St Margaret's Church, Ifield
| St Margaret, Ifield | |
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The church from the east-southeast
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 St Margaret, Ifield
Location within the Borough of Crawley
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| 51°7′26″N 0°13′10″W / 51.12389°N 0.21944°WCoordinates: 51°7′26″N 0°13′10″W / 51.12389°N 0.21944°W | |
| Denomination | Church of England |
| Website | www.stmargaretschurchifield.org |
| History | |
| Dedication | Margaret of Antioch |
| Administration | |
| Parish | Ifield, St Margaret |
| Deanery | East Grinstead |
| Archdeaconry | Horsham |
| Diocese | Chichester |
| Province | Canterbury |
| Clergy | |
| Rector | The Rev'd Simon Newham |
| Priest(s) |
The Rev'd Jamie Gater (curate) The Rev'd dr Daphne Goodwin (asst. curate ) The Rev'd Margaret Hanson (rtd with pto) |
| Curate(s) | - |
| Laity | |
| Director of music | Nicholas Smith |
The Rev'd Jamie Gater (curate) The Rev'd dr Daphne Goodwin (asst. curate )
St Margaret's Church is an Anglican church in the Ifield neighbourhood of Crawley, a town and borough in West Sussex, England. It is the ancient parish church of the village of Ifield; the medieval settlement was expanded to form one of the New Town of Crawley's 13 neighbourhoods, and the church's modern parish now serves several other neighbourhoods as well.
The present building incorporates the chancel from a 13th-century church which may have replaced a wooden building of two or three centuries earlier. Additions in the 14th century included stone effigies representing a knight and his wife, considered to be excellent examples of such sculptures. More structural changes took place at regular intervals, and a major Victorian restoration by architect Somers Clarke included an extension to the nave and a new tower. English Heritage has listed the church at Grade I because of its architectural and historical importance.
The churchyard has many old tombs and monuments, including writer Mark Lemon's grave and an elaborately decorated table tomb, which is listed separately by English Heritage at Grade II. Further memorials adorn the interior walls. Internal fixtures include a 12th-century font with unusual decorative carvings.
The ancient parish of Ifield covered about 4,000 acres (1,600 ha) of rural land in the north of Sussex, up to the border with Surrey. It was attached to the priory at nearby Rusper by the mid-13th century. The church was built in the centre of the small settlement of Ifield, which was recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086. The present stone building is believed to stand on the site of an older wooden church—possibly dating from the 10th or 11th century. The earliest record of a vicar being present at the Church was in 1247 but is simply listed as '?' on the Church's list although 'Simon' took over in 1288 and there has been 53 vicars since then.
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Wikipedia