Church Of St Paul

The Church of St Paul is an 1836 church designed by Joseph Butler, built as a chapel of ease to the parish church of St Peter to serve the growing suburbs of Chichester. In 1883, the southeast buttress of the tower failed, causing part of the tower to collapse, and although it was repaired, it became unsafe again. The tower was then demolished to its present level in 1951. A complex of parish rooms was added to the northwest in 1993.

The church is constructed of flint with stone dressings and a slate roof. The west wall of the nave above the tower, and the west wall of the parish rooms, are rendered. The church has a wide, unaisled nave, a small chancel, a truncated west tower, and a small south porch. Attached to the northeast is a complex of parish rooms.

The church’s exterior is notable for its height and its early 19th-century design imitating the style of the 13th century. The nave has tall, narrow lancet windows in pairs along the north and south walls, with single lancets on either side of the chancel and on either side of the tower. Tall, stepped buttresses are positioned between the window pairs. The small, gabled south porch features a continuously chamfered outer opening and modern glazed inner doors. The chancel has a triplet of lancets in the east wall, and single lancets in the north and south walls. The truncated west tower has a flat roof below the nave roofline, a western door under a gabled projection, and small lancets.

Inside, the nave is undivided and features a west gallery supported by slim columns, which has a panelled front of foiled arches. The tall tower arch is partially obscured by the organ and gallery. The pointed chancel arch has continuous chamfered outer orders and an inner order on shafts with Early English-style capitals. The chancel recess is shallow but tall. The nave is ceiled with flat Tudor arched trusses, featuring graduated, foiled arches as infill. Modern timber and glazed doors in the northwest corner of the nave lead to the parish rooms. A 19th-century font with foiled arches on the bowl and stem is a principal fixture, although other furnishings are largely modern.