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51. Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Warminghurst The tiny isolated hamlet of Warminghurst, population 58, tucked away in remote countryside 11 miles north west of Worthing, does not even seem to be named on any signposts. The 12th century church stands on a hill 150 feet high and from the churchyard and through a gap in the trees a fine panorama of Chanctonbury Ring and the distant Downs can be seen. The church today is in the care of the Redundant Churches Fund. The dominant exterior feature is the bell turret and shingled spire rising abruptly from the west end, with a long continuous roof extending the whole length of the nave and chancel. The single bell dates from the end of the twelfth century thus making it one of the most ancient in Sussex. On entering through the west door the eye is immediately caught by the large painted Royal Arms of Queen Anne high above the unusual pine screen with its three semi-circular arches on square columns. The nave itself is furnished with pine seating with high backs and sides panelled with trefoil heads. Near the screen are large box pews for the squire and his family complete with drawers for prayer books. The pulpit, also of pine, is supported on two wooden columns with moulded capitals. Just below is the clerks elmwood chair. The north wall of the nave has four single light windows. In between hang three large funeral hatchments in memory of James Butler (1775), John Butler (1767) and Katherine Morgan (1748). There is also a marble memorial with cherubs' heads commemorating John Riches a London merchant who died in 1718 in his 90th year. Above the west door is a 13th century circular window high in the gables and underneath a large blocked window. The small 13th century font stands near the door. The roof is impressive, consisting of curved braces with three massive tie beams. The south wall of the nave has three single light windows and a doorway which leads into a bricked room added in the seventeenth century. On the wall beyond the doorway is the only modern memorial in the church. It commemorates George Sydney Freeman who died in 1938. He was Deputy Editor of the Times from 1914-22 and later founder and editor of the Times Educational Supplement. The chancel is well lit with a 13th century east window of three trefoil headed lights plus windows in each wall, all of plain glass. The floor of Portland stone is patterned by insets of diamond shaped black slates. A doorway in the north wall leads into the 18th century vestry which contains a fine Elizabethan Armada type iron chest. The altar rails with their twisted balustres and the oak altar table date from the 17th century. On the north wall is a very large oval of white marble with a lengthy epitaph praising James Butler of Warminghurst Park who died in 1741 and also his son, grandson and their wives. Opposite on the south wall is another white marble monument to Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Charles Caesar, who married James Butler and died in 1727 aged 48. But the finest memorial is the Shelley Brass. This commemorates Edward Shelley d.1554, his wife Joan and their seven sons and three daughters shown kneeling behind. The brass is set in Purbeck marble. Part of the inscription reads as follows... 'Of your charitie pray for the soules of Edward Shelley Esquyer sumtyme one of the fowre masters of the Household with the most victorious Princes Kyng Henry the VIII and Kyng Edward the VI and to our soverayn Lady Queene Marye and Johan his wyffe, daughter and heyre of Poll Iden of Kent...' American visitors will be interested to know that the Quaker William Penn once lived in the parish and actually drafted the first constitution of Pennsylvania whilst living at Warminghurst Park. In January 1684 the Sheriff of Sussex was ordered by the Arundel Quarter Sessions to apprehend him 'for being a factious and seditious person' who 'doth frequently entertaine and keepe unlawfull Assemblyes and Conventicles in his dwelling house at Warminghurst... to the terror of the Kings leige people and in Contempt of our Sovereign Lord the King...' This house once stood just to the south of the church. [Information in the Church guide by Francis Sterr]. Thus this small church and parish is not without historical importance which makes its preservation by the Trust today even more worthwhile. John Symonds |
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page last updated 31 AUGUST 2001 |
