St Blaise (now)

Boxgrove

St Mary, Boxgrove, Sussex

Parish church, formerly Benedictine house

Boxgrove church comprises an aisled choir, a crossing tower, N and S transepts, and an aisled nave. Only the E bay of the nave is incorporated within the present church; the rest lies in ruins beyond the W wall, which contains the remains of the monastic pulpitum. Due to the presence of the cloister on the N side of the church, only the westernmost 2.5 double bays of the nave had a N aisle. The earliest surviving parts of the building are the plain N and S transepts and the easternmost bay of the nave (c.1120-50). A phased rebuilding programme seems to have begunc.1180-1200, with the 'transitional' central tower, followed by the westernmost five bays of the nave. The rib-vaulted chancel (c.1200-20) is Early English in style, and makes extensive decorative use of Purbeck shafts. Little survives of the monastic buildings. The weathered facade of the chapterhouse probably dates from the mid-12thc. and the ruined guest-house, standing in a field to the NE, is of the 14thc.