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The little church of St Mary’s
Sullington has nestled beneath the Downs for almost a thousand
years. It is set within the bounds of a yew grove that is
even older.
The Tower and the Nave are
basically Saxon, about 1050, but altered in Norman times and
in the 12th and 13th centuries.
As you enter you will see
a mutilated marble effigy of a 13th century Knight in chain
mail, believed to be a de Couvert, Lord of the Manor and a
Crusader.
In 1978 the exterior stonework
of the 13th century reticulated east window was restored,
costing £4.000. Half of this was met by donations from
a trust formed by the late Sir Gordon Munro and Lillian, Lady
Munro, who lived for years in the Old Rectory. The remainder
was raised locally from many friends.
In 1987 insurance companies
paid £4,800 needed for repairs after the October storm,
which blew down two of the old yew trees, damaging parts of
the chancel roof and the north and east windows. Many tiles
were also blown from the roof.
In 1995 an extension was added
to the vestry (normally closed) to provide kitchen and toilet
facilities, funded by the Munro Sullington Trust. The inner
glass porch was erected in replacement of the Victorian box
porch to mark the Millennium. It was funded by the parishioners
and with proceeds from the biennial flower festival. The ancient
priests’ door and sedilia were restored in 2005 and an Aumbry
safe installed, supported by Munro family trusts.
Within the churchyard, the
single remaining old yew tree dates from the Ninth Century.
Some distance to the west is a small sapling taken as a cutting
from a two thousand year old yew tree, planted to mark the
start of the third millennium. As the seasons change there
is the varying beauty of the South Downs rising to 675 feet.
Immediately to the north can be seen the fine old Manor House.
Approaching along Sullington Lane observe the massive, weather-boarded
and tiled barn with a fine tie-beam roof, dated 1685, said
to be the finest example of a Tithe barn to be found in West
Sussex.
Additional information can
be found at www.sussexparishchurches.org
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