Buncton
| Buncton | |
| Sussex | |
|---|---|
 All Saints, Buncton | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | TQ145139 |
| Location: | 50°54’48"N, 0°22’21"W |
| Data | |
| Post town: | Steyning |
| Postcode: | BN44 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Horsham |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
Arundel and South Downs |
Buncton is a small village in Sussex, half a mile south of Wiston, to the east of the A24 road, eleven miles as the crow flies south of Horsham and six miles north-west of Shoreham by Sea.
The Domesday Book records Buncton in 1086 as Bongetune.[1][2] Its origins lie in a manor whose land lay within two exclaves of the parish of Ashington within the Rape of Bramber
The mediæval manor house has vanished, but a 17th-century replacement still stands.
Church
The most notable building in Buncton is All Saints Church, a Grade I listed building.[3] This 11th or 12th century structure is composed mainly of flint and rubble masonry with some fragments of tile salvaged from the earlier Roman building that existed nearby.<
The church was built by the monks of neighbouring Sele Priory, and parts of the stonework show evidence of having been previously used at Sele. The church contained a curious carving, claimed by some to be an example of a sheela-na-gig, which was destroyed by an act of vandalism in 2004.[4]
Until 2007 All Saints' was a district chapel of ease, subordinate to St Mary's Church at Wiston, but in that year the status of the two buildings was reversed, with All Saints' becoming the Parish Church.
Outside links
 |
("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Buncton) |
References
- ↑ Fisher, E.A. (1970) The Saxon Churches of Sussex. p67
- ↑ A History of the County of Sussex - Volume 6 pp 62-65: @ (Victoria County History)
- ↑ National Heritage List 1354113: Church of All Saints (Grade I listing)
- ↑ Pagan whodunnit grips village, Adrian Lee , The Times (UK), December 20, 2004.