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.
Durrington was first recorded in 934 as a Saxonestate. In that year, King Athelstan granted some of the land to one of his thegns. By the time of the Domesday survey in 1086, Robert le Sauvage—Lord of the Manor of nearby Broadwater—held the land.[1][2] The civil and ecclesiastical parish was smaller than the Saxon estate: it extended for about 2 miles (3.2km) from north to south and 0.7 miles (1.1km) from east to west.[1]
The Domesday survey recorded that Durrington had "a church, eight acres of meadow and a wood of ten hogs".[2][3] The church had existed since Saxon times, no later than the 11th century, but little is known of it: the structure was probably built of plaster, wattle and daub and thatch, in common with other churches of the era.[4] The new design, a simple two-cell building, had a 56 by 29 feet (17.1m ×8.8m)nave and a 23 by 19 feet (7.0m ×5.8m)chancel separated by a rood screen, above which was a crucifix.[4] There was also a wall-mounted stone pulpit, a stone altar,[5] a series of tall, pointed windows high in the walls,[4] an unadorned stone font and a short wooden steeple—little more than an extended belfry—extending from the nave roof.[6] The new church was still a chapelry of St Andrew's Church at nearby West Tarring: this meant that it was served and administered by clergy from that church, and most of the parish's tithes were paid to St Andrew's. It was not an independent parish church.[1] The same applied to the nearby St Botolph's Church at Heene.[7] Until agreement was reached in 1254, there was a long-running dispute between the rector of St Andrew's Church and Sele Priory over the division of the tithes.[8] A small proportion of tithes were reserved for Sele Priory under arrangements made by Robert le Sauvage in the 12th century.[1][9] When the priory was dissolved in 1459, the Bishop of WinchesterWilliam Waynflete acquired the patronage and made the tithes payable to Magdalen College, Oxford, which he had recently founded.[9]
The church was wrecked during skirmishes linked to the English Civil War in the 1640s.[10][11] In 1638, Reverend William Stanley became the rector of Tarring, which still had ecclesiastical responsibility for Durrington and Heene. His politics were strongly Royalist, but the villagers of Durrington were almost all Parliamentarian in outlook. He joined King Charles I's army when war broke out in 1641, angering his parishioners.[12] The villagers' dislike of the rector was also prompted by his "unintelligible preaching", his failure to carry out parochial duties and his prosecution of some parishioners for non-payment of tithes.[1][3][13] Their anger erupted in 1643 when, during a period of military action in Sussex, they partly demolished the church.[12] He was removed from his role as rector in April 1645, but was restored 15 months later.[12] Thereafter, he served the parishioners of Durrington infrequently, and reputedly threatened and spoke unpleasantly to them.[14]
The church has a south aisle.
By 1677, the church was in such poor structural condition that the Dean of Chichester convened a consistory court with three parishioners and asked them why repairs had not been carried out. When they explained that it had been ruined during the Civil War, that Reverend Stanley had failed to serve them appropriately and that the parishioners could not afford its upkeep, the court accepted this.[14] The parish was soon the subject of court action again, when the Dean found that the church bell had been sold without permission. After conflicting accounts were given, the churchwarden eventually admitted to selling it to raise funds for poor people in the parish.[3][14][15] At the same time, he submitted an estimate for repairs to the church, stating again that the villagers could not afford them and asking for permission to abandon the building and worship at St Andrew's in West Tarring instead. This was agreed on 24 January 1680.[1][10][15] The structure decayed further, and some of the masonry was used to build houses in the village.[3] Nevertheless, the church was used occasionally until 1752, according to parish registers—mainly for baptisms, marriages and funerals, but a few services were held as well.[16]
The area remained rural until the 19th century. Durrington village always had two centres of population: the southern one, next to the road to Littlehampton, had declined almost to nothing by 1875, but the part to the north near the church began to grow in the last quarter of the 19th century, stimulated by the success of neighbouring Worthing.[1][17] The soil was of excellent quality, so land around the village was developed extensively for market gardening as well.[1] In 1890, the new rector of St Andrew's Church paid for a small temporary mission chapel (a tin tabernacle) to be erected in the grounds of the ruined church. Services took place every Sunday, and parishioners from St Andrew's donated Eucharistic objects and a font.[16]
This church hall stands next to the church.
The next rector of St Andrew's planned to replace the tin tabernacle with a permanent church to commemorate Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee in 1897. He also sought to make the church independent from West Tarring by creating a separate parish for it. Fundraising was successful at first—£641 (£92,000 in 2025)[18] was raised by 1898—but the rector left to take charge of another church in that year, and the impetus was lost.[19] In 1910, when the temporary church needed urgent repairs, consideration was again given to building a proper replacement; and in 1911 the rector of St Botolph's Church in Heene—which had been successfully rebuilt from a ruined state and separated from West Tarring parish about 30 years previously—helped to drive the scheme forward. A committee was formed, and another £208 (£27,000 in 2025)[18] of donations came in.[19][20] The local architect R.S. Hyde, who had worked on St Botolph's Church, had submitted a design in 1896, but this was rejected in favour of plans by Lacy W. Ridge, who was at the time the Diocesan architect.[21]
The parish of Durrington was taken put of plurality on 14 July 1914, and a new priest was appointed later in the year. Rebuilding started immediately: the remaining parts of the old walls (principally on the south and west sides) were incorporated into the new structure, and despite wartime disruption and shortages enough had been built to allow the church to be opened in 1915. It was dedicated to St Symphorian on 13 October 1915. No previous dedication of the church is known. A consecration ceremony took place on 15 December 1916.[21] Durrington's rapid residential growth continued, especially after it became part of the Borough of Worthing in 1929,[17] and the church was extended and thereby completed in 1941 with the construction of a chancel by W.H. Godfrey.[1] The church was rededicated by the Bishop of ChichesterGeorge Bell on 3 September 1941. Lacy Ridge's work had cost £1,735 (£176,000 in 2025);[18] the extension cost £4,509 (£282,000 in 2025).[18][21]
Regular repairs and damp-proofing have been carried out since the church was completed: the decision to build around the remains of the 13th-century walls meant that damp was able to permeate and the new walls cracked. The roof also caused problems: in 1961 the timberwork had to be renewed after a woodworm infestation. Internal reorganisation and renewal was carried out throughout the 1960s and 1970s as well.[22]
Architecture
St Symphorian's Church is a flint structure with stone dressings, built in the Early English style.[11][23] The roof is laid with tiles.[10] The building has a wide nave leading into a taller chancel, a Lady chapel and a vestry. An entrance porch stands on the southwest side.[10] The remaining 13th-century structural elements are in the north wall (visible on the inside around one of the windows) and its foundations, and in the south and west walls.[10][21] A Saxon-era fragment from the original (pre-Domesday) chapel has also been identified in the north wall. Also, a piscina of medieval origin was rescued from the ruined chapel and placed on the east wall of the new church.[10]
Inside, the nave roof, built by Lacy Ridge, is considered "remarkable". It is in two parts, the easternmost of which consists of a series of wide trusses. The chancel roof has beams supported on decorated corbels.[10] Most of the windows in the church are lancets. The north wall has four, there are three on the south and east sides, and the west wall has two and a rectangular window with tracery work. Stained glass is set into several of the windows; one commemorates victims of the world wars.[10][24]
Internal fittings and furniture include a white marble font taken from St Paul's Church in central Worthing;[10][23] an 18th-century altar from a demolished church at Treyford, West Sussex; and an organ installed in 1954 (and rebuilt in 2006) to replace the original.[24]
St Peter's Church
St Peter's Church serves the suburb of High Salvington. It was within St Symphorian's parish until 2010.
Residential development in the High Salvington area, north of Durrington and within its parish, encouraged the vicar of St Symphorian's Church to open a mission chapel there at his own expense.[23][25] At first, services were held every two weeks (Evensong), augmented by a monthly Eucharistic service. Later this changed to weekly Matins and fortnightly Holy Communion.[1][25] On 20 April 1951, after the vicar died, the church was sold to the parish for £600 (£24,000 in 2025).[18][1][23][26] The church still had no dedication and was known simply as the Mission Church. On 3 July 1951, the Archdeacon of Chichester conducted a ceremony at which it was dedicated to Saint Peter.[26]
St Peter's is an iron church (tin tabernacle)—now rare in Britain. It is the only surviving example in Worthing.[1][23] Most of the internal fittings were donated by parishioners. In 2010 St Peter's Church and the area of High Salvington was transferred to the Parish of All Saints Church, Findon Valley.[27]
The church today
St Symphorian's Church was listed at Grade II by English Heritage on 11 October 1949;[10] this defines it as a "nationally important" building of "special interest".[28] In February 2001, it was one of 198 buildings with Grade II status (or the equivalent Grade C), and 213 listed buildings of all grades, in the Borough of Worthing.[29] (These totals have since changed because of new listings and delistings.)
The parish, in its present form (ratified in 1974), covers the Durrington, West Durrington and High Salvington suburbs in the northwest of the borough of Worthing, and some surrounding rural areas. The eastern boundary is formed by Mill Lane, Half Moon Lane and Stone Lane; the main Littlehampton Road marks the southern boundary; and Titnore Lane and field boundaries form the other parts of the boundary.[30][31]
Worthing is a seaside town and borough in West Sussex, England, at the foot of the South Downs, 11 miles (18 km) west of Brighton, and 18 miles (29 km) east of Chichester. With a population of 113,094 and an area of 12.5 square miles (32.4 km2), the borough is the second largest component of the Brighton and Hove built-up area, the 15th most populous urban area in the United Kingdom. Northern parts of the borough, including the Worthing Downland Estate, form part of the South Downs National Park. In 2019, the Art Deco Worthing Pier was dubbed the best in Britain.
Durrington is a neighbourhood of Worthing and former civil parish, now in the borough of Worthing in West Sussex, England. Historically in Sussex, in the rape of Bramber, it is situated near the A27 road, 2.3 miles (3.7 km) northwest of the town centre. Since 1992 it has been home to the community-led Durrington Festival.
High Salvington is a neighbourhood of Worthing, in the borough of Worthing in West Sussex, England. It is centred 2.5 miles (4.0 km) northwest of the town centre and is north of the A27.
West Worthing is a neighbourhood of Worthing in West Sussex, England that was developed within Heene and later expanded beyond Heene's boundaries. Intended as an exclusive resort, the township of West Worthing was developed from around 1864 and merged with the formerly separate township of Worthing in 1890, when Worthing gained borough status.
Salvington is a neighbourhood of Worthing, in the borough of Worthing in West Sussex, England. It lies south of the A27 road two miles (3 km) north-west of the town centre. It is served by three elected Worthing Borough Councillors at any given time, currently Nicola Waight, Noel Atkins and Michael Cloake, all Conservative.
St Philip's Church is a Church of England parish church in Hove, in the city of Brighton and Hove, England. It was opened in 1895 and consecrated in 1898 on New Church Road, near Aldrington's parish church of St Leonard's. It has come under threat of closure but is still active as of 2012. It is a Grade II listed building.
Worthing is a large seaside town in Sussex, England in the United Kingdom. The history of the area begins in Prehistoric times and the present importance of the town dates from the 19th century.
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. The church is a Grade II* Listed Building.
Worthing, a seaside town with borough status in the United Kingdom, is connected to the rest of the country by a network of major roads, a mainline railway, frequent bus and coach services and a nearby airport. Its 19th-century growth was encouraged by the development of turnpikes and stagecoach routes to London and nearby towns. By the middle of that century railway services improved journey times and conditions significantly. Suburbanisation in the 20th century was assisted by a network of bus routes.
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.
Worthing, a seaside town in the English county of West Sussex which has had borough status since 1890, has a wide range of public services funded by national government, West Sussex County Council, Worthing Borough Council and other public-sector bodies. Revenue to fund these services comes principally from Council Tax.
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.
Worthing Tabernacle is an independent Evangelical Christian church in the town and borough of Worthing, one of seven local government districts in the English county of West Sussex. The present building, with its distinctive pale stone exterior and large rose window, dates from 1908, but the church was founded in 1895 in a chapel built much earlier in the 19th century during a period when the new seaside resort's population was growing rapidly. In its present form, the church is affiliated with the Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches. English Heritage has listed the building 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 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.
The following is a timeline of the history of the borough of Worthing, West Sussex, England.
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