Stanmer Church facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Stanmer Church |
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The church from the southwest, facing Stanmer Park
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| 50°52′13″N 0°6′7″W / 50.87028°N 0.10194°W | |
| Denomination | Church of England |
| History | |
| Status | Church |
| Dedication | None |
| Architecture | |
| Functional status | Redundant |
| Heritage designation | Grade II listed |
| Designated | 2 November 1954 |
| Closed | 31 March 2008 |
| Administration | |
| Parish | Stanmer with Falmer |
| Deanery | Rural Deanery of Brighton |
| Archdeaconry | Brighton and Lewes |
| Diocese | Chichester |
| Province | Canterbury |
Stanmer Church is an old Anglican church located in Stanmer village. This village is on the edge of Brighton and Hove, a city in England. The village is inside Stanmer Park, which used to be the private land of the Earl of Chichester. After the Second World War, the city council bought the park so everyone in Brighton could enjoy it.
The church and a large house called Stanmer House are found within the park. Stanmer Church was officially closed for regular services in 2008. It is considered very important for its history and design, so it is a Grade II listed building.
Contents
The History of Stanmer Church
How Old is Stanmer Village?
The history of Stanmer goes way back to the year 765. At that time, the King of Sussex gave the village and its land to a monastery in nearby Lewes. For many centuries after that, the village belonged to the Church. It was even part of the Archbishop of Canterbury's lands during the time of the Domesday Book.
Later, during a period called the Dissolution of the Monasteries, King Henry VIII took control of many church properties, including Stanmer.
The First Church Building
A church was first built in Stanmer during the Middle Ages. Records show it existed as early as 1232. This old church stood in an open area outside the main village. We don't know much about this first building. The only things left from that time are some yew trees in the churchyard and a few old memorial stones.
The Pelham Family and a New Church
In 1555, the church and its land were given back to the Archbishop of Canterbury. Around the 16th century, the Pelham family became connected to Stanmer. They eventually owned the entire estate in the early 1700s.
The beautiful Stanmer House was built for them in 1722. In 1801, Thomas Pelham became the first Earl of Chichester. The Earls then moved the old village houses and built a new "estate village" northeast of the church.
In 1838, the third Earl, Henry Thomas Pelham, decided to build a brand new church. He chose the same spot where the old one stood. The architect for this new church was probably Ralph Joanes. This building is simply known as "Stanmer Church."
Stanmer Park Becomes Public
In 1947, the city of Brighton bought the Stanmer Estate. This was part of their plan to buy land for the public. In 1952, the area of Brighton was made bigger to include Stanmer.
The Church Today
The Diocese of Chichester announced that Stanmer Church would no longer be used for regular church services starting December 29, 2008. However, the Stanmer Preservation Society now looks after the building. They open it every Sunday for visitors. They also host special events like talks and concerts. In the early 1990s, the first episode of the TV show Mr. Bean was filmed here.
What Does Stanmer Church Look Like?
Church Design and Materials
Stanmer Church is built in the Early English style. It has a simple cross shape, with a main body (nave), a front part (chancel), and two side sections (transepts). At the west end, there's a tower with a thin, shingled spire on top.
The entrance porch is built into the bottom of the tower. Inside the tower are bells that were made in 1791. The outside of the church is made from knapped flintwork, which is a way of shaping flint stones. The corners of the building are made of stone, and the roof is made of slate.
Inside the Church
Inside, you'll see stone walls and beautiful wooden fittings. Jude Jones, who was the carpenter for the Earls of Chichester, designed and built all the wooden parts in the 1800s. The chancel roof has panels and decorative rib vaults with detailed ceiling bosses. The nave roof also has panels with a special trefoil (three-leaf) shape.
At the west end, there's a gallery with an organ built in 1839. A plastered stone reredos (a screen behind the altar) from the mid-1800s also has trefoil-shaped panels. On either side of it are panels showing the Ten Commandments, also designed by Jones. He also made the pulpit, altar, and lectern. His son, Francis Jude Jones, later designed new entrance doors as a memorial to the 7th Earl of Chichester.
Memorials and History
Five memorial tablets and stones were moved from the old church to this new one. The oldest non-Pelham memorial is from 1626. It remembers Deborah Goffe, who was the mother of William Goffe. He was one of the judges at the trial of King Charles I. Another memorial shows Sir John Pelham, his wife, and their son, all of whom died in the 1500s. They are shown kneeling below their family coat of arms. Other memorials to the Pelham family are in the south transept.
The Churchyard and Its Unique Well
The churchyard has a very unusual wellhouse. It was rebuilt at the same time as the church. Inside, there's a rare donkey-wheel that dates back to the 1700s or even earlier. A donkey-wheel is like a smaller version of a horse-gin. An animal walks in a circle around the well, turning a wheel that pulls water up from the ground.
These wheels were used in places where water was deep underground, like on the chalky South Downs. They were common in Sussex in the 1700s. By 1968, only a few of these donkey-wheels and horse-gins were left. In 2007, a falling tree damaged the wellhouse, but the Stanmer Preservation Society repaired it.
Several members of the Pelham family are buried in the churchyard, mostly on the south side of the church. The churchyard also has one war grave registered by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. It belongs to the 8th Earl of Chichester, who was a Captain in the Scots Guards and died in a road accident in 1944.
Stanmer Church Today
Stanmer Church was officially listed as a Grade II building on November 2, 1954. The wellhouse also has its own separate Grade II listing from the same date.
Stanmer Church is still part of the joint parish of Stanmer and Falmer. The church in Falmer is called St Laurence, but it's in a different local area, the Lewes district, not Brighton and Hove. The parish covers a mostly countryside area, including Stanmer and Falmer villages. It also includes the main campuses of the University of Sussex and the University of Brighton. It stretches onto the southern side of the South Downs.
Even though Stanmer Church is no longer used for religious ceremonies, the Stanmer Preservation Society opens it every Sunday for people to visit.
See also
- Grade II listed buildings in Brighton and Hove: S
- List of places of worship in Brighton and Hove
