St Margaret's Church, West Hoathly

St Margaret's Church
Church of St Margaret of Antioch
The church from the northwest
51°04′36″N 0°03′21″W / 51.0766°N 0.0557°W / 51.0766; -0.0557Coordinates: 51°04′36″N 0°03′21″W / 51.0766°N 0.0557°W / 51.0766; -0.0557
Location	North Lane, West Hoathly, West Sussex RH19 4PP
Country	United Kingdom
Denomination	Church of England
Website	www.westhoathly.org.uk
History
Founded	11th century
Dedication	Margaret of Antioch
Architecture
Status	Parish church
Functional status	Active
Heritage designation	Grade I
Designated	28 October 1957
Style	Norman architecture
Administration
Parish	West Hoathly
Deanery	Rural Deanery of Cuckfield
Archdeaconry	Horsham
Diocese	Chichester
Province	Canterbury
Clergy
Rector	Interregnum as of December 2016
Laity
Churchwarden(s)	Erica Ansell Margaret Watson

St Margaret's Church (dedicated in full to St Margaret of Antioch) is an Anglican church in the village of West Hoathly in Mid Sussex, one of seven local government districts in the English county of West Sussex. By the late 11th century, a simple single-room stone building existed on the high, open ridge upon which the village developed. A series of medieval expansions doubled its size by the 15th century, and the present building has changed little since then—despite a Victorian restoration overseen by architect R. H. Carpenter. A major addition was the heavily buttressed Perpendicular Gothic west tower, topped with a tall broach spire and containing a peal of ancient bells. The large, steeply terraced churchyard also serves as a public cemetery and has far-reaching views across the Weald. The original dedication to Saint Margaret of Antioch fell out of use for many centuries until a researcher rediscovered it. The church serves a large rural parish which was reduced in size in 1882 when two residents of the hamlet of Highbrook paid for an additional church to be built there. English Heritage has listed it at Grade I for its architectural and historical importance.

West Hoathly stands on a high ridge in the Weald, 4 miles (6.4 km) south-southwest of the ancient market town of East Grinstead. Worth, now part of the Crawley urban area but originally a large parish with a Saxon church, lies a similar distance to the northwest. The land rises to 600 feet (180 m) just outside the village, and outcrops of sandstone (such as the mushroom-shaped "Great-on-Little") are nearby. The area was already settled by the 11th century, and names recorded at that time include Hadlega and Hodlega—later standardised to Hodlegh and Hothelegh, then (West) Hoathly. In the Sussex dialect, the pronunciation "West Ho'ly" is sometimes heard.