Church of St Mary, Chidham

Church of St Mary, Chidham

This stone church, built in rubble stone and flint with ashlar stone dressing and topped by clay-tile pitched roofs, is orientated with its nave to the west and chancel to the east. It features a small aisle to the north and a porch to the south.

The church is topped by pitched roofs with a double-arch, pitched-roof bellcote over the west end. The chancel roof is lower than that of the nave. The nave's south elevation has three lancet windows: the central window occupies the position of an early opening, while the flanking windows are 19th-century insertions. Towards the east end of the nave wall are the partial remains of an earlier blocked pointed-arch window. The 19th-century pitched-roof timber porch sits on a stone plinth and contains the pointed-arch south door. The west end features an early blocked door with a pointed-arch surround, above which is a large lancet window flanked by early buttresses that meet in an arch. These buttresses support a 19th-century stone bellcote containing a pair of bells cast by John Ware and Sons of London in 1864 and refurbished in the late 20th century. The north elevation of the nave has a further early lancet window. The 14th-century north aisle, with a mono-pitch roof, has pairs of 19th-century lancets in descending sizes at its east and west ends, topped by trefoil arches. The chancel has two early lancet windows on both north and south elevations, while the east end has one large 19th-century lancet flanked by smaller windows. The gable is finished with stone coping supported by kneelers and topped by a stone cross pinnacle.

Inside the church, exposed 15th-century stone panelling, possibly reused from a chest tomb, appears at the west end where the early door has been infilled. In front of the south porch stands a font with a round bowl on a chamfered square base. The north side of the nave features a double arcade with polygonal pillars supporting pointed arches, leading through to the narrow aisle. Coloured glass windows were installed in the aisle's east end in 2010. Within the wall between the nave and aisle are the remains of rood-loft access, including rectangular openings with timber surrounds on either side and a timber step. A square stone recess on the east end of the nave's south wall is attributed as the site of a former piscina. The chancel arch is of two chamfered orders with the inner arch resting on conical corbels; it was heightened and widened in the 19th century whilst reusing early stonework. The south wall of the chancel contains a piscina with a 13th-century frame featuring the remains of a trefoil arch, though the basin is 19th-century. Adjacent is the aumbry, a low-level recess with a segmental arch, also dating to around the 13th century. A 13th-century Purbeck marble tombstone lies in the floor below the aumbry, and a stone altar slab is set in the floor under the communion table, both now concealed. Stone wall monuments to Henry Bickley and George Meggott stand on either side of the chancel. The chancel windows have deep reveals linked by an ashlar continuous cill. The church's 19th-century stained glass has been attributed to Clayton and Bell. The roof structure comprises collar trusses to the nave and scissor trusses to the chancel, all 19th-century. The timber pews, altar rails, panelling, pulpit, and tile floor are also 19th-century.