Holy Trinity Church, Cuckfield
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Holy Trinity Church is an
Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...
church in the village of
Cuckfield Cuckfield ( ) is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Mid Sussex District, Mid Sussex District of West Sussex, England, on the southern slopes of the Weald. It lies south of London, north of Brighton, and east northeas ...
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 counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...
of
Mid Sussex Mid Sussex is an area in the central part of Sussex. It may refer to: * Mid Sussex District, a local government district in West Sussex * Mid Sussex (UK Parliament constituency) * Mid Sussex Football League * Mid Sussex Times, a local newspaper * A ...
; one of seven local government districts in the English 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 ar ...
. It was founded in the 11th century and was in the possession of
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 had o ...
by 1090. The present structure dates from the mid-13th century but was extended in the 14th century and heavily altered and
restored ''Restored'' is the fourth studio album by American contemporary Christian music musician Jeremy Camp. It was released on November 16, 2004 by BEC Recordings. Track listing Standard release Enhanced edition Deluxe gold edition Standard ...
during the Victorian period, with much interior work 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, lichg ...
and
stained glass Stained glass is coloured glass as a material or works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. Although tradition ...
by both Kempe and the Clayton and Bell firm. The church's spire was replaced in 1981 following a fire. Former
chapels of ease A chapel of ease (or chapel-of-ease) is a church building other than the parish church, built within the bounds of a parish for the attendance of those who cannot reach the parish church conveniently. Often a chapel of ease is deliberately bu ...
in outlying hamlets have closed, and the church now serves a large rural area in the centre of Sussex. It is protected as a Grade I listed building.


History

From his base at the
episcopal see An episcopal see is, in a practical use of the phrase, the area of a bishop's ecclesiastical jurisdiction. Phrases concerning actions occurring within or outside an episcopal see are indicative of the geographical significance of the term, mak ...
of Selsey, which he founded, the 7th-century bishop
Wilfrid Wilfrid ( – 709 or 710) was an English bishop and saint. Born a Northumbrian noble, he entered religious life as a teenager and studied at Lindisfarne, at Canterbury, in Francia, and at Rome; he returned to Northumbria in about 660, and ...
converted many of the pagan inhabitants of the Kingdom of the South Saxons (present-day Sussex) to Christianity. Primitive wooden or
wattle and daub Wattle and daub is a composite building method used for making walls and buildings, in which a woven lattice of wooden strips called wattle is daubed with a sticky material usually made of some combination of wet soil, clay, sand, animal dung a ...
churches were built throughout the kingdom, especially in forest clearings. The village of Cuckfield is thought to have been founded at one such clearing in the dense forest of Andredesweald, which covered much of the north of Sussex; so a church may have existed in the village from about the 8th century, when Wilfrid's mission penetrated that part of the kingdom. A church was not recorded in the
Domesday Book 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. The first documented evidence for a settlement and church at Cuckfield came c.1090, when the church was in the possession of
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 had o ...
, England's first Cluniac house. The reported date of this record varies, but
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 at ...
is consistently recording as holding the church. He died in 1088, so dates of 1090, 1091 or 1092 reported in some sources may not be correct. The influence of de Warenne and his wife
Gundred Gundred or Gundreda (Latin: Gundrada) (died 27 May 1085)G. E. Cokayne, ''The Complete Peerage'', vol. xii/1 (The St. Catherine Press, London, 1953), p. 494 was the Flemish-born wife of an early Norman baron, William de Warenne, 1st Earl of Surre ...
on the Cuckfield area extended beyond passive ownership: having founded Lewes Priory, they built and lived in Lewes Castle and established a hunting lodge on land at Cuckfield. They may also have built the church itself, rather than merely taking possession of it on behalf of their priory. (Cuckfield is about northwest of Lewes, and was in the
Rape Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or ag ...
of Lewes: one of the six pre-
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 ...
subdivisions of Sussex.) The exact date of the church's founding is not known: although it was not recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086, details of churches were only recorded haphazardly in that survey, and many pre-1086 churches in Sussex are missing from it. In 1091, de Warenne's son
William de Warenne, 2nd Earl of Surrey William de Warenne, 2nd Earl of Surrey (died 11 May 1138) was the son of William de Warenne, 1st Earl of Surrey and his first wife Gundred. He was more often referred to as ''Earl Warenne'' or ''Earl of Warenne'' than as Earl of Surrey.G. E. Co ...
reaffirmed the grant of the church, the buildings in the village and all its
tithe A tithe (; from Old English: ''teogoþa'' "tenth") is a one-tenth part of something, paid as a contribution to a religious organization or compulsory tax to government. Today, tithes are normally voluntary and paid in cash or cheques or more r ...
s to the priory. A copy of this charter is held in the
British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...
in London. Records of further confirmation of this arrangement survive from the 1120s (from Ralph de Luffa, Bishop of Chichester ) and the end of the 12th century (by
Hamelin de Warenne, Earl of Surrey Hamelin de Warenne, Earl of Surrey ( 1130 – 7 May 1202) (''alias'' Hamelin of Anjou and, anachronistically,"It is much to be wished that the surname "Plantagenet," which since the time of Charles II, has been freely given to all descendants of ...
). The Norman-era building, which had existed in the late 11th century, was probably a simple two-cell structure with
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. Ove ...
. It was rebuilt in about 1250, when the Bishop of Chichester Richard de la Wych (later canonised) made an agreement with Lewes Priory to endow a
vicarage A clergy house is the residence, or former residence, of one or more priests or ministers of religion. Residences of this type can have a variety of names, such as manse, parsonage, rectory or vicarage. Function A clergy house is typically own ...
and improve the church. At that stage, the priory controlled 39 churches in Sussex. He appointed his
chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a Minister (Christianity), minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a laity, lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secularity, secular institution (such as a hosp ...
Walter de Warnecamp as the church's first parish priest, and put him in charge of the enlargement. The south wall of the Norman chapel was demolished and a three-
bay A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a Gulf (geography), gulf, sea, sound (geography), sound, or bight (geogra ...
aisle was built in its place, reached through three archways with round columns. The tower at the west end was also started, although it may have reached its full height only in the mid-14th century. The chancel may have been reconfigured as well. The church had acquired its much of its present structural form by about 1340 after a decade of rebuilding and enlargement. Another bay was added at the east end of the nave; arcaded chapels were added to the north and south of the chancel and aligned with the walls of the nave aisles; the height of the nave was increased by the addition of a
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 ...
below the roofline; and the tower was extended to its present height with a belfry. The south aisle of the nave was extended to four bays to match the newly enlarged nave, and another was added on the north side for balance. This was supported on hexagonal
piers Piers may refer to: * Pier, a raised structure over a body of water * Pier (architecture), an architectural support * Piers (name), a given name and surname (including lists of people with the name) * Piers baronets, two titles, in the baronetages ...
. Several windows with flat headers and ogee-arched lights also date from this era, and the slim, tall
spire A spire is a tall, slender, pointed structure on top of a roof of a building or tower, especially at the summit of church steeples. A spire may have a square, circular, or polygonal plan, with a roughly conical or pyramidal shape. Spires are ...
is believed to be contemporary as well. It is slightly recessed within the castellated
parapet A parapet is a barrier that is an extension of the wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/breast'). Whe ...
of the tower, and is of the
broach spire A broach spire is a type of spire (tall pyramidal structure), which usually sits atop a tower or turret of a church. It starts on a square base and is carried up to a tapering octagonal spire by means of triangular faces. File:Leicester Cathedral ...
type. The external roofline was changed in the late 15th century: the walls of the aisles were built up, and the roof was brought down in a single sweep from the ridge to the eaves. This work, which had the effect of blocking the
quatrefoil A quatrefoil (anciently caterfoil) is a decorative element consisting of a symmetrical shape which forms the overall outline of four partially overlapping circles of the same diameter. It is found in art, architecture, heraldry and traditional ...
windows in the clerestory, was done in conjunction with the installation of a wagon vault ceiling with tie-beams and spandrels. This substantial oak roof has carved bosses and elaborate moulding on its beams. Further enlargement came in the following century, reflecting Cuckfield's steadily increasing prosperity: a chapel was added at the northeast corner for the use of the locally important Sergison family. The
English Reformation The English Reformation took place in 16th-century England when the Church of England broke away from the authority of the pope and the Catholic Church. These events were part of the wider European Protestant Reformation, a religious and poli ...
of the 16th century, through which
Protestantism Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...
became established and Catholic-style worship and practices were banished, affected Holy Trinity Church in the same ways as other churches: statues, icons and paintings were removed or destroyed, the internal layout was simplified,
Holy Communion The Eucharist (; from Greek , , ), also known as Holy Communion and the Lord's Supper, is a Christian rite that is considered a sacrament in most churches, and as an ordinance in others. According to the New Testament, the rite was instituted ...
rituals were altered, English was used instead of Latin, and objects ranging from hymn-books to the
altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, churches, and other places of worship. They are used particularly in paga ...
had to be stripped out and destroyed in public—often by being burnt. Inventories had to be provided to prove this had been done, and a surviving document produced by Cuckfield's churchwarden in 1620 shows that hardly any objects were then used during services. More disruption came during the
English Civil War The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians (" Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I ("Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of re ...
starting in 1641: Rev. Dr James Marsh, appointed vicar of Cuckfield in 1638, had
Royalist A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of governme ...
sympathies and became one of the thousands of clergymen who were removed from their parishes and had their possessions sequestered. He was sent to prison three times during the war. Although central Sussex escaped the worst of the fighting, Parliamentarians are known to have damaged the church: soldiers broke the
stoups 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 large crack in the 13th-century
font In metal typesetting, a font is a particular size, weight and style of a typeface. Each font is a matched set of type, with a piece (a "sort") for each glyph. A typeface consists of a range of such fonts that shared an overall design. In mod ...
was reputedly caused by a kick from one of their horses stabled inside the church. The
Restoration of the Monarchy 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 ...
in 1660 ended this turbulent period, and more structural work was soon carried out on the church: the spire was shingled and a clock was installed in the tower in 1667. Some minor work had also been carried out in the 1630s: altar rails were installed in 1637, the building was painted, a gallery was added inside and the vicar hung the church's first ring of bells. The weight of the roof necessitated external
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 (s ...
ing of the south aisle at this time as well. The church's present eight bells were cast by Thomas Mears II of 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 ...
in 1815. In the 19th century, Cuckfield parish was split, with two new parishes created: in 1848, a year after
Benjamin Ferrey Benjamin Ferrey FSA FRIBA (1 April 1810–22 August 1880) was an English architect who worked mostly in the Gothic Revival. Family Benjamin Ferrey was the youngest son of Benjamin Ferrey Snr (1779–1847), a draper who became Mayor of Christc ...
built St Mark's Church at
Staplefield Staplefield is a village in the Mid Sussex District of West Sussex, England, situated north-west of Haywards Heath on the B2114 road. It is part of Ansty and Staplefield civil parish where the 2011 Census population information is included. ...
(paid for by the vicar and parishioners of Holy Trinity Church), it was given its own parish to serve the village, and in 1865
Haywards Heath Haywards Heath is a town in West Sussex, England, south of London, north of Brighton, south of Gatwick Airport and northeast of the county town, Chichester. Nearby towns include Burgess Hill to the southwest, Horsham to the northwest, Crawl ...
was given its own ecclesiastical parish based at George Frederick Bodley's St Wilfrid's Church, completed that year. The rapidly growing town only came into existence after Cuckfield villagers and the church authorities refused to allow the London to Brighton railway line to be built through the village: its planned alignment took it past the east side of the churchyard, but the
London and Brighton Railway The London and Brighton Railway (L&BR) was a railway company in England which was incorporated in 1837 and survived until 1846. Its railway ran from a junction with the London and Croydon Railway (L&CR) at Norwood – which gives it access fro ...
company moved it to the east across the unpopulated
heathland A heath () is a shrubland habitat found mainly on free-draining infertile, acidic soils and characterised by open, low-growing woody vegetation. Moorland is generally related to high-ground heaths with—especially in Great Britain—a cooler ...
after which residents gave their approval. The most wide-ranging structural changes in the building's history took place in the mid-19th century. These were planned by Rev. Thomas Astley Maberly, incumbent for 36 years from 1841, and his
curate A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' (''cura'') ''of souls'' of a parish. In this sense, "curate" means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy w ...
(and successor as vicar) James Cooper, who joined the parish in 1855. Cooper was a former member of the Ecclesiastical and Architectural Society. In 1839, an unnamed parishioner donated a barrel organ to the church, but its range of music was deemed inadequate. The same parishioner presented a new
organ Organ may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a part of an organism Musical instruments * Organ (music), a family of keyboard musical instruments characterized by sustained tone ** Electronic organ, an electronic keyboard instrument ** Hammond ...
in 1842, which was well received by all and immediately changed the character of worship at the church, which had previously relied on a choir for musical accompaniment. The old font was also restored and repositioned in the church, apparently after being discovered in pieces in the belfry by the vicar. In 1846, a
baptistery In Christian architecture the baptistery or baptistry (Old French ''baptisterie''; Latin ''baptisterium''; Greek , 'bathing-place, baptistery', from , baptízein, 'to baptize') is the separate centrally planned structure surrounding the baptismal ...
was formed in one end of the south aisle, some of the windows were reglazed (some with
stained glass Stained glass is coloured glass as a material or works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. Although tradition ...
), a tiled floor was laid and new oak
pew A pew () is a long bench (furniture), bench seat or enclosed box, used for seating Member (local church), members of a Church (congregation), congregation or choir in a Church (building), church, synagogue or sometimes a courtroom. Overview ...
s were installed. In 1855, Rev. Maberly commissioned George Frederick Bodley to renovate the church. The comprehensive reconfiguration and rebuilding carried out by him and his pupil
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, lichg ...
has given the building a largely
Victorian Victorian or Victorians may refer to: 19th century * Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign ** Victorian architecture ** Victorian house ** Victorian decorative arts ** Victorian fashion ** Victorian literature ...
appearance. Changes were made in all parts of the church: Bodley installed marble steps and railings in the chancel, raised the floor height in the chancel, installed a new
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 ...
of alabaster (no longer in place), changed the 17th-century triple-deck timber
pulpit A pulpit is a raised stand for preachers in a Christian church. The origin of the word is the Latin ''pulpitum'' (platform or staging). The traditional pulpit is raised well above the surrounding floor for audibility and visibility, access ...
for a new, smaller version of stone and wood, put in new choir stalls, removed the galleries, opened out one of the arcades in the south aisle which had been partitioned previously, renewed all the floors, lowered the floor in the tower to bring it in line with the rest of the church, re-roofed the south aisle and installed three new windows and removed a
chandelier A chandelier (; also known as girandole, candelabra lamp, or least commonly suspended lights) is a branched ornamental light fixture designed to be mounted on ceilings or walls. Chandeliers are often ornate, and normally use incandescent li ...
, which was donated to a church in
Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
. More work took place in 1862–63: 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 ...
was removed from the east end of the south aisle and a
Lady chapel A Lady chapel or lady chapel is a traditional British term for a chapel dedicated to "Our Lady", Mary, mother of Jesus, particularly those inside a cathedral or other large church. The chapels are also known as a Mary chapel or a Marian chapel, an ...
took its place; in 1888 the former Sergison chapel was converted into a new vestry. The large east window, designed in 1330 in the Perpendicular style, was replaced by a shorter replica. Charles Eamer Kempe's association with the church began in 1865, when Bodley commissioned him to paint the wagon vault ceiling, which was still in its unadorned 15th-century state. His work, mostly floral designs in pale colours, is considered to be excellent and well-suited to the shape of the roof. He also designed and installed several stained glass windows between 1875 and 1887, for example in the north aisle and west wall, and rebuilt the south porch in 1883 using most of the original stonework. Five years earlier, one had been added on the north side by Richard Herbert Carpenter. In the 1870s, the belfry was repanelled and given a new ceiling, the 25,000 shingles on the spire were replaced, a new staircase was built into the belfry and a new clock was installed. The clock of 1667 was saved and installed on the inside wall of the tower. A war memorial was built in the churchyard and dedicated in 1921. During this work, a 13th-century coin was found in the ground; it was minted at the time the church was being built, and may have been dropped then. A memorial tablet of white marble, listing the names of all Cuckfield residents killed in the First World War, was installed inside the church in 1922. In the same year, repairs were found to be needed to several parts of the building and its fixtures; the Diocese of Chichester provided funds to supplement the offertory, and work started immediately. Repairs to the roof led to the uncovering of the blocked clerestory windows and two others in the chancel, although they were bricked up again in 1933. The tower was being undermined by
ivy ''Hedera'', commonly called ivy (plural ivies), is a genus of 12–15 species of evergreen climbing or ground-creeping woody plants in the family Araliaceae, native to western, central and southern Europe, Macaronesia, northwestern Africa and ...
growth, and its stonework was repaired in 1925. Problems afflicted the spire and tower throughout the 20th century. A fire at Easter 1917 was quickly dealt with, but another caused by a lightning strike in July 1945 caused major damage, especially to the bells and the woodwork inside. Six of the eight bells were disabled for 14 months. In 1972, the shingles on the spire were found to need replacement again, and a
death watch beetle The deathwatch beetle (''Xestobium rufovillosum'') is a species of woodboring beetle that sometimes infests the structural timbers of old buildings. The adult beetle is brown and measures on average long. Eggs are laid in dark crevices in old w ...
infestation was found. The
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 ...
was also found to be dangerous and had to be removed temporarily. Repairs were carried out, but on 1 May 1980 another fire broke out; it was so severe that the spire toppled from the tower after just 15 minutes. A replica was made in two parts at Littlehampton and reassembled on top of the tower in February 1981; the only change, insisted on by the church's insurers, was the insertion of larger louvres to provide easier access from the top of the tower to the spire.


Architecture

Holy Trinity Church is Gothic in style, combining elements of the Early English and Decorated styles. The plan consists of 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. Ove ...
with chapels to the north and south, a four-
bay A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a Gulf (geography), gulf, sea, sound (geography), sound, or bight (geogra ...
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 aisles to the north and south and porches on each side (approximately level with the second bay from the west end), a west tower with a staircase on the south side, and a vestry (the former Sergison chapel) attached to the north chapel. It is built entirely of Sussex
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) ...
, some of which may have been quarried in Cuckfield itself. The roofs are covered with slabs of Horsham stone. The former Sergison chapel has external
chamfer A chamfer or 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, fu ...
ing and
ashlar Ashlar () is finely dressed (cut, worked) stone, either an individual stone that has been worked until squared, or a structure built from such stones. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, generally rectangular cuboid, mentioned by Vitruv ...
dressings to its walls. Most of the windows have
stained glass Stained glass is coloured glass as a material or works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. Although tradition ...
, by either Charles Eamer Kempe or the Clayton and Bell firm. The latter was active throughout Sussex in the late 19th century, and its work features in many churches. A Kempe window, featuring
Michael the Archangel Michael (; he, מִיכָאֵל, lit=Who is like El od, translit=Mīḵāʾēl; el, Μιχαήλ, translit=Mikhaḗl; la, Michahel; ar, ميخائيل ، مِيكَالَ ، ميكائيل, translit=Mīkāʾīl, Mīkāl, Mīkhāʾīl), also ...
, was installed in the west wall of the tower in 1875; he added a
Jesse window The Tree of Jesse is a depiction in art of the ancestors of Jesus Christ, shown in a branching tree which rises from Jesse of Bethlehem, the father of King David. It is the original use of the family tree as a schematic representation of a gen ...
in the north aisle in 1887 and another, known as ‘The Redemption’ next to it in 1889. At least four windows in the church have been attributed to him. Clayton and Bell's work, dated 1869 and 1879, is in the south aisle as well as similar dated Clayton and Bell windows in the north aisle.


Churchyard

The churchyard has far-reaching southward views 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 east. ...
. There are many 17th- and 18th-century gravestones, 22 of which are individually protected with Grade II listing. Elsewhere, a rare 19th-century wooden grave marker has been restored to its original condition. An extremely tall, old tree is a dominant feature. The churchyard is entered through two lychgates, both of which are also Grade II listed. One was 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, lichg ...
in either 1887 or 1893; the structure is entirely of timber, supporting a " pagoda-shaped" of Horsham stone tiles topped with an iron cross. There are two arches of unequal width, the wider of which is gated. The gate is dedicated to a parishioner, Caroline Emily Maberley. The other was added in 1911 and stands on a base 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) ...
. The roof is laid with Horsham stone tiles. The walls alongside the gate, of sandstone
ashlar Ashlar () is finely dressed (cut, worked) stone, either an individual stone that has been worked until squared, or a structure built from such stones. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, generally rectangular cuboid, mentioned by Vitruv ...
, are included in the listing. The gate also bears a dedication to a parishioner, Laura Maria Bevan, the wife of Richard Alexander Bevan ("the father of Cuckfield"). The existence of a pair of lychgates at a churchyard is rare. Enlargement took place in 1855 to accommodate burials from the growing railway town of
Haywards Heath Haywards Heath is a town in West Sussex, England, south of London, north of Brighton, south of Gatwick Airport and northeast of the county town, Chichester. Nearby towns include Burgess Hill to the southwest, Horsham to the northwest, Crawl ...
, which at that time was still in Holy Trinity's parish. By this time, the churchyard had become a
cemetery A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite or graveyard is a place where the remains of dead people are buried or otherwise interred. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek , "sleeping place") implies that the land is specifically designated as a buri ...
and was no longer run by the church authorities. More land was acquired for expansion in the 20th century.


Vicarage

The old vicarage, which had been rebuilt in
Georgian style Georgian architecture is the name given in most English-speaking countries to the set of architectural styles current between 1714 and 1830. It is named after the first four Monarchy of the United Kingdom, British monarchs of the House of Hano ...
in the 1780s, was found to be in poor condition in 1926. Several surrounding farm buildings and a tithe barn were demolished and the vicarage itself was sold in 1937. The vicar lived in a Victorian house near the church until 1945, when another house was bought nearby. This in turn fell into disrepair by 1961, but money was raised for repairs. The old vicarage is now a Grade II listed building. Originally built in the early 17th century, it was comprehensively redesigned and rebuilt between October 1780 and September 1781. Alterations were made in the 19th century. The
stucco Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and a ...
ed façade has five
bays A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a gulf, sea, sound, or bight. A cove is a small, circular bay with a narr ...
, each with an evenly spaced
sash window A sash window or hung sash window is made of one or more movable panels, or "sashes". The individual sashes are traditionally paned window (architecture), paned windows, but can now contain an individual sheet (or sheets, in the case of double gla ...
topped by an
architrave In classical architecture, an architrave (; from it, architrave "chief beam", also called an epistyle; from Greek ἐπίστυλον ''epistylon'' "door frame") is the lintel or beam that rests on the capitals of columns. The term can ...
with decorative moulding. The door is set below a
pediment Pediments are gables, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the lintel, or entablature, if supported by columns. Pediments can contain an overdoor and are usually topped by hood moulds. A pedimen ...
and
fanlight A fanlight is a form of lunette window, often semicircular or semi-elliptical in shape, with glazing bars or tracery sets radiating out like an open fan. It is placed over another window or a doorway, and is sometimes hinged to a transom. Th ...
which is obscured by a hood-moulded porch projecting forwards over the steps. The southeast-facing side has a tall 19th-century bow window. Another wing was added to the north in the mid-19th century at the request of Rev. Maberley.


The church today

Holy Trinity Church was designated a Grade I listed building on 10 September 1951. The church, standing on the south edge of Cuckfield off the High Street and with long 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 ...
, is "the focal point of the village", despite the site being the lowest land in the area ( above
sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardised g ...
). The parish covers a mostly rural area in Mid Sussex. The only settlements are Cuckfield itself and the nearby hamlets of Ansty and Brook Street. Both formerly had
chapels of ease A chapel of ease (or chapel-of-ease) is a church building other than the parish church, built within the bounds of a parish for the attendance of those who cannot reach the parish church conveniently. Often a chapel of ease is deliberately bu ...
of their own. The chapel at Brook Street was dedicated to All Saints and was served by Holy Trinity's
curate A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' (''cura'') ''of souls'' of a parish. In this sense, "curate" means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy w ...
s and their assistants. It was opened in 1879 by the vicar of Holy Trinity Church, Rev. Francis Mount. Services continued to be held there until November 1968, by which time the structure had become unsafe and congregations were declining. The building now houses a picture-framing shop. At Ansty, also in 1879, Rev. Mount opened a
tin tabernacle A tin tabernacle, also known as an iron church, is a type of prefabricated ecclesiastical building made from corrugated galvanised iron. They were developed in the mid-19th century initially in the United Kingdom. Corrugated iron was first us ...
. This was enlarged with a proper
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. Ove ...
in 1883, and on 10 December 1909 it reopened in a new, brick-built form as St John's Chapel after being rebuilt and rededicated as a memorial to a local resident. Thoughts of closing the church first arose in 1998, when finding enough clergy and laypeople to run it effectively started to become very difficult, and in January 1999 the proposal was put to worshipers and local residents. Combining its spiritual functions with those of a community centre were considered, but the outcome was the closure and sale of the chapel. The last service took place at Christmas 2000, and the building was converted into a house. Holy Trinity continues to provide a wide range of services.


See also

*
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 ...
*
List of places of worship in Mid Sussex The district of Mid Sussex, one of seven local government districts in the English county of West Sussex, has nearly 100 churches and other places of worship. Most are in the three main towns of Burgess Hill, Haywards Heath and East Grins ...


References


Notes


Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cuckfield, Holy Trinity Church 13th-century church buildings in England Church of England church buildings in Mid Sussex District Grade I listed churches in West Sussex