Up Marden is a tiny village in the parish of Compton

Compton, West Sussex

Compton is a village and civil parish in the Chichester district of West Sussex. The village lies on the B2146 road, six miles southeast of Petersfield, Hampshire and eight miles northwest of Chichester...

 within the Chichester

Chichester (district)

Chichester is a largely rural local government district in West Sussex, England. Its council is based in the city of Chichester.-History:The district was formed on 1 April 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972, as a merger of the municipal borough of Chichester and the Rural Districts of...

 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...

. It lies in isolated countryside high on the South Downs seven miles (11.4 km) northwest of Chichester

Chichester

Chichester is a cathedral city in West Sussex, within the historic County of Sussex, South-East England. It has a long history as a settlement; its Roman past and its subsequent importance in Anglo-Saxon times are only its beginnings...

, close to East Marden and North Marden,

The remains of a Roman Villa were found in the parish, similar to the ones at Bignor and Fishbourne,

Church

In many parts of Sussex churches were built to serve scattered farming communities and the one at Up Marden is no exception. A small, two-cell building, dating from the thirteenth century, it has changed very little with an uneven brick floor, an indication that the church suffered little at the hands of nineteenth century restorers.

From the ceiling hang blue and gold chandeliers and there are some fascinating benches in the nave. Dominating this part of the church is a Victorian pulpit. The chancel has only two box pews. On the walls are some eighteenth and nineteenth century hanging tablets, one touching one to a young man who died of Yellow Fever in 1834.