St Peter And St Mary

snecked stone to the 1973 addition.PLAN:Chancel,three-bay N & S aisles ,has double-chamfered arches on cylindrical piers with moulded capitals.Canted,plastered nave ceiling,except for an open collar rafter roof in the W bay supporting the bell turret.The W end of the N aisle is also an open,the rest if the aisle plastered.The S aisle has an open arch braced roof,plastered behind the rafters.C20 gabled timber reredos with blind tracery.The E wall of the chancel is panelled on either side with C19 commandments boards over.Polygonal timber pulpit,post 1945 (Blakeney,2)on a timber stem.The pulpit is carved with panels of stiff-leaf foliage.C.1847 font with an octagonal stone bowl with carved decoration on an octagonal stem.The chancel fittings include two elaborately carved C17 benches with shaped ends and dividers carved with ramshorns.Nave benches said to be 1887 (Blakeney,2) are square-headed and curved shoulders.In the S aisle the benches have a different design with concave shoulders.C20 screen at the E end of the N aisle to form vestry.Stained glass included brightly-coloured remains of simple design,probably 1821 and a fragment,probably C17 Flemish.Several C19 brass wall plaques.HISTORICAL NOTE:The church guide includes a copy of an 1804 image,which shows the E window as square-headed.A church with a medieval chancel,possibly with surviving medieval roof,the remainder thoroughly rebuilt in several C19 phases,none outstanding.SOURCES:Pevsner,Sussex, 1965,224 Blakeney,R.,Guide to the Church and Parish of St Peter and St Mary,New Fishbourne,n.d.