Church of the Transfiguration, Pyecombe
Encyclopedia
The Church of the Transfiguration is an Anglican
church in the village of Pyecombe
, in the Mid Sussex
district of West Sussex
, England
. The mostly 12th- and 13th-century building, in an isolated setting facing the South Downs
, has been listed at Grade I by English Heritage
: this status is given to buildings of "exceptional interest" and national importance. It is the parish church
of Pyecombe.
at Brighton
. (The river is now a winterbourne
and runs underground for most of its length.) The South Downs
rise to about 700 feet (213.4 m) to the east and west. The village is in two parts about 0.25 mile (0.402335 km) apart. The original medieval
settlement formed around the church and an ancient trackway across the South Downs; when this declined, new development took place to the west. A 16th-century cottage which may have been part of the manor house
is in this newer area. Pyecombe manor
was probably split from the larger manor of Pangdean (mentioned in the Domesday Book
) by the 13th century, although they were later reunited.
The church was built on the west side of the trackway, which was at the centre of three ancient routes across the South Downs which split at the south end of the village. The western route became the main London Road, now the A23
; the eastern route forms the A273 to Clayton
, Hassocks
, Burgess Hill
and Haywards Heath
. The church existed, under the name of Pangdean (or Pingeden) Church, at the time of the Domesday Book in 1086, when the St Pancras Priory
at Lewes
held the advowson
. In 1537, during the Reformation
, it passed to King Henry VIII
.
The oldest parts of the present structure, the chancel
, chancel arch and nave
, are 12th-century; a date of 1170 has been attributed. The Norman
tower at the west end was built in the 13th century and holds one 15th-century bell. A roughcast finish was applied to the whole exterior in 1898, but this has now been removed except on the outside of a blocked doorway on the south side. As well as this restoration, some work was carried out on the church in 1844 and 1914.
es at the southwestern and northwestern corners. The former has a 13th-century gravestone incorporated into the stonework, but the buttresses are no earlier than 14th-century. On the north side is an entrance porch and a vestry
. Horsham
stone tiles are used for the church and porch roofs and the shallow "Sussex cap"-style roof of the tower.
In common with many Sussex churches, flint
was used as the main building material. This was hidden under the roughcasting for about a century, but has now been revealed again. There are modern stone dressings around the windows. Some of the windows themselves are also 19th-century copies, although those in the nave are from the 15th century.
Inside, the chancel arch has a smaller modern arch on each side. The tiled floor of the sanctuary
dates from the 13th century; the encaustic tile
s were made at St Pancras Priory, and retain designs showing animals and birds. The carved pulpit
is dated 1636, although it was remodelled in 1898. The lectern
has similar carvings. One surviving 12th-century internal fixture is the font
, made of one strip of lead bent into a drum shape and sealed at the join. The exterior has ornate scrollwork
designs.
is one of only six remaining in the county, although others may have existed in the past. All are found within 10 miles (16.1 km) of Lewes
. The Tapsel gate at Pyecombe is an early 20th-century replacement: the original was put in place in the 18th century. It incorporates the hooked end of a Pyecombe crook—a type of shepherd's staff made in the village since the 18th century.
Tapsel gates are mounted on a central pivot. Even when fully open, they are too narrow to allow cattle to enter churchyards, but they are easier for pallbearer
s to negotiate than a normal side-hinged gate: they can pass on each side and the coffin
can be rested on the central pivot if necessary.
of Poynings with Edburton, Newtimber and Pyecombe. This covers five downland villages, each with one church: the others are St Andrew's Church at Edburton
, Holy Trinity Church at Poynings
and St John the Evangelist's Church in Newtimber
. The former church of the Good Shepherd at Fulking
is no longer in use but is nominally part of the Benefice. The parish itself covers Pyecombe village and the surrounding farms and downland, as far south as the Brighton and Hove boundary and north to Clayton
.
English Heritage
granted the church Grade I listed status on 28 October 1957. It is one of 16 Grade I buildings, and 1,028 listed buildings of all grades, in the district of Mid Sussex. The local District Council designated the area around the church a conservation area
in January 1989.
Two services take place each month, and Pyecombe Parish Council holds its meetings in the church.
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
church in the village of Pyecombe
Pyecombe
Pyecombe is a village and civil parish in the Mid Sussex District of West Sussex, England. It is located 7 miles to the north of Brighton. The civil parish covers an area of and has a population of 200 ....
, in the Mid Sussex
Mid Sussex
Mid Sussex is a local government district in the English county of West Sussex. It contains the towns of East Grinstead, Haywards Heath and Burgess Hill....
district 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...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. The mostly 12th- and 13th-century building, in an isolated setting facing the South Downs
South Downs
The South Downs is a range of chalk hills that extends for about across the south-eastern coastal counties of England from the Itchen Valley of Hampshire in the west to Beachy Head, near Eastbourne, East Sussex, in the east. It is bounded on its northern side by a steep escarpment, from whose...
, has been listed at Grade I by 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...
: this status is given to buildings of "exceptional interest" and national importance. It is the 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 Pyecombe.
History
The small village of Pyecombe is situated in a long, deep valley (or coombe) formed by the river Wellesbourne as it flows towards the English ChannelEnglish Channel
The English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...
at Brighton
Brighton
Brighton is the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England on the south coast of Great Britain...
. (The river is now a winterbourne
Winterbourne (stream)
A winterbourne is a stream or river that is dry through the summer months. A winterbourne is sometimes simply called a bourne, from the Anglo-Saxon for a stream flowing from a spring, although this term can also be used for all-year water courses....
and runs underground for most of its length.) The South Downs
South Downs
The South Downs is a range of chalk hills that extends for about across the south-eastern coastal counties of England from the Itchen Valley of Hampshire in the west to Beachy Head, near Eastbourne, East Sussex, in the east. It is bounded on its northern side by a steep escarpment, from whose...
rise to about 700 feet (213.4 m) to the east and west. The village is in two parts about 0.25 mile (0.402335 km) apart. The original medieval
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
settlement formed around the church and an ancient trackway across the South Downs; when this declined, new development took place to the west. A 16th-century cottage which may have been part of the manor house
Manor house
A manor house is a country house that historically formed the administrative centre of a manor, the lowest unit of territorial organisation in the feudal system in Europe. The term is applied to country houses that belonged to the gentry and other grand stately homes...
is in this newer area. Pyecombe 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...
was probably split from the larger manor of Pangdean (mentioned in the Domesday Book
Domesday Book
Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...
) by the 13th century, although they were later reunited.
The church was built on the west side of the trackway, which was at the centre of three ancient routes across the South Downs which split at the south end of the village. The western route became the main London Road, now the A23
A23 road
The A23 road is a major road in the United Kingdom between London and Brighton, East Sussex. It became an arterial route following the construction of Westminster Bridge in 1750 and the consequent improvement of roads leading to the bridge south of the river by the Turnpike Trusts...
; the eastern route forms the A273 to Clayton
Clayton, West Sussex
Clayton is a small village at the foot of the South Downs in the Mid Sussex district of West Sussex, England. It lies south of London, north of Brighton, and east northeast of the county town of Chichester. Other nearby towns include Burgess Hill to the north and Lewes, the county town of East...
, Hassocks
Hassocks
Hassocks is a large village and civil parish in the Mid Sussex district of West Sussex, England. Its name is believed to derive from the tufts of grass found in the surrounding fields....
, Burgess Hill
Burgess Hill
Burgess Hill is a civil parish and a town primarily located in the Mid Sussex district of West Sussex, England, close to the border with East Sussex, on the edge of the South Downs National Park...
and Haywards Heath
Haywards Heath
-Climate:Haywards Heath experiences an oceanic climate similar to almost all of the United Kingdom.-Rail:Haywards Heath railway station is a major station on the Brighton Main Line...
. The church existed, under the name of Pangdean (or Pingeden) Church, at the time of the Domesday Book in 1086, when the St Pancras Priory
Lewes Priory
The Priory of St Pancras was the first Cluniac house in England and had one of the largest monastic churches in the country. It was set within an extensive walled and gated precinct laid out in a commanding location fronting the tidal shore-line at the head of the Ouse valley to the south of Lewes...
at Lewes
Lewes
Lewes is the county town of East Sussex, England and historically of all of Sussex. It is a civil parish and is the centre of the Lewes local government district. The settlement has a history as a bridging point and as a market town, and today as a communications hub and tourist-oriented town...
held the advowson
Advowson
Advowson is the right in English law of a patron to present or appoint a nominee to a vacant ecclesiastical benefice or church living, a process known as presentation. In effect this means the right to nominate a person to hold a church office in a parish...
. In 1537, during the Reformation
English Reformation
The English Reformation was the series of events in 16th-century England by which the Church of England broke away from the authority of the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church....
, it passed to King Henry VIII
Henry VIII of England
Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...
.
The oldest parts of the present structure, the 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...
, chancel arch and 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...
, are 12th-century; a date of 1170 has been attributed. The Norman
Norman architecture
About|Romanesque architecture, primarily English|other buildings in Normandy|Architecture of Normandy.File:Durham Cathedral. Nave by James Valentine c.1890.jpg|thumb|200px|The nave of Durham Cathedral demonstrates the characteristic round arched style, though use of shallow pointed arches above the...
tower at the west end was built in the 13th century and holds one 15th-century bell. A roughcast finish was applied to the whole exterior in 1898, but this has now been removed except on the outside of a blocked doorway on the south side. As well as this restoration, some work was carried out on the church in 1844 and 1914.
Architecture
The church is aligned from east to west with its chancel and altar at the east end. It consists of a 12th-century chancel and plain, semicircular chancel arch; a nave of the same age, with two rectangular windows on each side; and a short tower from the 13th century, with two angled buttressButtress
A buttress is an architectural structure built against or projecting from a wall which serves to support or reinforce the wall...
es at the southwestern and northwestern corners. The former has a 13th-century gravestone incorporated into the stonework, but the buttresses are no earlier than 14th-century. On the north side is an entrance porch and a 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....
. 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...
stone tiles are used for the church and porch roofs and the shallow "Sussex cap"-style roof of the tower.
In common with many Sussex churches, flint
Flint
Flint is a hard, sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as a variety of chert. It occurs chiefly as nodules and masses in sedimentary rocks, such as chalks and limestones. Inside the nodule, flint is usually dark grey, black, green, white, or brown in colour, and...
was used as the main building material. This was hidden under the roughcasting for about a century, but has now been revealed again. There are modern stone dressings around the windows. Some of the windows themselves are also 19th-century copies, although those in the nave are from the 15th century.
Inside, the chancel arch has a smaller modern arch on each side. The tiled floor of the sanctuary
Sanctuary
A sanctuary is any place of safety. They may be categorized into human and non-human .- Religious sanctuary :A religious sanctuary can be a sacred place , or a consecrated area of a church or temple around its tabernacle or altar.- Sanctuary as a sacred place :#Sanctuary as a sacred place:#:In...
dates from the 13th century; the encaustic tile
Encaustic tile
Encaustic tiles are ceramic tiles in which the pattern or figure on the surface is not a product of the glaze but of different colors of clay. They are usually of two colors but a tile may be composed of as many as six. The pattern is inlaid into the body of the tile, so that the design remains as...
s were made at St Pancras Priory, and retain designs showing animals and birds. The 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...
is dated 1636, although it was remodelled in 1898. The lectern
Lectern
A lectern is a reading desk with a slanted top, usually placed on a stand or affixed to some other form of support, on which documents or books are placed as support for reading aloud, as in a scripture reading, lecture, or sermon...
has similar carvings. One surviving 12th-century internal fixture is the 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:...
, made of one strip of lead bent into a drum shape and sealed at the join. The exterior has ornate scrollwork
Scrollwork
Scrollwork is an element of ornamentation and graphic design using a spiral. The name comes from by the supposed resemblance to the edge-on view of a rolled parchment scroll. "Scrollwork" is today mostly used in popular language for two-dimensional decorative flourishes and arabesques of all...
designs.
Tapsel gate
There is a rare design of gate on the north side of the churchyard. Unique to Sussex, and named after the Sussex family who were responsible for its invention, the Tapsel gateTapsel gate
A Tapsel gate is a type of wooden gate, unique to the English county of Sussex, which has a central pivot upon which it can rotate through 90° in either direction before coming to a stop at two fixed points. It was named after a Sussex family of bell-founders, one of whom invented it in the late...
is one of only six remaining in the county, although others may have existed in the past. All are found within 10 miles (16.1 km) of Lewes
Lewes
Lewes is the county town of East Sussex, England and historically of all of Sussex. It is a civil parish and is the centre of the Lewes local government district. The settlement has a history as a bridging point and as a market town, and today as a communications hub and tourist-oriented town...
. The Tapsel gate at Pyecombe is an early 20th-century replacement: the original was put in place in the 18th century. It incorporates the hooked end of a Pyecombe crook—a type of shepherd's staff made in the village since the 18th century.
Tapsel gates are mounted on a central pivot. Even when fully open, they are too narrow to allow cattle to enter churchyards, but they are easier for pallbearer
Pallbearer
A pall-bearer is one of several funeral participants who helps carry the casket of a deceased person from a religious or memorial service or viewing either directly to a cemetery or mausoleum, or to and from the hearse which carries the coffin....
s to negotiate than a normal side-hinged gate: they can pass on each side and the coffin
Coffin
A coffin is a funerary box used in the display and containment of dead people – either for burial or cremation.Contemporary North American English makes a distinction between "coffin", which is generally understood to denote a funerary box having six sides in plan view, and "casket", which...
can be rested on the central pivot if necessary.
The church today
The Church of the Transfiguration is part of the BeneficeBenefice
A benefice is a reward received in exchange for services rendered and as a retainer for future services. The term is now almost obsolete.-Church of England:...
of Poynings with Edburton, Newtimber and Pyecombe. This covers five downland villages, each with one church: the others are St Andrew's Church at Edburton
Edburton
Edburton is a small village in West Sussex, England, on the road from Upper Beeding to Fulking.-History:The village was named after Edburga of Winchester who was a granddaughter of King Alfred the Great and daughter of his successor King Edward the Elder. The church she founded c.940 at Edburton...
, Holy Trinity Church at Poynings
Poynings
Poynings is a village and civil parish in the Mid Sussex District of West Sussex, England. It is located on the north side of the South Downs near Devil's Dyke, five miles north-west of Brighton...
and St John the Evangelist's Church in Newtimber
Newtimber
Newtimber is a small village and civil parish in the Mid Sussex District of West Sussex, England. It is located north-west of Brighton, and is named after Newtimber Place and the small village named after it; the parish also includes the hamlet of Saddlescombe. It covers an area of ....
. The former church of the Good Shepherd at Fulking
Fulking
Fulking is a village and civil parish in the Mid Sussex District of West Sussex, England. It is located on the north slopes of the South Downs, five miles to the north-west of Brighton...
is no longer in use but is nominally part of the Benefice. The parish itself covers Pyecombe village and the surrounding farms and downland, as far south as the Brighton and Hove boundary and north to Clayton
Clayton, West Sussex
Clayton is a small village at the foot of the South Downs in the Mid Sussex district of West Sussex, England. It lies south of London, north of Brighton, and east northeast of the county town of Chichester. Other nearby towns include Burgess Hill to the north and Lewes, the county town of East...
.
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...
granted the church Grade I listed status on 28 October 1957. It is one of 16 Grade I buildings, and 1,028 listed buildings of all grades, in the district of Mid Sussex. The local District Council designated the area around the church a conservation area
Conservation area
A conservation areas is a tract of land that has been awarded protected status in order to ensure that natural features, cultural heritage or biota are safeguarded...
in January 1989.
Two services take place each month, and Pyecombe Parish Council holds its meetings in the church.