All Saints Church, Roffey
Encyclopedia
All Saints Church is the Anglican
parish church
of Roffey, in the Horsham district
of the English county of West Sussex
. The present church, built to serve the Victorian
suburb of Roffey—part of the ancient market town of Horsham
—replaced a schoolroom in which religious services had been held since 1856. Arthur Blomfield
's Early English-style church, built of locally quarried sandstone
and funded by a widow as a memorial to her late husband, was completed in 1878 and was allocated a parish immediately. Roman Catholic services are also held in the building, to serve Roffey's Catholic population. English Heritage
has listed the church at Grade II for its architectural and historical importance.
. A manor
called Roffey, part of the ancient and larger manor of Chesworth, was first described in the mid-15th century; its land covered an area northeast of the market town
of Horsham
.
Horsham was linked to the national railway network in 1848, when a branch line
was built from Three Bridges
on the London–Brighton Main Line
. More lines were built to surrounding towns in the next 20 years, stimulating residential and commercial growth. The area around the village of Roffey, which had been common land
until enclosure
in 1812–13, began to develop in the 1820s after the road from Horsham to Crawley
was turnpiked
. Growth was focused on the old Star Inn, and the village had the alternative name Star Row until as late as 1874 (as well as variations on its original name—such as Roughey, Roughheath and Roughway— which was derived from the Old English Rogh hay meaning "deer enclosure").
The village was in the ecclesiastical parish of Horsham, whose parish church
(St Mary's Church) was distant. The possibility of opening a church in Roffey was first discussed in about 1840. In 1856, an iron school was erected on Roffey Street, and this building almost immediately became the village's first church when it was licensed as a 90-capacity place of worship. Consideration was soon given to building a permanent church to serve the continuously growing population; and in 1870 Mrs A. Gertrude Martyn, widow of Cecil Martyn from nearby Roffey Lodge, donated money and land for the construction of a church in memory of her late husband. Gothic Revival
architect Arthur Blomfield
, who designed or restored
several churches in Sussex, was commissioned to design the church.
Building work began in 1878 and was finished within the year. Blomfield used locally quarried sandstone
dressed with Bath stone
. During construction, a swan crashed into the scaffolding around the tower while in flight, and fell dead on the ground. Coincidentally, the Martyn family crest featured a swan and a crown, so the incident was seen as auspicious—and the dead swan's feathers were removed and incorporated into the antependium of the altar when the church opened. Building work was complete by 1 November 1878 (All Saints Day), and the church was consecrated
by the Bishop of Chichester
Richard Durnford
. Construction work had cost between £4,000 and £5,000.
Roffey continued to thrive: in 1878, the suburb was described as "growing, populous, but very poor", and by the end of the 19th century a workhouse
, working men's club
, reading room, larger school and a parade of shops were all built. The workhouse site became a military camp and hospital in 1916, and later a psychiatric hospital
. The 300-capacity church was allocated its own parish immediately after opening, and was well-used from the beginning—congregations were typically around 125 in its early years, although some residents of distant parts of the parish worshipped in the nearby villages of Colgate
or Rusper
. In 1880, the churchyard was consecrated and a J. W. Walker & Sons
manual organ
was installed in the church. A Calvary
—a wooden crucifix of teak and oak—was erected in the churchyard in 1919 as Roffey's war memorial. The Bishop of Chichester Winfrid Burrows dedicated the sculpture on 4 October 1919. In 1971, it had to be rebuilt and rededicated after being knocked over and badly damaged during a tree-felling exercise.
A new vicarage, replacing an earlier building which was too expensive to maintain, was opened in 1967. A parish hall had already been built in 1957. In 1972, All Saints Church began to hold regular Roman Catholic Masses
, which continue as of .
-style building with a "surprisingly large" tower. It is built of Horsham sandstone, laid as rubble in a snecked formation (courses
of stonework with smaller stones, or snecks, inserted at frequent intervals). There is also Bath stone
and some brickwork. The roof is laid with tiles, and the tower roof is shingle
d.
The plan consists of a 3-bay
nave
with an aisle on the north side only, a chancel
of a further two bays (and at a lower level), and a tower, vestry
and porch—all grouped close to each other. The simple building was described as "hard and soulless" by Nikolaus Pevsner
, although he noted that its interior was "impressively proportioned". The quadruple-trussed timber hammerbeam roof
of the nave, held on carved stone corbel
s and supported by scissor braces (paired diagonal braces running between pairs of beams), displays Blomfield's characteristic careful regard for the timberwork in his churches.
The west window consists of a pair of lancets
below a quatrefoil
, and elsewhere in the nave there are three-light lancets set into recessed arches and separated by buttress
es. The vestry window is similar to the west window, and sits above an arched doorway. Seven more lancet windows are in the north aisle, and the chancel has a further three sets—including a three-light east window, which contains stained glass
designed by the Clayton and Bell firm in 1878. Michael Charles Farrer Bell, later of the same firm, was responsible for the glass in the church's other windows. Scenes depicted include Christ in Majesty
, the Four Gospels
, the Apostles
and various saints.
The porch is timber-framed and has arch braces with elaborately carved spandrel
s. The adjacent tower rises in four parts to a shingled spire topped with a weather vane
. The windows are variously arch-headed and lancet, and the uppermost stage has louvred
arched openings.
Interior fittings include a stone and marble-columned font
of octagonal design, a stone and timber-panelled carved pulpit
, oak choir stalls and Communion rails, timber confessional
, a J. W. Walker and Sons organ and a stone, wood and marble reredos
with carvings and mosaic
work. Cecil Martyn, for whom the church was built as a memorial, is commemorated by a brass tablet on the north side.
on 11 November 2002; this defines it as a "nationally important" building of "special interest". As of February 2001, there were 1,628 Grade II listed buildings, and 1,726 listed buildings of all grades, in the district of Horsham.
The parish covers the whole of Roffey and surrounding areas as far as the Rusper Road and Littlehaven railway station
, part of the North Horsham housing estate, and surrounding rural areas towards the villages of Rusper, Colgate and Faygate
. The legal name of the parish is "All Saints Roughey or Roffey", reflecting the variable spelling of the area's name.
As well as regular Anglican services, All Saints Church serves as a Mass Centre for local Roman Catholics. It is served by priests from St John the Evangelist's Church in the centre of Horsham, and has services on Saturday evenings (a "Vigil Mass", or First Mass of Sunday) and on Holy Days of Obligation
.
Anglicanism
Anglicanism is a tradition within Christianity comprising churches with historical connections to the Church of England or similar beliefs, worship and church structures. The word Anglican originates in ecclesia anglicana, a medieval Latin phrase dating to at least 1246 that means the English...
parish church
Parish church
A parish church , in Christianity, is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish, the basic administrative unit of episcopal churches....
of Roffey, in the Horsham district
Horsham (district)
Horsham is a local government district in West Sussex, England. Its council is based in Horsham. The district borders those of Crawley, Mid Sussex, Mole Valley, Chichester, Arun and Adur....
of the English county of West Sussex
West Sussex
West Sussex is a county in the south of England, bordering onto East Sussex , Hampshire and Surrey. The county of Sussex has been divided into East and West since the 12th century, and obtained separate county councils in 1888, but it remained a single ceremonial county until 1974 and the coming...
. The present church, built to serve the Victorian
Victorian era
The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...
suburb of Roffey—part of the ancient market town of Horsham
Horsham
Horsham is a market town with a population of 55,657 on the upper reaches of the River Arun in the centre of the Weald, West Sussex, in the historic County of Sussex, England. The town is south south-west of London, north-west of Brighton and north-east of the county town of Chichester...
—replaced a schoolroom in which religious services had been held since 1856. Arthur Blomfield
Arthur Blomfield
Sir Arthur William Blomfield was an English architect.-Background:The fourth son of Charles James Blomfield, an Anglican Bishop of London helpfully began a programme of new church construction in the capital. Born in Fulham Palace, Arthur Blomfield was educated at Rugby and Trinity College,...
's Early English-style church, built of locally quarried sandstone
Sandstone
Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...
and funded by a widow as a memorial to her late husband, was completed in 1878 and was allocated a parish immediately. Roman Catholic services are also held in the building, to serve Roffey's Catholic population. English Heritage
English Heritage
English Heritage . is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport...
has listed the church at Grade II for its architectural and historical importance.
History
A settlement existed at Roffey by the 16th century, and the area was known for its early ironmaking industryWealden iron industry
The Wealden iron industry was located in the Weald of south-eastern England. It was formerly an important industry, producing a large proportion of the bar iron made in England in the 16th century and most British cannon until about 1770. Ironmaking in the Weald used ironstone from various clay...
. A manor
Manorialism
Manorialism, an essential element of feudal society, was the organizing principle of rural economy that originated in the villa system of the Late Roman Empire, was widely practiced in medieval western and parts of central Europe, and was slowly replaced by the advent of a money-based market...
called Roffey, part of the ancient and larger manor of Chesworth, was first described in the mid-15th century; its land covered an area northeast of the market town
Market town
Market town or market right is a legal term, originating in the medieval period, for a European settlement that has the right to host markets, distinguishing it from a village and city...
of Horsham
Horsham
Horsham is a market town with a population of 55,657 on the upper reaches of the River Arun in the centre of the Weald, West Sussex, in the historic County of Sussex, England. The town is south south-west of London, north-west of Brighton and north-east of the county town of Chichester...
.
Horsham was linked to the national railway network in 1848, when a branch line
Arun Valley Line
The Arun Valley Line, also known as the Mid Sussex Line, is part of the Southern-operated railway services. For the initial part of the route trains follow the Brighton Main Line, and at a junction south of Three Bridges the route turns westwards...
was built from Three Bridges
Three Bridges railway station
Three Bridges railway station is located in and named after the village of Three Bridges, which is now a district of Crawley, West Sussex, England...
on the London–Brighton Main Line
Brighton Main Line
The Brighton Main Line is a British railway line from London Victoria and London Bridge to Brighton. It is about 50 miles long, and is electrified throughout. Trains are operated by Southern, First Capital Connect, and Gatwick Express, now part of Southern.-Original proposals:There were no fewer...
. More lines were built to surrounding towns in the next 20 years, stimulating residential and commercial growth. The area around the village of Roffey, which had been common land
Common land
Common land is land owned collectively or by one person, but over which other people have certain traditional rights, such as to allow their livestock to graze upon it, to collect firewood, or to cut turf for fuel...
until enclosure
Enclosure
Enclosure or inclosure is the process which ends traditional rights such as mowing meadows for hay, or grazing livestock on common land. Once enclosed, these uses of the land become restricted to the owner, and it ceases to be common land. In England and Wales the term is also used for the...
in 1812–13, began to develop in the 1820s after the road from Horsham to Crawley
Crawley
Crawley is a town and local government district with Borough status in West Sussex, England. It is south of Charing Cross, north of Brighton and Hove, and northeast of the county town of Chichester, covers an area of and had a population of 99,744 at the time of the 2001 Census.The area has...
was turnpiked
Toll road
A toll road is a privately or publicly built road for which a driver pays a toll for use. Structures for which tolls are charged include toll bridges and toll tunnels. Non-toll roads are financed using other sources of revenue, most typically fuel tax or general tax funds...
. Growth was focused on the old Star Inn, and the village had the alternative name Star Row until as late as 1874 (as well as variations on its original name—such as Roughey, Roughheath and Roughway— which was derived from the Old English Rogh hay meaning "deer enclosure").
The village was in the ecclesiastical parish of Horsham, whose parish church
Parish church
A parish church , in Christianity, is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish, the basic administrative unit of episcopal churches....
(St Mary's Church) was distant. The possibility of opening a church in Roffey was first discussed in about 1840. In 1856, an iron school was erected on Roffey Street, and this building almost immediately became the village's first church when it was licensed as a 90-capacity place of worship. Consideration was soon given to building a permanent church to serve the continuously growing population; and in 1870 Mrs A. Gertrude Martyn, widow of Cecil Martyn from nearby Roffey Lodge, donated money and land for the construction of a church in memory of her late husband. Gothic Revival
Gothic Revival architecture
The Gothic Revival is an architectural movement that began in the 1740s in England...
architect Arthur Blomfield
Arthur Blomfield
Sir Arthur William Blomfield was an English architect.-Background:The fourth son of Charles James Blomfield, an Anglican Bishop of London helpfully began a programme of new church construction in the capital. Born in Fulham Palace, Arthur Blomfield was educated at Rugby and Trinity College,...
, who designed or restored
Victorian restoration
Victorian restoration is the term commonly used to refer to the widespread and extensive refurbishment and rebuilding of Church of England churches and cathedrals that took place in England and Wales during the 19th-century reign of Queen Victoria...
several churches in Sussex, was commissioned to design the church.
Building work began in 1878 and was finished within the year. Blomfield used locally quarried sandstone
Sandstone
Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...
dressed with Bath stone
Bath Stone
Bath Stone is an Oolitic Limestone comprising granular fragments of calcium carbonate. Originally obtained from the Combe Down and Bathampton Down Mines under Combe Down, Somerset, England, its warm, honey colouring gives the World Heritage City of Bath, England its distinctive appearance...
. During construction, a swan crashed into the scaffolding around the tower while in flight, and fell dead on the ground. Coincidentally, the Martyn family crest featured a swan and a crown, so the incident was seen as auspicious—and the dead swan's feathers were removed and incorporated into the antependium of the altar when the church opened. Building work was complete by 1 November 1878 (All Saints Day), and the church was consecrated
Consecration
Consecration is the solemn dedication to a special purpose or service, usually religious. The word "consecration" literally means "to associate with the sacred". Persons, places, or things can be consecrated, and the term is used in various ways by different groups...
by the Bishop of Chichester
Bishop of Chichester
The Bishop of Chichester is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Chichester in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers the Counties of East and West Sussex. The see is in the City of Chichester where the seat is located at the Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity...
Richard Durnford
Richard Durnford
The Rt Rev Richard Durnford was the Bishop of Chichester from 1870 to 1895.He was born in Newbury, Berkshire into an ecclesiastical family . He was educated at Eton and Magdalen College, Oxford and ordained in 1831. From 1833 he was Rector of Middleton, Lancashire and then its Rural Dean...
. Construction work had cost between £4,000 and £5,000.
Roffey continued to thrive: in 1878, the suburb was described as "growing, populous, but very poor", and by the end of the 19th century a workhouse
Workhouse
In England and Wales a workhouse, colloquially known as a spike, was a place where those unable to support themselves were offered accommodation and employment...
, working men's club
Working men's club
Working men's clubs are a type of private social club founded in the 19th century in industrial areas of the United Kingdom, particularly the North of England, the Midlands and many parts of the South Wales Valleys, to provide recreation and education for working class men and their families.-...
, reading room, larger school and a parade of shops were all built. The workhouse site became a military camp and hospital in 1916, and later a psychiatric hospital
Psychiatric hospital
Psychiatric hospitals, also known as mental hospitals, are hospitals specializing in the treatment of serious mental disorders. Psychiatric hospitals vary widely in their size and grading. Some hospitals may specialise only in short-term or outpatient therapy for low-risk patients...
. The 300-capacity church was allocated its own parish immediately after opening, and was well-used from the beginning—congregations were typically around 125 in its early years, although some residents of distant parts of the parish worshipped in the nearby villages of Colgate
Colgate, West Sussex
Colgate is a small village and civil parish in the Horsham district of West Sussex, England, about four miles north east of Horsham.A small village, with it's origins at the northern edge of St. Leonards Forest, it has no shops or retail facilities. There is a pub "The Dragon", and a church and a...
or Rusper
Rusper
Rusper is a village and civil parish in the Horsham District of West Sussex, England. It lies north of the town of Horsham and west of Crawley. Rusper is the centre of Rusper Parish which covers most of the northern area between Horsham and Crawley. Rusper is governed by the Horsham District...
. In 1880, the churchyard was consecrated and a J. W. Walker & Sons
J. W. Walker & Sons Ltd
J. W. Walker & Sons Ltd is a British firm of organ builders established in 1828 by Joseph William Walker in London. Walker organs were popular additions to churches during the Gothic Revival era of church building and restoration in Victorian Britain, and instruments built by Walker are found in...
manual organ
Organ (music)
The organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...
was installed in the church. A Calvary
Calvary (sculpture)
A calvary is a type of monumental public crucifix, sometimes encased in an open shrine, most commonly found across northern France from Brittany east and through Belgium and equally familiar as wayside structures provided with minimal sheltering roofs in Italy and Spain...
—a wooden crucifix of teak and oak—was erected in the churchyard in 1919 as Roffey's war memorial. The Bishop of Chichester Winfrid Burrows dedicated the sculpture on 4 October 1919. In 1971, it had to be rebuilt and rededicated after being knocked over and badly damaged during a tree-felling exercise.
A new vicarage, replacing an earlier building which was too expensive to maintain, was opened in 1967. A parish hall had already been built in 1957. In 1972, All Saints Church began to hold regular Roman Catholic Masses
Mass (liturgy)
"Mass" is one of the names by which the sacrament of the Eucharist is called in the Roman Catholic Church: others are "Eucharist", the "Lord's Supper", the "Breaking of Bread", the "Eucharistic assembly ", the "memorial of the Lord's Passion and Resurrection", the "Holy Sacrifice", the "Holy and...
, which continue as of .
Architecture
All Saints Church is a small Early English Gothic RevivalGothic Revival architecture
The Gothic Revival is an architectural movement that began in the 1740s in England...
-style building with a "surprisingly large" tower. It is built of Horsham sandstone, laid as rubble in a snecked formation (courses
Course (architecture)
A course is a continuous horizontal layer of similarly-sized building material one unit high, usually in a wall. The term is almost always used in conjunction with unit masonry such as brick, cut stone, or concrete masonry units .-Styles:...
of stonework with smaller stones, or snecks, inserted at frequent intervals). There is also Bath stone
Bath Stone
Bath Stone is an Oolitic Limestone comprising granular fragments of calcium carbonate. Originally obtained from the Combe Down and Bathampton Down Mines under Combe Down, Somerset, England, its warm, honey colouring gives the World Heritage City of Bath, England its distinctive appearance...
and some brickwork. The roof is laid with tiles, and the tower roof is shingle
Roof shingle
Roof shingles are a roof covering consisting of individual overlapping elements. These elements are typically flat rectangular shapes laid in rows from the bottom edge of the roof up, with each successive higher row overlapping the joints in the row below...
d.
The plan consists of a 3-bay
Bay (architecture)
A bay is a unit of form in architecture. This unit is defined as the zone between the outer edges of an engaged column, pilaster, or post; or within a window frame, doorframe, or vertical 'bas relief' wall form.-Defining elements:...
nave
Nave
In Romanesque and Gothic Christian abbey, cathedral basilica and church architecture, the nave is the central approach to the high altar, the main body of the church. "Nave" was probably suggested by the keel shape of its vaulting...
with an aisle on the north side only, a chancel
Chancel
In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar in the sanctuary at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building...
of a further two bays (and at a lower level), and a tower, vestry
Vestry
A vestry is a room in or attached to a church or synagogue in which the vestments, vessels, records, etc., are kept , and in which the clergy and choir robe or don their vestments for divine service....
and porch—all grouped close to each other. The simple building was described as "hard and soulless" by Nikolaus Pevsner
Nikolaus Pevsner
Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner, CBE, FBA was a German-born British scholar of history of art and, especially, of history of architecture...
, although he noted that its interior was "impressively proportioned". The quadruple-trussed timber hammerbeam roof
Hammerbeam roof
Hammerbeam roof, in architecture, is the name given to an open timber roof, typical of English Gothic architecture, using short beams projecting from the wall.- Design :...
of the nave, held on carved stone corbel
Corbel
In architecture a corbel is a piece of stone jutting out of a wall to carry any superincumbent weight. A piece of timber projecting in the same way was called a "tassel" or a "bragger". The technique of corbelling, where rows of corbels deeply keyed inside a wall support a projecting wall or...
s and supported by scissor braces (paired diagonal braces running between pairs of beams), displays Blomfield's characteristic careful regard for the timberwork in his churches.
The west window consists of a pair of lancets
Lancet window
A lancet window is a tall narrow window with a pointed arch at its top. It acquired the "lancet" name from its resemblance to a lance. Instances of this architectural motif are most often found in Gothic and ecclesiastical structures, where they are often placed singly or in pairs.The motif first...
below a quatrefoil
Quatrefoil
The word quatrefoil etymologically means "four leaves", and applies to general four-lobed shapes in various contexts.-In heraldry:In heraldic terminology, a quatrefoil is a representation of a flower with four petals, or a leaf with four leaflets . It is sometimes shown "slipped", i.e. with an...
, and elsewhere in the nave there are three-light lancets set into recessed arches and separated by buttress
Buttress
A buttress is an architectural structure built against or projecting from a wall which serves to support or reinforce the wall...
es. The vestry window is similar to the west window, and sits above an arched doorway. Seven more lancet windows are in the north aisle, and the chancel has a further three sets—including a three-light east window, which contains stained glass
Stained glass
The term stained glass can refer to coloured glass as a material or to works produced from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant buildings...
designed by the Clayton and Bell firm in 1878. Michael Charles Farrer Bell, later of the same firm, was responsible for the glass in the church's other windows. Scenes depicted include Christ in Majesty
Christ in Majesty
Christ in Majesty, or Christ in Glory, in Latin Majestas Domini, is the Western Christian image of Christ seated on a throne as ruler of the world, always seen frontally in the centre of the composition, and often flanked by other sacred figures, whose membership changes over time and according to...
, the Four Gospels
Gospel
A gospel is an account, often written, that describes the life of Jesus of Nazareth. In a more general sense the term "gospel" may refer to the good news message of the New Testament. It is primarily used in reference to the four canonical gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John...
, the Apostles
Apostle (Christian)
The term apostle is derived from Classical Greek ἀπόστολος , meaning one who is sent away, from στέλλω + από . The literal meaning in English is therefore an "emissary", from the Latin mitto + ex...
and various saints.
The porch is timber-framed and has arch braces with elaborately carved spandrel
Spandrel
A spandrel, less often spandril or splaundrel, is the space between two arches or between an arch and a rectangular enclosure....
s. The adjacent tower rises in four parts to a shingled spire topped with a weather vane
Weather vane
A weather vane is an instrument for showing the direction of the wind. They are typically used as an architectural ornament to the highest point of a building....
. The windows are variously arch-headed and lancet, and the uppermost stage has louvred
Louver
A louver or louvre , from the French l'ouvert; "the open one") is a window, blind or shutter with horizontal slats that are angled to admit light and air, but to keep out rain, direct sunshine, and noise...
arched openings.
Interior fittings include a stone and marble-columned font
Baptismal font
A baptismal font is an article of church furniture or a fixture used for the baptism of children and adults.-Aspersion and affusion fonts:...
of octagonal design, a stone and timber-panelled carved pulpit
Pulpit
Pulpit is a speakers' stand in a church. In many Christian churches, there are two speakers' stands at the front of the church. Typically, the one on the left is called the pulpit...
, oak choir stalls and Communion rails, timber confessional
Confessional
A confessional is a small, enclosed booth used for the Sacrament of Penance, often called confession, or Reconciliation. It is the usual venue for the sacrament in the Roman Catholic Church, but similar structures are also used in Anglican churches of an Anglo-Catholic orientation, and also in the...
, a J. W. Walker and Sons organ and a stone, wood and marble reredos
Reredos
thumb|300px|right|An altar and reredos from [[St. Josaphat's Roman Catholic Church|St. Josaphat Catholic Church]] in [[Detroit]], [[Michigan]]. This would be called a [[retable]] in many other languages and countries....
with carvings and mosaic
Mosaic
Mosaic is the art of creating images with an assemblage of small pieces of colored glass, stone, or other materials. It may be a technique of decorative art, an aspect of interior decoration, or of cultural and spiritual significance as in a cathedral...
work. Cecil Martyn, for whom the church was built as a memorial, is commemorated by a brass tablet on the north side.
The church today
All Saints Church was listed at Grade II by English HeritageEnglish Heritage
English Heritage . is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport...
on 11 November 2002; this defines it as a "nationally important" building of "special interest". As of February 2001, there were 1,628 Grade II listed buildings, and 1,726 listed buildings of all grades, in the district of Horsham.
The parish covers the whole of Roffey and surrounding areas as far as the Rusper Road and Littlehaven railway station
Littlehaven railway station
Littlehaven Railway Station serves the areas of Littlehaven, Holbrook and Roffey in the northeast of the town of Horsham, West Sussex. It is on the Arun Valley Line, and is the first station out of Horsham on that route going towards London.- History :...
, part of the North Horsham housing estate, and surrounding rural areas towards the villages of Rusper, Colgate and Faygate
Faygate
Faygate is a hamlet in the Horsham district of West Sussex, England. It lies on the A264 road 3.4 miles south west of Crawley. It has a railway station on the Arun Valley Line with trains connecting to London and Portsmouth. The village is in the green belt between Crawley and Horsham.The village...
. The legal name of the parish is "All Saints Roughey or Roffey", reflecting the variable spelling of the area's name.
As well as regular Anglican services, All Saints Church serves as a Mass Centre for local Roman Catholics. It is served by priests from St John the Evangelist's Church in the centre of Horsham, and has services on Saturday evenings (a "Vigil Mass", or First Mass of Sunday) and on Holy Days of Obligation
Holy Day of Obligation
In the Catholic Church, Holy Days of Obligation or Holidays of Obligation, less commonly called Feasts of Precept, are the days on which, as of the Code of Canon Law states,-Eastern Catholic Churches:...
.