North Marden

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North Marden
Sussex

Church of St. Mary
Location
Grid reference: SU809161
Location: 50°56’21"N, -0°50’60"W
Data
Post town: Chichester
Postcode: PO18
Dialling code: 01243
Local Government
Council: Chichester
Parliamentary
constituency:
Chichester

North Marden is a tiny village on the spur of the South Downs in Sussex, in the Rape of Chichester in the west of the county, seven and a half miles north-west of Chichester itself, on the B2141 road.

North Marden is one of the smallest, out-of-the-way parishes in Sussex. At the end of the 19th century the population was between 20 and 30 inhabitants.[1] The parish is mentioned in papal Taxatio records of 1291 and in the Novae return of 1341.

Parish church

The plan of the Church of St Mary, approached through a farmyard, is simple but unusual in the chancel having an apsidal, or semi-circular termination. The elaborate Norman south doorway in Caen stone suggests a date of the middle of the 12th century.[2] The three Norman windows in the apse have been restored, but the jambs and rere-arches are ancient along with the small Norman window at the west end. The Norman sandstone font was provided an octagonal stem base in the 14th century, and parts of the ancient flint walls were repaired in places with 18th-century brickwork. The single bell dates from 1829.

Outside links

("Wikimedia Commons" has material
about North Marden)

References

  1. Leeney O H. Notes on the church of St Mary North Marden.
  2. Leeney, op cit.