the story of St Paul's church (part 2)

from ruin to restoration

By the 1940's Elsted church was little more than a ruin, although the chancel was in use as a place of worship the nave was roofless with crumbling exposed walls...

There matters stood until 1947 when the new St. Peter’s church was found to be in such need of structural repair that it had to be closed for reasons of safety, and £10,000 was required to restore it. To the then Rector, the Rev. F.E. Parkhouse, now faced in a scattered parish of under 300 persons with the problem of four churches, two and a half of them unusable, and all needing money, there came an inspiration: St. Peter’s church would be dismantled and pulled down, and St. Paul’s, Ested, would be properly restored.

By almost superhuman efforts, ranging from sending out 10,000 appeals as far afield as Canada and the United States down to farthings collected by Sussex schoolchildren, the necessary £2,500 was raised. Towards the end of 1950 St. Peter’s church’s comparatively brief existence had drawn to a close and the graveyard alone now shows were it stood.

On November 30th, 1951, St. Paul’s, Elsted, restored as far as possible with all its ancient features to the plans of Mr. J.E.M. Macgregor, F.R.I.B.A., though no longer with a north aisle and with the addition of a vestry on the south side, was re-dedicated by the Bishop of Chichester, Dr. G.K.A. Bell, who as a memento of the occasion presented the delightful little coloured tile of St. Paul on the outside of the porch. The new work has imitated the old only in character, not in method of workmanship; and the nave walls have been left un-plastered so that the Saxon masonry can be distinguished, though it is more clearly seen from the outside. The arches of the new porch are the ones which were removed to the north nave wall in 1906, the inner one being the original 13th century church entrance and the outer that of the added early 17th century porch, showing its date 1622.

During the rebuilding an ancient slab of sandstone, now the porch seat, was unearthed which was at first thought to be a Saxon altar stone. The dimensions, however, as well as the slight taper and the chamfered edges, show it rather to have been a tomb cover of the Norman period. An earlier grave-stone, undoubtedly Saxon, with a simple incised cross, may be seen built into the north wall of the chancel.

There is a delightfully typical mid-Victorian memorial to a former Rector on the north wall of the chancel. The War Memorial on the south wall is by the late Mr. Graily Hewitt, the celebrated artist and designer to the Royal College of Heralds.

But the really outstanding point of interest without any doubt, is that St. Paul’s, Elsted, which has existed for nearly a thousand years and might so easily have vanished utterly in the last half-century, has been preserved to become a living example of the combined power of Faith and Works.

The author of this piece is unknown, the original document hangs on the wall in Elsted church. If you know who wrote The Story of St Paul's Elsted please get in touch.