Church of St Wulfran is a Grade I listed building in the Brighton and Hove local planning authority area, England. First listed on 13 October 1952. A Medieval Church.
Church of St Wulfran
- WRENN ID
- blind-jade-furze
- Grade
- I
- Local Planning Authority
- Brighton and Hove
- Constituency
- Brighton Kemptown and Peacehaven MP: Chris Ward (Lab)
- Country
- England
- Date first listed
- 13 October 1952
- Type
- Church
- Period
- Medieval
- Address
- Church of St Wulfran, Greenways, the City of Brighton and Hove
- OS grid reference
- TQ 355 035
- Coordinates
- 50.81573, -0.07734
- Source
- Historic England listing
Description
The Church of St Wulfran is an Anglican church located in Ovingdean, Brighton. The original chancel and nave date to the early 12th century, with a late 13th-century tower added later. A porch was constructed in the 19th century, and the church was restored in 1867. A south chapel was added in 1907, and a north-west vestry around 1985. The building is constructed of flint with stone dressings, and has a tile roof, although the north side of the nave and the north-west vestry are covered with slate.
The exterior features a round-arched lancet window to the east end, and a single lancet to either side of the chancel. The south-east chapel has a single lancet in its east end and a blocked arch in its west end. The south side has two 2-light windows with cusped lancets either side of the gabled porch, which possesses a pointed, chamfered arch. One of these windows is placed beneath a large relieving arch, and the blocked arch in the south chapel represent remains of a former south aisle. The north side has two lancets and a blocked, round-arched doorway. The vestry features three round-arched lancets and a flat-arched 4-light window with a hoodmould to the west.
The two-stage tower has lancet windows to the lower part of the second stage, on the south and west sides, and two to the upper part, south and north. A corbelled circular stack is visible at the south-east corner, and the tower is topped with a pyramidal spire and weathervane.
Inside, the chancel has aumbries on either side of the altar. Low-set, pointed-arched openings, and a higher round-arched opening provide access to the south chapel, alongside a pointed-arched entrance likely dating from 1907. The east end is painted with scenes depicting the Passion. The church boasts a crown-post roof, with the ceiling and timbers stencilled to designs by CE Kempe in 1867. The chancel arch was rebuilt between 1865 and 1867 as a central round arch, with lower round arches on either side. Rood figures are sheltered under a canopy in a late Gothic style, added by CE Kempe in 1907. The nave has a boarded ceiling, and a pointed arch leads to the tower. Stained glass by CE Kempe is present throughout the nave and tower.
Local climate
Church of St Wulfran receives an average of 840 mm of rain a year. This makes it wetter than 56% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is greater than that of 89% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 15 freeze-thaw cycles a year, fewer than 85% of listed buildings. Of these, 7 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.
Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.
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