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52. St Mary at Clymping
This fine church is situated just to the west of Littlehampton on the road leading to Arundel. Walking up the churchyard past the ancient yew tree one immediately notices the massive tower, built in 1170 as a watch tower for defence against invaders. Forty feet high it commands wonderful views south towards the sea and north towards Arundel Castle. The west doorway with its zig-zag and dog tooth carving is superb whilst the window in the first storey again with zig-zag surrounds and raised moulding is believed to be unique in England. The main church is Early English dating from 1230 and built from stone quarried in Caen in Normandy. The nave and chancel together are nearly 100 feet long. The chancel is well lit by nine lancet windows but the colourful east window with a beautiful rose window above it at once catches the eye. The latter depicts the Virgin and Child in lovely deep blues and greens and dates from 1959. The main window, installed in 1921 in memory of the war dead, shows Christ and the Crucifixion in the centre. On the left is John of Clymping a 13th century Rector of Clymping who later became Bishop of Chichester, and on the right St Michael.
In the North Transept stands a 13th century Crusader chest with intricate carvings of rosettes and arches on the front. Very few of these chests have survived. They were placed in churches for the collection of money, arms and equipment for the Crusades. On the west wall an oak panel dated 1633 commemorates John White appointed vicar in 1620. Another plaque relates to HMS Peregrine a nearby Naval Air Station during the Second World War. A memorial in the churchyard commemorates those killed when the Air Station was heavily bombed on 18 August 1940. All round the transept are a series of magnificent paintings depicting the life of Christ painted and presented to the church by Heywood Hardy who died in 1932. They show the Birth in the Stable, the Star of Bethlehem and a group of Bedouins, the Angel appearing to the Shepherds, the laying out of Christ after the Crucifixion and the Empty Tomb. The largest painting shows Christ preaching to local villagers beside the river Arun. Village children, Boy Scouts, wounded soldiers, an imploring widow, a farmer with his gun and his Spaniel dog, elderly pensioners and many others all appear in the painting which adds much to the beauty of the church. In the South Transept are two windows honouring St Paul and St Wilfrid, whilst in the south aisle a small recessed window commemorates Matilda Walsh Headmistress of the village school from 1878-1921. The glass shows St Margaret of Scotland standing beside two children holding books. A more impressive stained glass window to the left of the entrance door shows the Cross, the Dove of Peace, various fish, a Starfish and a shell in lovely orange, red and blue colours. Both the pulpit with its incised stone panels and the font date from the fourteenth century. On the front column of the nave are carved the names of villagers killed in the Second World War, including Lord Moyne assassinated by the Stern Gang in 1944 whilst Minister Resident in the Middle East.
Outside on the south face of the tower note several mass dials carved about three feet from the ground and higher up two Crusaders Crosses possibly made by Savaric III de Bohun younger brother of the Lord of the Manor who joined King Richard I on the Third Crusade in 1190. And so farewell to this historic church which Sir Nicholas Pevsner once described as 'divine harmony made visible in masonry'. John Symonds the Crusader Chest is now kept at Chichester Cathedral. |
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page last updated 30 SEPTEMBER 2001 |
