St Mary's Church, West Chiltington

St Mary's Church, West Chiltington
The church from the northeast
50°57′15″N 0°26′57″W / 50.954232°N 0.449305°W / 50.954232; -0.449305Coordinates: 50°57′15″N 0°26′57″W / 50.954232°N 0.449305°W / 50.954232; -0.449305
Location	Church Street, West Chiltington, West Sussex RH20 2JW
Country	United Kingdom
Denomination	Anglican
Website	[1]
History
Founded	11th century
Dedication	Mary
Architecture
Style	Norman
Administration
Parish	West Chiltington
Deanery	Storrington
Archdeaconry	Horsham
Diocese	Chichester
Province	Canterbury
Clergy
Archbishop	Most Revd Rowan Williams
Bishop(s)	Rt Revd John Hind
Rector	Rev. David Beal

St Mary's Church is the Grade I listedAnglican parish church of West Chiltington, a village in the Horsham district of West Sussex, England. The 12th-century building, described as a "showpiece" and "the most attractive part" of the Wealden village, retains many features of historical and architectural interest. These include an exceptionally long hagioscope or squint from the south aisle into the chancel, a porch which may be Sussex's oldest, and a well preserved and extensive scheme of wall paintings. In the Sussex volume of The Buildings of England, Ian Nairn says that the appearance of the church gives "a very happy, unexpected effect, like a French village church".

The Domesday Book of 1086 records a church in the village then called Cilletone. It is uncertain whether any part of this earlier building was incorporated into the present church, which is believed to date from the first half of the 12th century; but Ian Nairn suggested that the walls of the nave and chancel are "probably 11th-century", and the Saxon-era building almost certainly occupied the same site. The three-bay south aisle was added around 1200, and the chancel arch is of a similar age. A chantry chapel was added in the early 13th century, and another chapel on the south side of the chancel was built a century later. A spire was built in 1602.

The church was restored between 1880 and 1882 by the Steyning architect Charles Dalby. The dedication to St Mary was unknown until a will of 1541 was discovered, in which John Sayrle said his body was to be "buried in the churchyard of Our Lady of Chiltington". Other documents relating to the church include one which states that more than 3,700 people have been buried in the churchyard.