Church Of St Mary Magdalene

The Church of St Mary Magdalene is a medieval parish church with 13th-century origins, substantially restored between 1879 and 1881 by the architect Ewan Christian.

The church is constructed of flint and Bognor stone, much of it cobblestones, with ashlar dressings. The roofs are covered in red clay tiles, except for the spire which is shingled. The building comprises a nave, chancel, north and south aisles, west tower, north organ chamber or chapel with a small vestry to its north, and a north porch.

The most striking external feature is the 13th-century west tower with its massive buttresses on the north, west and south faces. When viewed from the west, these buttresses make the tower appear much wider than it actually is. They terminate in large offsets at about the level of the bases of the tiny single-light lancet openings of the bell stage. A west doorway, now blocked, is tightly sandwiched between the two west buttresses. The tower is crowned by a shingled, splay-foot spire which has small openings in the cardinal directions and aligned with the tops of the corner chamfers. The nave and aisles are under continuous roofs, though those over the aisles have a shallower pitch than that over the nave. The chancel, although as wide as the nave, has a lower roof ridge. The north organ chamber or chapel has its own gabled roof. The fenestration is varied and largely consists of new or renewed work from the late 19th-century restoration. The graded triple lancets of the east window are a new design dating from around 1880. The date 1880 (1881 on the south aisle) is recorded on a number of cast-iron hopper heads along with the initials SMM, reflecting the architect Ewan Christian's practice of using dated rainwater goods. The north porch has a timber superstructure on low stone walls and dates from the 19th century.

Inside, all the walls are plastered and whitened. On each side of the nave is a 13th-century arcade of five bays, with double-chamfered arches. The piers alternate between round and octagonal forms with moulded capitals—unusually circular even over the octagonal piers—and bases with angle spurs. The responds are square with corbels to carry the inner order. On the south side of the nave, the arcade leans out markedly to the south. The west wall has a pointed arch formerly opening into the tower, into which is inserted a smaller pointed arch of one order with chamfered imposts, perhaps added as structural support at a time when the tower's condition gave cause for concern. There is no arch between the nave and chancel; the division is marked by a tympanic filling above the level of the wall-plate in the nave, with upright timbers exposed between plastered infillings. The two-bay arcade to the north chapel has circular piers with moulded capitals and bases. The roofs are probably entirely from the 1879–81 restoration: they are seven-sided in the nave and chancel, and lean-tos in the aisles.

Most of the fixtures date from the late 19th-century restoration, but on the west wall of the nave is a wall monument to Sir Richard Hotham, who died in 1799. Hotham was a wealthy hatter from Southwark responsible for initiating the development of Bognor Regis as a resort in the 1780s. The St Mary Magdalene's register has an entry for 17 January 1787 noting the laying of "The first foundation stone at Bognor in the Parish of Berstead". The church also has a medieval chest with a three-plank front bearing roundels of chip-carving, to which a modern oak lining has been added.

The 19th-century seating scheme is substantially intact and has pews with shaped ends. The font of 1898 is a replacement of a 12th-century one and has a round bowl with rich carving in a free Decorated style. The pulpit is wooden with pierced sides and stands on a tapering stone base. Above the north doorway is a bust of Archbishop Tait of Canterbury, who died in 1882. The east lancets are filled with good glass in vibrant colours by Powell's dating from 1880. Other stained glass windows date from the late 19th and early 20th centuries; that at the east end of the south aisle is also by Powell's, from 1905.

The church has a most attractive, well-treed setting in its churchyard, which retains a very intact collection of tombstones dating back to the 18th century. Next to the north porch is a massive stone slab, probably from a medieval altar, and a taper-sided tombstone of the 13th century. In the angle of the tower and south aisle is a 19th-century obelisk to the Fitzpatrick family. To the south-east of the church is a hall dating from 1969. East of the church are the former schools, now a nursery, perhaps dating from around 1880.

The village of Bersted is now part of the built-up area of Bognor Regis. It was originally a chapel of Pagham. A vicarage had been ordained before 1291 when it was valued at £6 13s 4d. The right of presentation was with the rector of Pagham until about 1360, but from 1382 the Archbishop of Canterbury was patron. The right of burial seems to have been acquired in 1405 when the Bishop of Chichester consecrated the church and churchyard. It was styled a parish church in 1465 but this status was definitely denied it in about 1535.

The fabric of the church dates mainly from the 13th century. The appearance of the tower was radically altered by the addition of the large buttresses, built no doubt at a time when the condition of the tower gave cause for concern. The work may have been the "reparations of the steeple" recorded in 1541. Prior to the Victorian restoration of 1879–81, the side walls of the aisles appear to have been higher with two tiers of windows on either side, no doubt to illuminate the gallery erected in 1764. The 1879–81 restorer was Ewan Christian, who carried out much refenestration, added the organ chamber and north porch, and extensively furnished the church and provided new roofs. Christian, who lived from 1814 to 1895, was a prolific architect whose speciality was church work. He was schooled at Christ's Hospital until 1829 when he was articled to Matthew Habershon. He broadened his education with travel on the continent in 1834 and the following year assisted one of the entrants in the New Palace of Westminster competition with the drawings. He worked in the offices of William Railton in London and then John Brown in Norwich. He commenced practice in 1842 and was appointed architect to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners in 1851, a post which brought many commissions, especially in the chancels for which the Commissioners were responsible. He gained a reputation for efficiency and bringing jobs in on time and on budget.

There were alterations in 2002 when a number of pews were removed to create a facility for tea, coffee and similar uses.