St Nicholas' Church, Worth

St Nicholas Church is a Church of England parish church in Worth, a village in Crawley, England which at one time had the largest geographical parish in England.

St Nicholas’ Church, Worth, is one of the oldest churches in the country and has been a place of Christian worship and devotion for well over 1000 years. It is known that the church is of Anglo-Saxon origin, and parts of it have been dated to between AD 950 and 1050, in particular the chancel arch and apse. It was built in what, at the time, was a forest. The reason for building a church here is unknown, but it is surmised that the area would have had good hunting grounds and royal or noble visitors to the grounds would need a place to pray in comfort. As it was a large church isolated in the forest, it is unlikely it was just for local needs. After the Norman conquest of England in 1066, William the Conqueror gave the church to his son-in-law William de Warenne, whose coat of arms is still visible in the stained glass windows of the church. In the 14th century, the church was passed from the de Warrenne family to the Fitzalan family, who lost it in 1415 to Nevills, Earl of Abergavenny.

Records of bell-ringing here go back to 1684, and bell-ringing still remains part of the weekly routine. The current tower, with its broached and shingled spire, was added in 1871 by Anthony Salvin. to replace an earlier building which rested on tree trunks! A note from 1684 reveals that the church had 3 bells but an additional one was then added. The bells were re-cast in 1844 to form a peal of 6 and then again, by Gillett and Johnston of Croydon, in 1928. Since 1928, only routine maintenance was needed until 1997, when major work on the bells was carried out. Pulleys, wheels and clappers were removed and taken to the foundry for refurbishment, they were then refitted and the bells rehung. The bells are still hung in the oak frame dating from the 1844 installation, which sits on the belfry floor 1.5m (5ft)above the ringers’ heads but this was strengthened in 1997. The largest bell, the tenor, is 91cm (3ft) in diameter and weighs 489kg (9cwt 2qrts and 14lbs). Its note is A, the whole ring being harmonically tuned in the key of A. The total weight of bells in the tower is over 36cwt.

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