Church of St Mary the Blessed Virgin, Sompting facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Church of St Mary the Blessed Virgin |
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The church from the southeast
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| 50°50′19″N 0°21′06″W / 50.8386°N 0.3518°W | |
| Location | Church Lane, Sompting, West Sussex BN15 0AZ |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Denomination | Church of England |
| Website | [1] |
| History | |
| Status | Parish church |
| Founded | 11th century |
| Dedication | Virgin Mary |
| Dedicated | By 1442 |
| Architecture | |
| Functional status | Active |
| Heritage designation | Grade I |
| Designated | 12 October 1954 |
| Style | Anglo-Saxon; Norman |
| Completed | 11th century |
| Administration | |
| Parish | South Lancing and Sompting |
| Deanery | Rural Deanery of Worthing |
| Archdeaconry | Chichester |
| Diocese | Diocese of Chichester |
| Province | Canterbury |
The Church of St Mary the Blessed Virgin, often called St Mary's Church, is a historic Church of England building in Sompting, West Sussex. It stands on a quiet lane, surrounded by the modern village. This church is special because it still has many parts from the 11th and 12th centuries. Its most famous feature is its unique tower. This tower was built by the Anglo-Saxons and has a rare roof shape called a Rhenish helm. This type of roof looks like a four-sided pyramid with gables, and it's very unusual in England. Because of its amazing architecture and long history, English Heritage has given the church a Grade I listing. This means it's considered a building of great national importance.
Contents
Discover the History of St Mary's Church
People have lived in the Sompting area for a very long time. They settled here during the Bronze Age, Iron Age, and Roman times. By the 11th century, there were two main villages: Sompting and Cokeham. Both were owned by a powerful family, the de Braoses, around the year 1086.
There was already a church on this spot in the early 11th century. Some parts of that first church are still here today! In 1154, the de Braose family gave the church to the Knights Templar. This was a famous group of warrior monks. The Knights Templar made many big changes to the church. They made the main part of the church, called the nave and chancel, wider. They also built a large chapel, which later became the south transept (a wing of the church). They even added a north transept with an aisle and two smaller chapels.
After the Knights Templar were no longer active in 1307, the church was given to another religious group, the Knights Hospitaller, in 1324. They also added to the church, building a chapel on the northwest side and a porch on the south. They also worked on the walls of the nave.
Over time, the church became quite old and needed repairs. In the 18th century, it was in poor condition. They even had to sell two of its bells to pay for repairs in 1791. Later, in 1853, a man named Richard Cromwell Carpenter led a big restoration project. He put on a new roof, fixed the spire, and rebuilt the Knights Templars' chapel. He also cleaned the stonework, making the church look much better.
The church's tower is its most famous part. It's known all over the world as a great example of Anglo-Saxon architecture. The unique roof, the Rhenish helm, is especially rare. It's a pyramid-shaped cap with four steep gables, similar to roofs found in the Rhineland area of Germany. This makes St Mary's Church truly one-of-a-kind in England.
Exploring the Architecture of St Mary's
St Mary's Church is built mostly from flint stones, with special Caen stone details and a slate roof. The tower, at the west end, even has some old Roman bricks mixed in! It was built in two stages and looked much as it does now by the end of the 11th century. The tower has tall, thin stone columns called pilasters at its corners. The arch inside the tower is from the Saxon period. This area might have been the original entrance to the church.
The main part of the church, the nave (where people sit), and the chancel (near the altar) are connected as one large space. They were made wider in the 12th century. The north transept has an aisle with two sections and a beautiful arched ceiling called a rib vault. You can also see small decorative carvings called bosses there. The south transept used to be a separate chapel built by the Knights Templar. It's now connected to the rest of the church by an arch added in the 19th century. This chapel also has a rib-vaulted ceiling and carved stone decorations on its column tops, similar to the ancient Corinthian order.
You can still find old carvings from the Saxon and Norman times in the church. In the south transept, near the 12th-century font (where baptisms happen), there's a well-preserved carving of an abbot. There's also a 13th-century carving of Christ in Majesty that includes older stone art. Some decorative bands of carving, called frieze-work, can be seen on the chancel wall.
St Mary's Church Today
The Church of St Mary the Blessed Virgin was officially recognized as a Grade I listed building by English Heritage in 1954. This means it's considered "exceptionally interesting" and very important to the country's history and architecture. In fact, it's one of only a few Grade I listed buildings in the Adur district. A famous local headmistress, Harriet Finlay-Johnson, known for her new teaching ideas, was buried in the churchyard in 1956.
The church serves the parish of Sompting, which includes the village and nearby urban areas. This parish stretches quite far north, up into the South Downs hills. St Peter the Apostle's Church, a more modern building in Lower Cokeham, is also part of this parish. It was built in 1966 and is used for both worship and community events.
You can visit St Mary's Church on Tuesday mornings. Services are held at St Mary's at 9 AM on the third Sunday of each month. There's also an Evensong service at 5 PM on any fifth Sunday of the month. The church also hosts a special festival every August. On the first, second, and fourth Sundays of the month, a 9 AM service takes place at St Peter's Church in Sompting.
See also
- List of places of worship in Adur
- List of works by R. C. Carpenter
