St Mary's Church, Westham, is an active

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

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

in High Street,

Westham Westham is a large village and civil parish in the Wealden District, Wealden District of East Sussex, England. The village is adjacent to Pevensey five miles (8 km) north-east of Eastbourne. The parish consists of three settlements: Westham ...

East Sussex East Sussex is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Kent to the north-east, West Sussex to the west, Surrey to the north-west, and the English Channel to the south. The largest settlement ...

, England, standing to the west of

Pevensey Castle Pevensey Castle is a medieval castle and former Roman Saxon Shore fort at Pevensey in the English county of East Sussex. The site is a scheduled monument in the care of English Heritage and is open to visitors. Built around 290 AD and known to ...

. The earliest fabric in the church, in the south wall of 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 ...

and in the

transept A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform ("cross-shaped") cruciform plan, churches, in particular within the Romanesque architecture, Romanesque a ...

, dates from the late 11th century. The north

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

and the tower were added to the church in the late 14th century. The

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the Choir (architecture), choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may termi ...

was either rebuilt or remodelled in about 1420. During the 1870s restorations were carried out, including one by the

Lancaster Lancaster may refer to: Lands and titles *The County Palatine of Lancaster, a synonym for Lancashire *Duchy of Lancaster, one of only two British royal duchies *Duke of Lancaster *Earl of Lancaster *House of Lancaster, a British royal dynasty ...

architects

Paley and Austin Sharpe, Paley and Austin are the surnames of architects who practised in Lancaster, England, Lancaster, Lancashire, England, between 1835 and 1946, working either alone or in partnership. The full names of the principals in their practice, whi ...

in 1876–77, when the seating was increased from 297 to 403. The church is constructed in

flint Flint, occasionally flintstone, is a sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as the variety of chert that occurs in chalk or marly limestone. Historically, flint was widely used to make stone tools and start ...

with stone dressings and a tiled roof. Its plan consists of a nave with a north aisle and a north porch, a south transept, a chancel with a north chapel, and a west tower. The tower contains six bells, the heaviest weighing over 10-1-10cwt (525 kg) and being tuned to G major and being cast in 1921. The tenor bell, originally cast in 1789 and recast in 1921 with the other bells, is engraved with a war memorial, listing the bell ringers of the village lost during the Great War. The church has an active band of bell ringers, which is affiliated to the Eastern District of the Sussex Country Association of Change Ringers. Following the death of Queen Elizabeth II on 8 September the bells were rung fully muffled until the day after the state funeral on 19 September 2022, as part of Operation London Bridge. The church is recorded in the

National Heritage List for England The National Heritage List for England (NHLE) is England's official database of protected heritage assets. It includes details of all English listed buildings, scheduled monuments, register of historic parks and gardens, protected shipwrecks, ...

as a designated Grade I

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

The church today

St Mary's Church was listed at Grade I by English Heritage on 30 August 1966. Such buildings are defined as being of "exceptional interest" and greater than national importance. As of February 2001, it was one of 47 Grade I listed buildings, and 2,173 listed buildings of all grades, in the district of Wealden. The parish covers an extensive rural area in the district of Wealden. It includes Westham village, the

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

of Hankham and Rickney, an area of coastal development between Pevensey Bay village and the edge of

Eastbourne Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. It is also a non-metropolitan district, local government district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, bor ...

, and a small suburban area of Eastbourne around the former hamlet of Friday Street.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Westham, St Mary's Church Church of England church buildings in East Sussex Grade I listed churches in East Sussex Paley and Austin buildings English Gothic architecture in East Sussex Wealden District

The church today

See also

References