St Andrew, Ford, Sussex

I Location

Site Location
Ford
National Grid Reference
TQ 002 037
County
traditional: Sussex
now: West Sussex
Diocese
medieval: Chichester
now: Chichester
Dedication
medieval: St Andrew 1501
now (or name of monument): St Andrew
Type of building/monument
Parish church

II General Description

This is a small church, little used and still without electricity, comprising a nave with a W bell-turret, opposing N and S doorways and a brick S porch (1637). There are fragments of Anglo-Saxon interlace over the N doorway, which now leads into a vestry. There are two small and two larger, slightly pointed, Norman windows in the N wall of the nave.

IV Interior Features

1. Arches

a. Chancel arch/Apse arches

(i) Chancel arch
Chancel arch, from E.

Chancel arch, from E.

Chancel arch, from W.

Chancel arch, from W.

Chancel arch, N impost, from SW.

Chancel arch, N impost, from SW.

Chancel arch, N impost, from SE.

Chancel arch, N impost, from SE.

Chancel arch, S impost, from NE.

Chancel arch, S impost, from NE.

Chancel arch, S impost, from NW.

Chancel arch, S impost, from NW.

The round-headed chancel arch is of a single, plain order, slightly stilted on the S, which descends onto plain jambs with the intervention of impost blocks (shelly limestone). These have a tall upright, carved with a groove and chip-carved saltire crosses, above a hollow chamfer. The W corner of both impost blocks has been replaced.

V Furnishings

1. Fonts

(i)

Font.

Font.

This is a plain, square tub with a roughly chiselled surface, set diagonally on a modern plinth. It still has a lock for securing the lid, but the rim is nevertheless entirely repaired, apparently with grey coloured cement. The basin is lead lined. It is probably of limestone, but is coated.

Dimensions
h. 0.465 m
w. at top 0.62 m (E); 0.60 m (S); 0.605 m (W); 0.59 m (N)

VII History

Neither Ford nor its church is mentioned in the Domesday Book. The church is said to have belonged to Clymping in the late 12thc. or early 13thc. (both were confirmed to Almeneches Abbey in 1178). The church was restored in 1865 and again in 1899 (by Philip Mainwaring Johnston). Evidence for a 13thc. S aisle, which had been destroyed by fire in the 16thc., was uncovered in 1899. A note in the church mentions that the font, which is thought to be Saxon but could be Norman, was thrown out in 1865, but recovered from a farmyard in 1899, and mounted on a block of Bath stone. In the meantime, according to Drummond-Roberts, it had been used as a swimming bath for ducks! The parish has been united with Yapton since 1874. Extensive repairs were carried out in 1973.

VIII Comments/Opinions

Chancel Arch, probably first quarter of 12thc. (hollow chamfer on imposts). Font, early 12thc. (?)

IX Bibliography

  • M. F. Drummond-Roberts, Some Sussex Fonts Photographed and Described. Brighton 1935, 40.
  • P.M. Johnston, 'Ford and its Church', Sussex Archaeological Collections 43, 1900, 105-157; 44, 1901, 206-207.
  • I. Nairn and N. Pevsner, The Buildings of England: Sussex. Harmondsworth 1965, 225-26.
  • A. H. Peat and L. C. Halsted, Churches and Other Antiquities of West Sussex. Chichester 1912, 8690.
  • Victoria County History: Sussex. V, Pt 1 (Arundel Rape - SW Part), 1997, 187-90.
  • A. K. Walker, An Introduction to the Study of English Fonts with Details of those in Sussex. London 1908, 94-95.