Country Churches

78. Chidham

This small 13th century church, once included in the estates of the Bishop of Exeter, lies hidden away down a narrow country lane between Thorney Island and Bosham. The church was much restored in 1864 after the vicar, Rev Candy, reported at a visitation that 'the state of the church is shameful in the extreme'. The present belfry tower with its two bells which stands proudly above the red tiled roof of the nave, was part of the restoration.

The white painted south door is also Victorian as is the timbered roof of the nave. Today the white washed walls, the plain glass windows and the red and black floor tiles exude tranquillity. Just inside the entrance door is the font, the oldest feature of the church. It is almost certainly Saxon and was dug up from under the nave during the restoration in 1864. It is just a roughly cut circular block of stone standing on two modern steps.

Under the west window a piece of a 14th century table tomb is placed in the wall. On the belfry screen hang a number of paintings and etchings of the church. The earliest is dated 1795 and the most recent, an attractive water colour, dates from 1979. On the belfry wall hang photographs of past vicars.

To the left of the door on the south wall hangs a beautifully illustrated list of all the vicars, commencing with Peter Carsfield in 1285, a fine example of calligraphic art. To the right the Second World War memorial lists seven villagers who died and on the north wall is a brass World War One memorial. There are no pillars apart from two which lead into the chapel of St Cuthman added to the north aisle in the 14th century and rededicated in 1925 as a memorial to the eight men killed in the First World War.

The chancel arch is a fine example of Early English work. The side windows of the chancel are original but all contain Victorian glass. On the north side are windows commemorating Miriam and King David and on the south side the Blessed Virgin Mary and Simeon are shown. The east window depicts the Resurrection and Ascension. Beneath the Victorian choir stalls are a number of hidden tombs including John Edes (1695) Mary Edes (1702) and Anna Roberts (1704). Under the wooden altar table is a pre-Reformation stone altar slab with five crosses on it and to the right a 13th century coffin slab.

Much more obvious are three fine Latin memorials. One is Elizabethan dated 1570 relating to Henry Bickley the Lord of the Manor.

"In this tomb lie the limbs of Henry Bickley
Who enjoyed triple rights of the marriage bed,
Whom 4 daughters claimed as father
And one dear son fourth in number
Who as soon as he had fulfilled 60 years
and 7 winters sought the high stand
He bore his fate the last day of September
in the year 1570."

The other memorials date from the reign of Queen Anne. One dated 1707 commemorates another Henry Bickley and his wife Margaret. She "suffered from intermittent fever and for some days fell into lethargy." After 30 years of marriage both died within two days of each other. The epitaph concludes

"Death herself did not divide them
Those whom one and the same disease carried off
The same tomb holds together.
Let them remain untouched
Let them remain through long ages
Ashes joined together
And let the stone unmovable keep them."

A moving family tribute so typical of 18th century epitaphs.

On the south wall is the third Latin memorial to George Maggott son of the Dean of Winchester who died aged 36 in 1708.

The well kept churchyard adjacent to a farm contains many 18th century tombstones. This oasis of peace lies well away from the 20th century rush of traffic. After all Chidham is a village on the way to nowhere - except Chichester harbour - and none the worse for that.

John Symonds