Church of St Wilfrid is a Grade II* listed building in the Mid Sussex local planning authority area, England. A Victorian Church.

Church of St Wilfrid

WRENN ID
low-loft-pigeon
Grade
II*
Local Planning Authority
Mid Sussex
Constituency
Mid Sussex MP: Alison Bennett (LD)
Country
England
Type
Church
Period
Victorian
Address
Church of St Wilfrid, Church Road, Haywards Heath
OS grid reference
TQ 330 239
Coordinates
50.99924, -0.10456
Source
Historic England listing

Also on this page: flood risk · radon risk · weather exposure · detailed attributes ↓

Description

The Church of St Wilfrid is a Grade II* listed church built between 1863 and 1865 by architect G F Bodley in the Decorated style. It is constructed from Sussex and Ardingly sandstones and features a tiled roof with decorative ridge tiles. The church has a central tower, a five-bay nave with a clerestory, and lean-to aisles supported by buttresses. There is a south chapel in the transept and a short chancel with one bay. The tower consists of three stages, with a southeast turret featuring stepped buttresses and an octagonal turret above. The hipped tiled roof is topped with an iron finial, and the bell-stage includes a double pointed window. The nave's clerestory has quatrefoil and cinquefoil openings, while the aisles have a deep plinth and windows with double original openings and trefoliated heads. A southwest gabled porch has a cross-shaped saddlestone and an arched doorcase with hood moulding and a panelled door.

Inside, the church features a crown-post type roof and a tall west window with intersecting tracery. The north walls are supported by alternating octagonal and circular piers, and the central tower is set on boldly pointed transverse arches. The east window contains expressionist glass by A Archer from 1962-63. A low stone screen with alternating rose and fleur-de-lys motifs separates the nave from the choir under the tower. The south aisle includes some William Morris stained glass depicting Saints from around 1870. The south chapel features unusual stained glass showing soldiers at the front and being hospitalized during the First World War. There is also a wooden lectern on a stone base.

The church is graded II* due to the rarity of Bodley churches.

Local climate

Church of St Wilfrid receives an average of 770 mm of rain a year. This makes it drier than 64% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is greater than that of 67% of listed buildings.

It experiences an average of 31 freeze-thaw cycles a year, fewer than 63% of listed buildings. Of these, 13 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.

More on this building

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  5. Haywards Heath War Memorial Grade II 469 m
  6. Great Haywards Farm Grade II 503 m
  7. Former Sergison Arms Public House Grade II 535 m
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