Stained glass window, St Dunstan's church, Mayfield in memory of Sir Frederick Bourne

St Dunstan's, Mayfield in Mayfield,

East Sussex East Sussex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England on the English Channel coast. It is bordered by Kent to the north and east, West Sussex to the west, and Surrey to the north-west. The largest settlement in East Su ...

was founded in 960 CE by St

Dunstan Saint Dunstan (c. 909 – 19 May 988) was an English bishop. He was successively Abbot of Glastonbury, Abbot of Glastonbury Abbey, Bishop of Worcester, Bishop of London and Archbishop of Canterbury, later canonised as a saint. His work restor ...

, who was then

Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. The current archbishop is Justi ...

. It is reported as being originally a log church which lasted until it was replaced by a stone structure in the 12th century by the

Normans The Normans (Norman language, Norman: ''Normaunds''; french: Normands; la, Nortmanni/Normanni) were a population arising in the medieval Duchy of Normandy from the intermingling between Norsemen, Norse Viking settlers and indigenous West Fran ...

. In 1389 this church was virtually destroyed by fire. Only the tower, the

lancet window A lancet window is a tall, narrow window with a pointed arch at its top. It acquired the "lancet" name from its resemblance to a lance. Instances of this architectural element are typical of Gothic church edifices of the earliest period. Lancet wi ...

in the west wall and the base of the north

aisle An aisle is, in general, a space for walking with rows of non-walking spaces on both sides. Aisles with seating on both sides can be seen in airplanes, certain types of buildings, such as churches, cathedrals, synagogues, meeting halls, parl ...

survive to this day. The local congregation probably used the private chapel at the Archiepiscopal Palace nearby until the church was rebuilt between 1410 and 1420. Further work was carried out during the reign of

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...

: the

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 ...

roof was raised and the

clerestory In architecture, a clerestory ( ; , also clearstory, clearstorey, or overstorey) is a high section of wall that contains windows above eye level. Its purpose is to admit light, fresh air, or both. Historically, ''clerestory'' denoted an upper l ...

was added. In 1657 a clock was installed by Thomas Punnett. In the South Porch moulded

corbel In architecture, a corbel is a structural piece of stone, wood or metal jutting from a wall to carry a superincumbent weight, a type of bracket. A corbel is a solid piece of material in the wall, whereas a console is a piece applied to the s ...

s support a quadripartite rib vault. A

newel A newel, also called a central pole or support column, is the central supporting pillar of a staircase. It can also refer to an upright post that supports and/or terminates the handrail of a stair banister (the "newel post"). In stairs having str ...

staircase gives access to the Parvise Room above. This was used as either an oratory for a

chantry A chantry is an ecclesiastical term that may have either of two related meanings: # a chantry service, a Christian liturgy of prayers for the dead, which historically was an obiit, or # a chantry chapel, a building on private land, or an area in ...

priest, or as a

sacristan A sacristan is an officer charged with care of the sacristy, the church, and their contents. In ancient times, many duties of the sacrist were performed by the doorkeepers ( ostiarii), and later by the treasurers and mansionarii. The Decretals ...

. During the 19th century it was used as a cloakroom for the girls' school held in the church. The nave has four tomb slabs of Sussex iron. The best preserved belongs to Thomas Sands, a wine cooper of

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. The font dates from 1666 and the initials of the vicar at the time, Robert Peck is carved on the octagonal bowl. The 17th century pulpit is decorated with Jacobean strap-carvings. While many of the choir stalls dated back to the 16th century, some repair work was carried out by the Mayfield School of Carving in the early 20th century. They also provided the Lady Chapel screen, which is an excellent example of

linenfold Linenfold (or linen fold) is a simple style of relief carving used to decorate wood panelling with a design "imitating window tracery", "imitating folded linen" or "stiffly imitating folded material". Originally from Flanders, the style became ...

carving. The choir stall were replaced in 2016 by new movable stalls in oak and at the same time the east end was reordered. The perpendicular east window has

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

glass donated by the Treherne family in 1869. In 1894 the old

reredos A reredos ( , , ) is a large altarpiece, a screen, or decoration placed behind the altar in a church. It often includes religious images. The term ''reredos'' may also be used for similar structures, if elaborate, in secular architecture, for ex ...

carved by Walter Gale, the village schoolmaster in 1750 was replaced. The Pope was said to enjoy this eastern facing window as it represented to him, a gateway between eastern and western culture. (reference required) A window at the west end of the church celebrates the life of Lt Gen Sir

John Bagot Glubb Lieutenant-General Sir John Bagot Glubb, KCB, CMG, DSO, OBE, MC, KStJ, KPM (16 April 1897 – 17 March 1986), known as Glubb Pasha, was a British soldier, scholar, and author, who led and trained Transjordan's Arab Legion between 1939 an ...

, known as Glubb Pasha, soldier, scholar and author, who led and trained Transjordan's

Arab Legion The Arab Legion () was the police force, then regular army of the Emirate of Transjordan, a British protectorate, in the early part of the 20th century, and then of independent Jordan, with a final Arabization of its command taking place in 195 ...

between 1939 and 1956. During the 1970s cracks in the tower walls meant that it was forbidden to ring all the bells at once. It was fourteen years before the tower could be restored at a cost of £140,000. The bells were retuned at the

Whitechapel Bell Foundry The Whitechapel Bell Foundry was a business in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. At the time of the closure of its Whitechapel premises, it was the oldest manufacturing company in Great Britain. The bell foundry primarily made church bells a ...

. The oldest bell had been founded by Thomas Giles in 1602 and other founders included Brian Eldredge, Richard Phelps, John Waylett and John Taylor. Many of the memorials in the church belong to the Baker and Kirby families. These were local

ironmaster An ironmaster is the manager, and usually owner, of a forge or blast furnace for the processing of iron. It is a term mainly associated with the period of the Industrial Revolution, especially in Great Britain. The ironmaster was usually a large ...

families.

Georgina Weldon Georgina Weldon (née Thomas; 24 May 1837 – 11 January 1914) was a British litigant and amateur soprano of the Victorian era. Early years She was born at Tooting Lodge, Clapham Common in 1837, one of seven children and the oldest daughter bo ...

is interred in the Dalrymple family vault.

See also