Its roof, built higher than that of the chancel and dating from the 15th century, has
tie beams and king posts. The aisles incorporate reworkings of some 14th-century work (in particular, capitals and
respond
A respond is a half-pier or half-pillar that is bonded into a wall and designed to carry the springer
Springer or springers may refer to:
Publishers
* Springer Science+Business Media, aka Springer International Publishing, a worldwide publishi ...
s on the pillars) and may even include some older material.
The porch, dating from about 1500,
forms the entrance to the church. It is
timber-framed
Timber framing (german: Holzfachwerk) and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large woode ...
, but most of this is hidden under
weatherboarding
Clapboard (), also called bevel siding, lap siding, and weatherboard, with regional variation in the definition of these terms, is wooden siding of a building in the form of horizontal boards, often overlapping.
''Clapboard'' in modern Americ ...
. The gabled roof, tiled with Horsham stone slabs in common with the rest of the church roof, has king posts inside. Next to the porch, on the wall of the south aisle, a 16th-century
scratch dial, a primitive
sundial, is still visible.
The church today
St Peter's Church was designated a Grade I
Listed building
In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
on 28 October 1957.
The church holds two services every Sunday: a
Holy Communion service, using the
1662 Book of Common Prayer
The 1662 ''Book of Common Prayer'' is an authorised liturgical book of the Church of England and other Anglican bodies around the world. In continuous print and regular use for over 360 years, the 1662 prayer book is the basis for numerous o ...
, and a Morning Worship service. A youth group and
Sunday school are also run.
Th
parish in size and with the church at its centre,
covers a mostly rural area: Ardingly is the only significant centre of population. The B2028
Edenbridge Edenbridge may mean:
* Edenbridge (band), a symphonic metal band from Austria
*Edenbridge, Kent, a town in England
*Edenbridge, Saskatchewan, a former Jewish settlement in Canada
*Humber Valley Village
Humber Valley Village is a neighbourhood lo ...
–
Haywards Heath road runs through the parish from north to south.
See also
*
List of places of worship in Mid Sussex
References
Notes
Bibliography
*
*
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ardingly, St Peter's Church
Grade I listed churches in West Sussex
Church of England church buildings in Mid Sussex District
St Peter's Church