St John the Baptist
Sedlescombe, Sussex
A place of continuous worship since the early half of the 13th century.
Our 13th century church suffered a serious fire on 15th July 2010, this swept away most of the heavy Victorian restoration. The award winning restoration overseen by our architect Richard Andrews, of Carden & Godfrey has returned the building to a more simple interior style.
The building returned to use at the end of 2013 and now offers a warm and friendly welcome with modern facilities in a characterfull medieval building. The church has a roof frame which has been Dendron dated to 1275, one of the oldest in the area, this has been exposed during the restoration after being hidden since the 1860s. The restored building has a new west window, along with a glass balustrade to the new gallery and a new nave window complete with the Royal Coat of Arms to mark the Queens Diamond Jubilee, these are all by Mel Howse and well worth seeing.
There is some reason to believe that there has been a church on this site since Saxon times, a Yew tree which fell in 1987 was carbon dated to pre Conquest and Pevsner describes the building as 11th to 13th century. The Manor of Whatlington was held by King Harold II and it may have been here that our last Saxon King heard Mass before the fateful battle in 1066.
The church restoation won a Sussex Heritage Trust Award in July 2014 and has been given a commendation by English Heritage in their Angel Awards.
The church has a calm and spiritual feel, set as it is in an idyllic rural location away from the road.
The churchyard has a display of snowdrops in late winter, followed by daffodils in early spring. In the summer months parts of the churchyard are managed for wild flowers. Malcolm Muggeridge is buried in our churchyard along with Charles Lemmon, author of 'The Field of Hastings' the respected reference work on the Battle of Hastings.
