St Andrew's Church | |
---|---|
![]() The church from the northwest | |
![]() | |
50°49′29″N0°23′45″W / 50.8247°N 0.3958°W | |
Location | Church Road, West Tarring, Worthing, West Sussex BN13 1HQ |
Country | England |
Denomination | Church of England |
Website | Saint Andrew's Parish Church, West Tarring |
History | |
Status | Parish church |
Founded | 11th century |
Founder(s) | Archbishop of Canterbury |
Dedication | Saint Andrew |
Dedicated | By 1372 |
Architecture | |
Functional status | Active |
Heritage designation | Grade II* |
Designated | 11 October 1949 |
Style | Perpendicular Gothic |
Administration | |
Province | Canterbury |
Diocese | Chichester |
Archdeaconry | Chichester |
Deanery | Rural Deanery of Worthing |
Parish | West Tarring, St Andrew |
Clergy | |
Rector | Rev. Fr Steven Emerson |
St Andrew's Church is the Church of England parish church of Tarring, West Sussex, England. Founded in the 11th century in a then rural parish which had earlier been granted to the Archbishop of Canterbury, the church remained a peculier of Canterbury for many centuries thereafter. It served nearby parishes when their churches fell into disrepair, John Selden was baptised here, and the church became a base for smuggling. The present building is mostly 13th-century, and its tall spire is a landmark in the area. [1] The church is a Grade II* Listed Building.
The parish of West Tarring is now part of the Borough of Worthing, but has ancient origins as a South Downs strip parish of about 1,200 acres (486 ha). [2] It ran for about 3 miles (5 km) from its northern extremity at Bost Hill, on the track to Findon (now the A24 road), to the English Channel coast in the south, and was much narrower apart from a thin strip of land extending westwards. [2] [3] [4] Many coastal parishes in Sussex were this shape: many different soils and varieties of land would be included within the boundaries, from chalky downland in the north to marshy grassland near the coast. [3] Two settlements developed, of which West Tarring was the larger and more central. (The name "Tarring" was, and still is, also used, but the "West" prefix was often used to prevent confusion with Tarring Neville near Lewes.) [2] [5] Salvington, the other settlement in the parish, is high on the slopes of the South Downs. [3]
The first documented description of West Tarring was in about AD 939, when King Athelstan granted the manor of Tarring to Christ Church in Canterbury (now Canterbury Cathedral). [2] [6] At the time of the Domesday Book in 1086 it was still held by the archbishop and had 41 inhabitants. A church is known to have existed at that time; [2] it is likely to have been a wooden building. [7]
The present flint and stone building [8] began to take shape in the mid-13th century. [9] At that time, the rector, Simon of Tarring, provided sanctuary for Richard of Wych (later St Richard of Chichester), the new Bishop of Chichester. He had been barred from his own palace there by King Henry III, who had been angered by the election of Richard as bishop in place of Robert Passelewe. While he was based at the church, Richard travelled throughout Sussex, taking services and reputedly performing miracles; he was canonised in 1262. [9]
The dedication to Saint Andrew was first mentioned in 1372. [2] [10] In the 15th century the chancel and tower were rebuilt, [8] apparently under the influence of Canterbury. [11] The rood screen also dates from that time. [2] The church only had modest wealth — its internal fittings were valued at £6.13s.4d. (£2,810 as of 2024) [12] in 1561 [13] — and unusual fundraising activities were popular. [2] Church ales — drinking sessions held in the church, at which the churchwardens sold beer to raise funds for its upkeep — were popular throughout the 16th century, [2] and often proved to be uproarious occasions at which large quantities of luxurious food were eaten and various entertainers performed. [14]
An organ was installed in the late 16th century. [14] Bells were hung in the tower by 1518, and there were five in 1533. These had been cast at the Tapsel (or Topsell) family's bell foundry near the church; the Tapsels cast many bells in West Tarring, for churches across Sussex, for about 200 years, and also invented the Tapsel gate used in some Sussex churchyards. [15] [16]
The nearby parishes of Durrington and Heene had been linked to West Tarring since the Middle Ages. Their tithes were combined, and they were administered for ecclesiastical purposes by the incumbents of St Andrew's: [2] [7] for example, burials and baptisms were carried out at West Tarring. [17] [18] By the 17th century, in common with many churches in the area, Durrington and Heene's churches had declined and fallen into ruin. By 1680 both were in such poor condition that their parishioners were allowed to travel to worship at St Andrew's instead, and services were no longer held at Durrington or Heene. [17] [18] [19]
Major changes were made in the mid-19th century. In 1845 the church ceased to be a peculier of Canterbury and instead was placed under the Diocese of Chichester, in conformity with other Church of England churches in the area. [2] [10] In 1853 the vicar instigated a restoration of the church, raising most of the £2,200 (£281,200 as of 2024) [12] himself. [20] Changes included the removal of the timber west gallery,[ citation needed ] the addition of a vestry, the stripping of previous interior alterations and a complete overhaul of the interior (although certain fittings were retained and reinstalled), [10] and the replacement of the organ. [2] [20] Also in 1853 Charles and George Mears [21] of the Whitechapel Bell Foundry recast four of the bells into a new ring of six. [2] [22] The restoration took seven months and was completed in time for Holy Week 1854. [20] In 1885 mosaics designed by the Gothic Revival architect William Butterfield were installed by Italian craftsmen in the aisles and around the tower arch. [8] [11] [23] The church roof partly collapsed around the same time and had to be repaired. [23] In the 20th century a lychgate was erected at the churchyard entrance, the reredos was replaced, the organ was replaced again, the roof of the chancel was renewed and some stained glass was added. [23] [24]
The font was replaced with a Victorian one: the main section of its medieval predecessor was removed and taken to Australia by the Henty family when they emigrated. [2] [23] The Hentys were successful farmers, especially of merino sheep, and lived in one of West Tarring's largest houses. Thomas Henty, the patriarch, sent three of his sons and 150 sheep to Western Australia in 1829. Eventually the whole family moved to Australia: the pioneers settled in Tasmania, while Edward Henty, another son, became the first settler in Victoria and was instrumental in developing the sheep-rearing industry there. [25] [26] They gave the font they had taken with them to a cathedral in Melbourne, which some sources state is St Patrick's Cathedral, Melbourne [23] while the Sussex Parish Churches website states this was at St Paul's Cathedral, Melbourne, [27] the architect of which, William Butterfield had previously worked at St Andrew's Church.
Smuggling was popular in the Worthing area between the early 18th and early 19th centuries — sometimes out of necessity, such as during a period of economic hardship in the 1820s which caused the developing town to stagnate. [28] One of the leading smugglers at that time, William Cowerson, was employed at St Andrew's Church on restoration work; he regularly used the table tombs in the churchyard to store smuggled alcohol and other contraband. [29] [30]
St Andrew's Church is an Early English Gothic building with some Perpendicular Gothic elements. [1] [8] It is a knapped flint structure with stone dressings, [8] and is relatively large in comparison with others in the area—probably because of the influence of Canterbury. [10] [11]
The nave survives in its entirety from the 13th century. It has five bays with aisles, a clerestory, a vestry on the south side and porches on the north and south sides. The aisles and clerestory have lancet windows, and the whole composition is in the Early English style. [8] [11] The chancel and tower were rebuilt in the 15th century in the Perpendicular style, and the tall octagonal shingled spire was added in the 16th century. The chancel has Perpendicular-style windows with two lights; some of the tower windows more closely resemble the earlier Decorated Gothic style. [8] [11] The east window of the chancel is more ornate than usual: paired shorter lights flank a much taller central light which is surrounded at the top by sexfoils (six-lobed circular openings). [11] The tower and chancel have buttresses with quoins and dressings of ashlar. [8] The tower also has an interior stair-turret in one corner. [2] Its west door, in the Perpendicular style with a hood mould, is not original: it was inserted in the late 15th century. The windows above it have elaborate tracery. [2] [8] [11] Paul Chapman of Hove-based stained glass designers Cox & Barnard made windows for the west ends of the north and south aisles. They were installed in 1958 and depict Saint Thomas of Canterbury and Saint Richard of Chichester respectively. [31]
Inside, there are five pointed arches on each side of the nave, with round columns topped by capitals. The mosaic decoration, depicting the Twelve Apostles, runs between and above them, and extends to the tower arch with its octagonal columns. [8] [11] The chancel arch was restored in the mid-19th century, but the 15th-century chancel screen was retained during the renovations of 1853. Also in the chancel are six misericords, two with carved heads. [8] [10] [11] [24]
There are several memorials in the church. The Henty family is commemorated by a tablet and a 19th-century window near the altar; [2] [23] there is also a window for Robert Southey, the poet, who was the father-in-law of the vicar (Reverend J. Warter) who had restored the church in the mid-19th century. [23] The most famous man associated with St Andrew's Church, John Selden, [32] was baptised here in 1584 [1] [33] and has a memorial and a plaque. [10]
St Andrew's Parish Church has been a Grade II* Listed Building since 11 October 1949. [8] Such buildings are defined as being "particularly important" and "of more than special interest". [34] As of February 2001 it was one of eight Grade II* listed buildings in the borough of Worthing. [35]
Today the ecclesiastical parish is smaller than the ancient parish, but the northern part up to Salvington is retained. The other boundaries are the railway line to the south, The Boulevard in the west and a line west of Loxwood Avenue to the east. [36]
West Tarring or simply Tarring, is a neighbourhood of Worthing, in the borough of Worthing in West Sussex, England. It lies on the A2031 road 1 mile (1.6 km) north-west of the town centre. It is called "West Tarring", or less commonly "Tarring Peverell", to differentiate it from Tarring Neville near Lewes.
The Church of the Transfiguration is the Church of England parish church of the village of Pyecombe, in the Mid Sussex District of West Sussex, England. The mostly 12th- and 13th-century building, in an isolated setting facing the South Downs, has been designated a Grade I Listed building.
St John the Evangelist's Church is the Church of England parish church of Burgess Hill, West Sussex, England. It is a Gothic Revival church built of local bricks. It was consecrated in 1863 and was the town's first Church of England church. Since then it has administered several other churches in the town as either mission chapels or daughter churches, but all have either closed or been given their own parishes. The church is a Grade II* Listed Building.
Worthing, a town with borough status in the English county of West Sussex, has 212 buildings with listed status. The Borough of Worthing covers an area of 8,030 acres (3,250 ha) on the south coast of England, facing the English Channel. The town's development in the early 19th century coincided with nearby Brighton's rise as a famous, fashionable resort, and Worthing became a quiet seaside town with a large stock of Victorian buildings. Residential growth in the 20th century absorbed nearby villages, and older houses, churches and mansions became part of the borough. The Town and Country Planning Act 1947, an act of Parliament effective from 1948, introduced the concept of "listing" buildings of architectural and historical interest, and Worthing Borough Council nominated 90 buildings at that time. More have since been added, but others have been demolished. As of 2009, Worthing has three buildings of Grade I status, 11 listed at Grade II*, 196 of Grade II status and three at the equivalent Grade C.
St George's Church is an Anglican church in the East Worthing area of the borough of Worthing, one of seven local government districts in the English county of West Sussex. Built in 1867–68 to serve new residential development in the southeast of the town, the Decorated Gothic-style structure was extended later in the 19th century, and expanded its reach further by founding three mission halls elsewhere in Worthing. English Heritage has listed it at Grade C for its architectural and historical importance.
St Mary's Church is an Anglican church in the Goring-by-Sea area of the Borough of Worthing, one of seven local government districts in the English county of West Sussex. The late Norman parish church of the ancient village of Goring retains some architectural elements from that period, but Decimus Burton's comprehensive restoration of 1837 has given the church its present Gothic Revival exterior appearance. German artist Hans Feibusch, who worked extensively in the Diocese of Chichester, provided a mural in 1954: it is considered impressive, but caused controversy at the time. English Heritage has listed the church at Grade II* for its architectural and historical importance.
St Andrew the Apostle is an Anglican church in Worthing, West Sussex, England. Built between 1885 and 1886 in the Early English Gothic style by Sir Arthur Blomfield, "one of the last great Gothic revivalists", the church was embroiled in controversy as soon as it was founded. During a period of religious unrest in the town, theological tensions within Anglicanism between High church Anglo-Catholics and Low church Anglicans were inflamed by what the latter group saw as the church's "idolatrous" Roman Catholic-style fittings—in particular, a statue of the Virgin Mary which was seized upon by opponents as an example of a reversion to Catholic-style worship in the Church of England. The "Worthing Madonna" dispute delayed the consecration of the church by several years. English Heritage has listed the building at Grade C for its architectural and historical importance, and the adjacent vestry and vicarage are listed separately at Grade II.
St Botolph's Church is an Anglican church in the Heene area of the borough of Worthing, one of seven local government districts in the English county of West Sussex. It had 11th-century origins as a chapelry within the parish of West Tarring, but declined and fell into disuse by the 18th century. Neighbouring Worthing's rapid development as a seaside resort in the 19th century encouraged residential growth around the ancient village of Heene, and a new church with the same dedication was built to serve both Heene and the high-class planned estate of West Worthing. Edmund Scott's Early English Gothic-style church stands next to the fragmentary ruins of the old church, which are listed separately at Grade II.
St Symphorian's Church is an Anglican church in the Durrington area of the borough of Worthing, one of seven local government districts in the English county of West Sussex. The original 13th-century chapelry declined and fell into ruins in the 17th century, partly due to damage caused by the English Civil War. Anglican worship was re-established in a tin tabernacle in 1890 as the former village grew into a suburb of Worthing, and during World War I a permanent church was built. It was extended during World War II. English Heritage has listed the building at Grade II for its architectural and historical importance.
St Mary's Church is an Anglican church in the village of Slaugham in Mid Sussex, one of seven local government districts in the English county of West Sussex. The 12th- and 13th-century church, restored in the Victorian era, serves a large rural area of the Sussex Weald, covering three villages as well as the ancient settlement of Slaugham. It also controlled the church in the market town of Crawley—now one of the area's largest towns—for the first few centuries of its existence. A locally important family built a private chapel in the church in the 17th century, and a series of memorials to deceased family members are considered to be excellent examples of their type. English Heritage has listed the building at Grade II* for its architectural and historical importance.
Holy Trinity Church is an Anglican church in the centre of Hastings, a town and borough in the English county of East Sussex. It was built during the 1850s—a period when Hastings was growing rapidly as a seaside resort—by prolific and eccentric architect Samuel Sanders Teulon, who was "chief among the rogue architects of the mid-Victorian Gothic Revival". The Decorated/Early English-style church is distinguished by its opulently decorated interior and its layout on a difficult town-centre site, chosen after another location was found to be unsuitable. The church took eight years to build, and a planned tower was never added. English Heritage has listed the building at Grade II* for its architectural and historical importance.
All Saints Church is an Anglican church in the hamlet of Highbrook in Mid Sussex, one of seven local government districts in the English county of West Sussex. The tiny settlement, in the parish of West Hoathly, was distant from the parish church in that village; two wealthy sisters accordingly funded the construction of a new church to serve the local population. Richard H. Carpenter and Benjamin Ingelow's stone building, with a prominent spire, opened in 1884 and was allocated its own parish. The "handsome" church, designed in the 14th/15th-century style of the Gothic Revival, has been listed at Grade II by English Heritage for its architectural and historical importance.
St Mary Magdalene's Church is a Greek Orthodox place of worship in St Leonards-on-Sea, a town and seaside resort which is part of the Borough of Hastings in East Sussex, England. Dedicated to Mary Magdalene and built in 1852 for Anglican worshippers in the growing new town of St Leonards-on-Sea, a seaside resort which had been laid out from the 1820s, the church's prominent position on the skyline overlooking the town was enhanced in 1872 by the addition of a tower. No longer required by the Anglican community in the 1980s, it was quickly bought by the Greek Orthodox Church and converted into a place of worship in accordance with their requirements. The alterations were minimal, though, and the building retains many of its original fittings and its "archaeologically correct Gothic" exterior which reflected architectural norms of the early Victorian era. English Heritage has listed the church at Grade II for its architectural and historical importance.
St John the Evangelist's Church is the Anglican parish church of the Upper St Leonards area of St Leonards-on-Sea, a town and seaside resort which is part of the Borough of Hastings in East Sussex, England. The present building—a "very impressive and beautifully detailed" church in the Gothic Revival style, with a landmark tower—combines parts of Arthur Blomfield's 1881 church, wrecked during World War II, and Harry Stuart Goodhart-Rendel's 1950s rebuild. Two earlier churches on the site, the second possibly designed by Samuel Sanders Teulon, were themselves destroyed earlier in the 19th century. The rich internal fittings include a complete scheme of stained glass by Goodhart-Rendel's favoured designer Joseph Ledger and a 16th-century painting by Ortolano Ferrarese. English Heritage has listed the church at Grade II* for its architectural and historical importance.
Christ Church is an Anglican church in the town and seaside resort of St Leonards-on-Sea, part of the Borough of Hastings in East Sussex, England. Opened as the town's third Anglican church in 1860 to serve a rapidly developing residential area and to accommodate poor worshippers who could not afford pew rents at the fashionable St Leonard's and St Mary Magdalene's Churches, the original building was superseded by a much larger church built next to it between 1873 and 1875. Prolific ecclesiastical architect Sir Arthur Blomfield's simple Gothic Revival design forms a landmark on one of St Leonards-on-Sea's main roads, continues to serve a large area of the town and maintains a strong Anglo-Catholic tradition. It has been described as Blomfield's "finest achievement in Sussex" and "one of the main centres of Anglo-Catholic worship in Southern England". The interior fittings are the best of any church in the borough, and the design has been called one of Blomfield's most successful. St John the Evangelist's Church, founded as a daughter church nearby in 1865, also continues to thrive as a separate parish church. Historic England has listed Christ Church at Grade II* for its architectural and historical importance.
St Peter's Church is a former Anglican church in the Bohemia area of the town and seaside resort of St Leonards-on-Sea, part of the Borough of Hastings in East Sussex, England. Founded in 1883 in response to the rapid residential growth of this part of St Leonards-on-Sea, the "outstanding late Victorian church" was completed and opened in 1885. Architect James Brooks was towards the end of his career but still produced a successful, powerful Gothic Revival design, which was built by prolific local firm John Howell & Son—builders of several other churches in the area.
St Leonard's Church is an Anglican church in the St Leonards-on-Sea area of Hastings, a town and borough in the English county of East Sussex. The main church serving James Burton's high-class mid 19th-century new town of St Leonards-on-Sea was designed by Burton himself just before his death, and it survived for more than a century despite being damaged by the cliff into which it was built; but one night during World War II, the sea-facing building was obliterated by a direct hit from a damaged V-1 "doodlebug" which had crossed the English Channel. The Gilbert Scott brothers' bold replacement church was ready in 1961, and along with a sister church at nearby Bulverhythe served the parish of St Leonards-on-Sea, covered by the Hastings Archdeaconry. Historic England has listed the building at Grade II for its architectural and historical importance.
St Leodegar's Church is the Anglican parish church of Hunston, a hamlet in the Chichester district of West Sussex, England. The dedication—rare in England and unique in Sussex—has also been spelt St Ledger historically. A ruinous church dating from the 12th century was dismantled and rebuilt by prolific ecclesiastical architect Arthur Blomfield in 1885, but some old features were retained. The building, an Early English Gothic Revival structure of stone, was criticised by architectural historian Nikolaus Pevsner but was built on a "generous" budget and has some elaborate structural features such as a double belfry.
All Souls Church is a former Anglican church that served the Clive Vale suburb of Hastings, a seaside resort town and borough in the English county of East Sussex, between 1890 and 2007. The "large [and] serious town church" has been described as one of the best works by prolific ecclesiastical architect Arthur Blomfield. Built almost wholly of brick, inside and out, it dominates the streetscape of the late Victorian suburb and has a tall, "dramatic" interior displaying many of Blomfield's favourite architectural features. The church also has Heaton, Butler and Bayne stained glass and an elaborate reredos. Falling attendances and high maintenance costs caused it to close after a final service in November 2007, and the Diocese of Chichester officially declared it redundant soon afterwards. English Heritage has listed it at Grade II* for its architectural and historical importance.
{{cite book}}
: |work=
ignored (help)