Holy Innocents Church, Southwater

Last updated

Church of the Holy Innocents, Southwater Church of the Holy Innocents, Southwater (NHLE Code 1259780).JPG
Church of the Holy Innocents, Southwater

Holy Innocents Church is the Anglican parish church of Southwater, a village in the Horsham District of West Sussex, England. Built in 1849, [1] the church has a cruciform footprint. Inside there are many stained glass windows, donated to the church by the Piper family [2] and the Old Blues of Christ's Hospital School. [3] The church grounds include the church, its graveyards, a house, a church room and a Scout and Guide hut.

Contents

The present building is the first parish church in the village of Southwater. It is almost entirely Victorian, built to accommodate the few residents of what was then a long and straggling village based on several farms, including Great House Farm and College Farm. Much of the land was then, and remains now, in the ownership of the Fletcher family, which gave the land on which the church was built. Most of the walls are of local Horsham Stone. It was one of a number of churches designed by James Park Harrison (1817-1902). [4] The building was constructed largely of local materials from a quarry at Stammerham (Griggs Farm), a pit on Great House Farm and the quarry at St. Leonard's Forest. The cost was said to be ‘in the region of £1,800’. [5]

The foundation stone was laid on 28 December 1848, the Feast Day of the Holy Innocents. Whilst the fact may be thought to account for the dedication of the Church, the choice of dedication actually derives from the misfortune suffered by the Fletcher family, three of the children of the Sir Henry Fletcher dying early. Sir Henry himself died in September 1851, the baptistery window being dedicated to his memory. The church was consecrated by the Bishop of Chichester, Ashurst Turner Gilbert, on 7 June 1850 and the parish was formed from part of Horsham Parish in the North and part of Shipley Parish in the South, being, at the outset, the ‘Consolidated Chapelry of Southwater’, [6] and served by curates from Horsham Parish Church for the first three years. The first vicar, Arthur Dendy, was inducted in 1853. [7] The original vicarage was built in 1854 and was sold off in the 1960s when a new vicarage was built in the grounds. Today the vicar is Rev Godfrey [8] who replaced Rev Dominic Newstead [9] in 2010. Holy Innocents now serves a much larger population than when it was built.

The church remains much as it was, except for the addition of a vestry on the south side in 1909/1910, at a cost of £280, of which sum £200 was donated by the Fletcher family. [10] An additional one acre of ground was given by the Fletcher family for the Burial Ground in use today. [11] Various works of repair and decoration have been carried out over the years; for instance after suffering subsidence, underpinning works were undertaken in 2002 together with large-scale repairs to the stonework at a cost of more than £200,000.

The building is Grade II listed (21 November 1995), the citation noting 'built of stone rubble with ashlar dressings and tiled roof and wood and shingled bellcote'. Of the stained glass 'south and east walls have C19th stained glass. North aisle has six stained glass windows of 1986 depicting the history of Christs Hospital by Harold Thompson.

A comprehensive Record of the Church Furnishings was undertaken by the Horsham Group of The National Association of Decorative and Fine Arts and published in 2013. A copy is available in the church for public reference and on-line through the NADFAS site.

The Church publishes ten editions of the Southwater News annually as part of the Southwater Parish Church outreach programme. [12]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Southwater</span> Human settlement in England

Southwater is a large village and civil parish in the Horsham District of West Sussex, England, with a population of roughly 10,000. It is administered within Horsham District Council and West Sussex County Council.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Diocese of Chichester</span> Diocese of the Church of England

The Diocese of Chichester is a Church of England diocese based in Chichester, covering Sussex. It was founded in 681 as the ancient Diocese of Selsey, which was based at Selsey Abbey, until the see was translated to Chichester in 1075. The cathedral is Chichester Cathedral and the diocesan bishop is the Bishop of Chichester. The diocese is in the Province of Canterbury.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sir Henry Aubrey-Fletcher, 4th Baronet</span> British politician

Sir Henry Aubrey-Fletcher, 4th Baronet,, born Henry Fletcher, was a Member of Parliament in the United Kingdom, and President of Worthing Golf Club from 1909 - 1910.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eton College Chapel</span> Ancient chapel attached to Eton College

Eton College Chapel is the main chapel of Eton College, a public school in England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nuthurst</span> Human settlement in England

Nuthurst is a village and civil parish in the Horsham district of West Sussex, England. The north of the parish borders Horsham town, with Nuthurst village 3 miles (5 km) south from the border. Within the parish is the estate and largely 19th-century country house of Sedgwick Park.

Frederick Wheeler (1853–1931) (FRIBA) was a British architect, born in Brixton, Surrey, in October 1853. His parents were Christopher and Mary Ann Wheeler. He was articled to Charles Henry Driver (1832–1900), whose offices were at 7 Parliament Street, London SW1, and who is best known as the architect for the Victoria Embankment and Abbey Mills.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">All Saints Hove</span> Church

All Saints Hove is an Anglican church in Hove, part of the English city of Brighton and Hove. It has served as the parish church for the whole of Hove since 1892, and stands in a prominent location at a major crossroads in central Hove.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Richard's Church, Haywards Heath</span> Church in West Sussex , United Kingdom

St Richard's Church is an Anglican church in the town of Haywards Heath in the district of Mid Sussex, one of seven local government districts in the English county of West Sussex. The present reinforced concrete and brick structure replaced a temporary building which was a daughter church to Haywards Heath's parish church, St Wilfrid's; the new church soon became parished in its own right to reflect the rapid population growth in the northern part of the town. English Heritage has listed the 1930s building at Grade II for its architectural and historical importance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Holy Trinity Church, Cuckfield</span> Church in West Sussex , England

Holy Trinity Church is an Anglican church in the village of Cuckfield in the district of Mid Sussex; one of seven local government districts in the English county of West Sussex. It was founded in the 11th century and was in the possession of Lewes Priory by 1090. The present structure dates from the mid-13th century but was extended in the 14th century and heavily altered and restored during the Victorian period, with much interior work by Charles Eamer Kempe and stained glass by both Kempe and the Clayton and Bell firm. The church's spire was replaced in 1981 following a fire. Former chapels of ease 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Holy Trinity Platt Church</span> Church in Manchester, England

Holy Trinity Platt Church, is in Platt Fields Park in Rusholme, Manchester, England. It is an active Anglican parish church in the deanery of Hulme, the archdeaconry of Manchester, and the diocese of Manchester. The church is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II* listed building. It is the second "pot church" designed by Edmund Sharpe, so-called because the main building material used in the construction of the church is terracotta.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">All Saints Church, Roffey</span> Church in West Sussex , United Kingdom

All Saints Church is the Anglican parish church of Roffey, in the Horsham district of the English county of West Sussex. The present church, built to serve the Victorian suburb of Roffey—part of the ancient market town of Horsham—replaced a schoolroom in which religious services had been held since 1856. Arthur Blomfield's Early English-style church, built of locally quarried sandstone and funded by a widow as a memorial to her late husband, was completed in 1878 and was allocated a parish immediately. Roman Catholic services were also held in the building to serve Roffey's Catholic population, but these ceased in the early 21st century. English Heritage has listed the church at Grade II for its architectural and historical importance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Church of St Thomas the Apostle, Killinghall</span> Church in North Yorkshire, England

The Church of St Thomas the Apostle, Killinghall, is an Anglican parish church in Killinghall, North Yorkshire, England. It was designed in 1879 by William Swinden Barber when the parish of Ripley was split to create the additional parish of Killinghall, and a new building was required to accommodate a growing congregation. It was opened in 1880. Among the early vicars posted in this benefice were two canons, Sydney Robert Elliston and Lindsay Shorland-Ball, and the Venerable Robert Collier, an Irish missionary who served in India and Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Church of St Mary and St Nicholas, Littlemore</span> Church in Oxfordshire, England

The Church of St Mary and St Nicholas is a Church of England parish church in Littlemore, Oxford, Oxfordshire. The church is a grade II* listed building. The church was founded by John Henry Newman, later Cardinal Newman of the Roman Catholic Church, and it became a centre of Anglo-Catholicism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Stephen's Church, Bush Hill Park</span> Church in Park Avenue, United Kingdom

St Stephen's Church is a Church of England church in Park Avenue, Bush Hill Park in the London Borough of Enfield.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Margaret's Church, Hopton</span> Church in Hopton-on-Sea, England

St Margaret's Church is the parish church of Hopton-on-Sea in the English county of Norfolk. It is dedicated to St Margaret of Antioch. St Margaret is also the dedication of the former church, which was destroyed by fire in 1865. The ruins of the former church remain standing, and are still consecrated. Both the old and new churches are Grade II* listed. Until 1974, Hopton-on-Sea was called Hopton ; the formal name for the benefice remains Hopton. The church is in the Diocese of Norwich, and is within the deanery of Lothingland and archdeaconry of Norfolk.

St Mary the Virgin Church is a parish church in Welling in the London Borough of Bexley. It is dedicated to the Virgin Mary. The church is in the Archdeaconry of Lewisham & Greenwich, in the Diocese of Southwark. It is notable for the range of 20th-century art contained within it.

St Mary and All Saints Church is the parish church of Little Walsingham in the English county of Norfolk. It is dedicated to the Virgin Mary and All Saints. Little Walsingham was the location of the shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham, destroyed at the Dissolution. The Anglican shrine was revived by Alfred Hope Patten, the Vicar of Little Walsingham, in 1922, and the image of Our Lady of Walsingham was in the church until its translation to the new priory in 1931.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Anne's Church, Hessenford</span> Church in Cornwall, England

St Anne's Church is a former Church of England parish church in the village of Hessenford in Cornwall. It is dedicated to St Anne, the mother of the Virgin Mary. The church is in the Archdeaconry of Bodmin, in the Diocese of Truro. The church is largely the work of J P St Aubyn, and is Grade II listed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Mary's Church, Swanage</span> Church in Dorset, England

St Mary's Church is a parish church in Swanage, Dorset. It is dedicated to the Virgin Mary. The church is in the Archdeaconry of Dorset, in the Diocese of Salisbury. The tower is mediaeval; the church itself is a 19th and early 20th-century reconstruction. It is Grade II listed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Lawrence's Church, Ecchinswell</span>

St Lawrence's Church is a Grade II listed sacred edifice in Ecchinswell, Hampshire, England, in the rural deanery of Whitchurch, within the Diocese of Winchester, designed by Bodley & Garner, 1885–87, at a time when Ninian Comper was their articled pupil, 1883-1887. It has 200 sittings.

References

  1. ↑ History of Southwater 1837-1907 with notes on the History of Holy Innocents' Church, Henry J Smith reprinted 1977, Impala Printing, Southwater.
  2. ↑ As inscribed on the lower pane
  3. ↑ "Holy Innocents Church, Southwater « HEYCHURCHES.CO.UK". heychurches.co.uk. Retrieved 12 December 2022.
  4. ↑ "Sussex Parish Churches - Architects and Artists H". sussexparishchurches.org. Archived from the original on 9 November 2013. Retrieved 27 October 2015.
  5. ↑ Southwater A to Z, Southwater Local History Group, 2008. See entry for Church of the Holy Innocents
  6. ↑ By an Order in Council, dated Windsor, 4 Jan, 1853
  7. ↑ Crockford's Clerical Directory
  8. ↑ The Revd Kesari Freeda GODFREY." Crockford's Clerical Directory. Church House Publishing. Web. 10 Nov. 2015.
  9. ↑ The Revd Dominic Gerald Bruno NEWSTEAD." Crockford's Clerical Directory. Church House Publishing. Web. 10 Nov. 2015
  10. ↑ The Parish Magazine for the Rural Deanery of Storrington, 1909. p75
  11. ↑ Conveyance to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners for England, dated October 1920, donor Sir Lancelot Aubrey Fletcher, Baronet
  12. ↑ "About Us". Southwater News. Retrieved 12 December 2022.

51°01′31″N0°21′31″W / 51.0252°N 0.3585°W / 51.0252; -0.3585

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.