St Mary, Battle, Sussex

I Location

Site Location
Battle
National Grid Reference
TQ 750 157
County
traditional: Sussex
now: East Sussex
Diocese
medieval: Chichester
now: Chichester
Dedication
medieval: not confirmed
now (or name of monument): St Mary
Type of building/monument
Parish Church

II General Description

Church Plan

Church Plan

Church Plan

Church Plan

The church comprises a late 12thc. aisled nave, a 13thc. W tower, and a chancel ofc.1240, with a chapel on its N and S sides. The nave arcades have pointed arches on alternating octagonal and cylindrical piers with foliate capitals. The font is the only carved Romanesque feature.

V Furnishings

1. Fonts

(i)

Font, view from NE

Font, view from NE

Font, view from SE

Font, view from SE

At the W end of the nave, S side, is a square, Sussex marble font with slightly tapering sides and a circular basin. The surface is worn and the lower SE angle broken. The sides are carved with shallow, round-headed arcading, comprising seven arches on E and W and six on N and S. The arches have continuous chamfers. On the base of the bowl are mouldings for four angle shafts and a fat central shaft, but the present columns and bases are modern.

Dimensions
h. of bowl 0.24 m
w. of bowl (E and S faces) 0.82 m
w. of bowl (W and N faces) 0.83 m
int. dia. of basin 0.63 m

VII History

The church was founded by Abbot Ralph of Battle (1107-1124) to serve the citizens of the town which had grown up around the monastery. It was therefore a parish church under the jurisdiction of the Abbey rather than the Bishop of Chichester. The church was outwith episcopal jurisdiction until 1845. It was restored in 1869.

VIII Comments/Opinions

Few traces of the first church, built by Abbot Ralph, survive. The nave arcades date fromc.1190 (cf: Herstmonceux arcade). The font could be earlier than this work, or contemporary: it is of a type which appears to have been current in S England throughout the second half of the 12thc. and first decades of the 13thc.

IX Bibliography

  • J.L. Andre, 'Battle Church', Sussex Archaeological Collections 42, 1899, 214-36.
  • Anon, nd. St Mary the Virgin, Battle, Sussex (church guide)
  • M. F. Drummond-Roberts, Some Sussex Fonts Photographed and Described. Brighton 1935, 9.
  • G. M. Livett, `Three East Sussex Churches: Battle, Peasmarsh, Icklesham. A Study of Their Architecture; Part I, Battle', Sussex Archaeological Collections, 46, 1903, 69-93.
  • I. Nairn and N. Pevsner, The Buildings of England: Sussex. Harmondsworth 1965, 407-408.
  • A. K. Walker, An Introduction to the Study of English Fonts with Details of those in Sussex. London 1908, 72-73.
  • A. Mee, The King's England: Sussex. London 1937 (revised and edited by C.L.S.Linnell 1964), 16.
  • Victoria County History: Sussex 9 (Rape and Honour of Hastings). 1937, 109-110.