Historic church in Warbleton wins £3,000 grant for roof and gutter repairs

Ancient churches are all too familiar with the perils of water getting in and causing damage to both the fabric and structure of the building. It’s a perennial and costly problem for historic places of worship all over the country.

The Grade 1 listed church of St Mary the Virgin in Warbleton, which dates back to the 13th-century, is suffering serious water ingress at the connection between the nave and the chancel, the two very oldest parts of the church. Urgent repairs are needed to stop the situation from getting any worse.

To this end, the church was delighted to receive a £3,000 grant this September from the Sussex Historic Churches Trust and the award will help meet the £14,400 cost of repairs. St Mary’s is one of 11 churches that received a grant from the Trust in the latest tranche of awards.

Churchwarden Tony Welford said: “If these issues aren’t addressed quickly, it could have a greater impact on the fabric and repair costs could increase substantially. The longer we leave it, the worse it will get, and the more expensive it will be. We therefore hope to get things started in the very near future.

“As anyone who has an intimate knowledge of Grade 1 listed buildings will know, managing repairs and providing the required funding is not straightforward but the speed with which the Trust responded to our request made things much easier for us, both on a practical and a supportive level.”

St Mary the Virgin has a rich history - the church is built on a Neolithic mound and, as well as the 13th-century chancel and nave, also features a 14th-century porch and north aisle and 15th-century tower.

Warbleton was the home parish of  Richard Woodman, one of the Lewes martyrs who was churchwarden and burned alive for his faith in 1557. Woodman, an ironmaster, publicly objected to the local Parish Priest changing from Protestant to Roman Catholic. He was captured, and taken to London to stand trial. At his trial, he showed remarkable knowledge of the Bible and was able to quote from it verbatim. He was condemned by the Bishop of Winchester and it is believed that he was locked in Warbleton Church Tower. On June 22nd 1557, he was burned to death with nine other martyrs in front of the Star Inn at Lewes.

Mr Welford added: “We are a small country Parish and issues like this always have a greater significance in comparison. The fact that we have already raised around £6k is testament to the place that the Church holds in our local community.”

The Sussex Historic Churches Trust awarded a total of £50,000 in grants this month including St Mary’s Bepton, St Giles in Graffham, St Peter’s Westhampnett, St Peter & St Paul in Wadhurst and St Mary the Virgin, Ninfield.

Next year’s grant meetings will take place on April 10 and September 18; applicants are advised to apply at least two weeks in advance. See our Grants page for more information.