St Symphorian's Church, Durrington
Encyclopedia
St Symphorian's Church is an Anglican
church in the Durrington
area of the borough of Worthing
, one of seven local government districts in the English
county of West Sussex
. Originally an 11th-century chapelry
in the parish of St Andrew's Church, West Tarring
, the church declined and fell into ruins in the 17th century, partly due to damage caused by the English Civil War
. Anglican worship was re-established in a tin tabernacle
in 1890 as the former village grew into a suburb of Worthing, and during World War I
a permanent church was built. It was extended during World War II
. English Heritage
has listed the building at Grade II for its architectural and historical importance.
estate. In that year, King Athelstan
granted some of the land to one of his thegn
s. By the time of the Domesday survey
in 1086, Robert le Sauvage—lord of the manor
of nearby Broadwater
—held the land. The civil and ecclesiastical parish was smaller than the Saxon estate: it extended for about 2 miles (3.2 km) from north to south and 0.7 miles (1.1 km) from east to west.
The Domesday survey recorded that Durrington had "a church, eight acres of meadow and a wood of ten hogs". The church had existed since Saxon times, no later than the 11th century, but little is known of it: the structure was probably built of plaster, wattle and daub
and thatch
, in common with other churches of the era. It was dedicated to St Nicholas. In about 1265, the church was rebuilt and rededicated to Thomas Becket
. The new design, a simple two-cell building, had a 56 by 29 ft (17.1 by 8.8 m) nave
and a 23 by 19 ft (7 by 5.8 m) chancel
separated by a rood screen
, above which was a crucifix
. There was also a wall-mounted stone pulpit
, a stone altar, a series of tall, pointed windows high in the walls, an unadorned stone font
and a short wooden steeple
—little more than an extended belfry
—extending from the nave roof. The new church was still a chapelry
of St Andrew's Church
at nearby West Tarring
: this meant that it was served and administered by clergy from that church, and most of the parish's tithe
s were paid to St Andrew's. It was not an independent parish church
. The same applied to the nearby St Botolph's Church
at Heene
. Until agreement was reached in 1254, there was a long-running dispute between the rector of St Andrew's Church and Sele Priory over the division of the tithes. A small proportion of tithes were reserved for Sele Priory
under arrangements made by Robert le Sauvage in the 12th century. When the priory was dissolved in 1459, the Bishop of Winchester
William Waynflete
acquired the patronage and made the tithes payable to Magdalen College, Oxford
, which he had recently founded.
The church was wrecked during skirmishes linked to the English Civil War
in the 1640s. In 1638, Reverend William Stanley became the rector of Tarring, which still had ecclesiastical responsibility for Durrington and Heene. His politics were strongly Royalist
, but the villagers of Durrington were almost all Parliamentarian
in outlook. He joined King Charles I's
army when war broke out
in 1641, angering his parishioners. The villagers' dislike of the rector was also prompted by his "unintelligible preaching", his failure to carry out parochial duties and his prosecution of some parishioners for non-payment of tithes. Their anger erupted in 1643 when, during a period of military action in Sussex, they partly demolished the church. He was removed from his role as rector in April 1645, but was restored 15 months later. Thereafter, he served the parishioners of Durrington infrequently, and reputedly threatened and spoke unpleasantly to them.
By 1677, the church was in such poor structural condition that the of Dean of Chichester convened a consistory court
with three parishioners and asked them why repairs had not been carried out. When they explained that it had been ruined during the Civil War, that Reverend Stanley had failed to serve them appropriately and that the parishioners could not afford its upkeep, the court accepted this. The parish was soon the subject of court action again, when the Dean found that the church bell had been sold without permission. After conflicting accounts were given, the churchwarden
eventually admitted to selling it to raise funds for poor people in the parish. At the same time, he submitted an estimate for repairs to the church, stating again that the villagers could not afford them and asking for permission to abandon the building and worship at St Andrew's in West Tarring
instead. This was agreed on 24 January 1680. The structure decayed further, and some of the masonry was used to build houses in the village. Nevertheless, the church was used occasionally until 1752, according to parish register
s—mainly for baptisms, marriages and funerals, but a few services were held as well.
The area remained rural until the 19th century. Durrington village always had two centres of population: the southern one, next to the road to Littlehampton
, had declined almost to nothing by 1875, but the part to the north near the church began to grow in the last quarter of the 19th century, stimulated by the success of neighbouring Worthing. The soil was of excellent quality, so land around the village was developed extensively for market gardening
as well. In 1890, the new rector of St Andrew's Church paid for a small temporary mission chapel (a tin tabernacle
) to be erected in the grounds of the ruined church. Services took place every Sunday, and parishioners from St Andrew's donated Eucharistic objects and a font
.
The next rector of St Andrew's planned to replace the tin tabernacle with a permanent church to commemorate Queen Victoria's
Diamond Jubilee in 1897. He also sought to make the church independent from West Tarring by creating a separate parish for it. Fundraising was successful at first—£641 (£ as of ) was raised by 1898—but the rector left to take charge of another church in that year, and the impetus was lost. In 1910, when the temporary church needed urgent repairs, consideration was again given to building a proper replacement; and in 1911 the rector of St Botolph's Church
in Heene
—which had been successfully rebuilt from a ruined state and separated from West Tarring parish about 30 years previously—helped to drive the scheme forward. A committee was formed, and another £208 (£ as of ) of donations came in. The local architect R.S. Hyde, who had worked on St Botolph's Church, had submitted a design in 1896, but this was rejected in favour of plans by Lacy W. Ridge, who was at the time the Diocesan architect
.
The parish of Durrington was created on 14 July 1914, and its first priest was appointed later in the year. Rebuilding started immediately: the remaining parts of the old walls (principally on the south and west sides) were incorporated into the new structure, and despite wartime
disruption and shortages enough had been built to allow the church to be opened in 1915. It was dedicated to St Symphorian on 13 October 1915. A consecration ceremony took place on 15 December 1916. Durrington's rapid residential growth continued, especially after it became part of the Borough of Worthing in 1929, and the church was extended and thereby completed in 1941 with the construction of a chancel by W.H. Godfrey. The church was rededicated by the Bishop of Chichester
George Bell
on 3 September 1941. Lacy Ridge's work had cost £1,735 (£ as of ); the extension cost £4,509 (£ as of ).
Regular repairs and damp-proofing have been carried out since the church was completed: the decision to build around the remains of the 13th-century walls meant that damp was able to permeate and the new walls cracked. The roof also caused problems: in 1961 the timberwork had to be renewed after a woodworm
infestation. Internal reorganisation and renewal was carried out throughout the 1960s and 1970s as well.
structure with stone dressings, built in the Early English style. The roof is laid with tiles. The building has a wide nave
leading into a taller chancel
, a Lady chapel
and a vestry
. An entrance porch stands on the southwest side. The remaining 13th-century structural elements are in the north wall (visible on the inside around one of the windows) and its foundations, and in the south and west walls. A Saxon-era fragment from the original (pre-Domesday) chapel has also been identified in the north wall. Also, a piscina
of medieval origin was rescued from the ruined chapel and placed on the east wall of the new church.
Inside, the nave roof, built by Lacy Ridge, is considered "remarkable". It is in two parts, the easternmost of which consists of a series of wide truss
es. The chancel roof has beams supported on decorated corbel
s. Most of the windows in the church are lancets
. The north wall has four, there are three on the south and east sides, and the west wall has two and a rectangular window with tracery
work. Stained glass
is set into several of the windows; one commemorates victims of the world wars.
Internal fittings and furniture include a white marble font taken from St Paul's Church
in central Worthing; a wooden pulpit
made in 1958; pew
s taken from a demolished church in Newhaven, East Sussex
; an 18th-century altar from a demolished church at Treyford
, West Sussex; and an organ
installed in 1954 to replace the original.
area, north of Durrington and within its parish, encouraged the vicar of St Symphorian's Church to open a mission chapel there at his own expense. At first, services were held every two weeks (Evensong
), augmented by a monthly Eucharistic service. Later this changed to weekly Matins
and fortnightly Holy Communion. On 20 April 1951, after the vicar died, the church was sold to the parish for £600 (£ as of ). The church still had no dedication and was known simply as the Mission Church. On 3 July 1951, the Archdeacon of Chichester conducted a ceremony at which it was dedicated to Saint Peter
.
St Peter's is an iron church (tin tabernacle
)—now rare in Britain. It is the only surviving example in Worthing. Most of the internal fittings were donated by parishioners. As of , it is still part of the parish of St Symphorian.
on 11 October 1949; this defines it as a "nationally important" building of "special interest". As of February 2001, it was one of 198 buildings with Grade II status (or the equivalent Grade C), and 213 listed buildings of all grades, in the Borough of Worthing. (These totals have since changed because of new listings and delistings.)
The parish, in its present form (ratified in 1974), covers the Durrington, West Durrington and High Salvington suburbs in the northwest of the borough of Worthing, and some surrounding rural areas. The eastern boundary is formed by Mill Lane, Half Moon Lane and Stone Lane; the main Littlehampton Road marks the southern boundary; and Titnore Lane and field boundaries form the other parts of the boundary.
There is a Eucharistic service every Sunday, daily morning and evening prayer sessions and a daily Eucharistic service (two on Wednesdays).
Anglicanism
Anglicanism is a tradition within Christianity comprising churches with historical connections to the Church of England or similar beliefs, worship and church structures. The word Anglican originates in ecclesia anglicana, a medieval Latin phrase dating to at least 1246 that means the English...
church in the Durrington
Durrington, West Sussex
Durrington is a neighbourhood of the Borough of Worthing in West Sussex, England. It is situated near the A27 road, northwest of the town centre.Durrington means 'Dēora's farmstead', Dēora presumably being the name of a Saxon settler...
area of the borough of Worthing
Worthing
Worthing is a large seaside town with borough status in West Sussex, within the historic County of Sussex, forming part of the Brighton/Worthing/Littlehampton conurbation. It is situated at the foot of the South Downs, west of Brighton, and east of the county town of Chichester...
, one of seven local government districts in the English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
county of West Sussex
West Sussex
West Sussex is a county in the south of England, bordering onto East Sussex , Hampshire and Surrey. The county of Sussex has been divided into East and West since the 12th century, and obtained separate county councils in 1888, but it remained a single ceremonial county until 1974 and the coming...
. Originally an 11th-century chapelry
Chapelry
A chapelry was a subdivision of an ecclesiastical parish in England, and parts of Lowland Scotland up to the mid 19th century. It had a similar status to a township but was so named as it had a chapel which acted as a subsidiary place of worship to the main parish church...
in the parish of St Andrew's Church, West Tarring
St Andrew's Church, West Tarring
St Andrew's Church is the Anglican parish church of West Tarring, an ancient village which is now part of the town and borough of Worthing, one of seven local government districts in the English county of West Sussex...
, the church declined and fell into ruins in the 17th century, partly due to damage caused by the English Civil War
English Civil War
The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...
. Anglican worship was re-established in a tin tabernacle
Tin tabernacle
Tin tabernacles were a type of prefabricated building made from corrugated iron developed in the mid 19th century initially in Great Britain. Corrugated iron was first used for roofing in London in 1829 by Henry Robinson Palmer and the patent sold to Richard Walker who advertised "portable...
in 1890 as the former village grew into a suburb of Worthing, and during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
a permanent church was built. It was extended during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. English Heritage
English Heritage
English Heritage . is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport...
has listed the building at Grade II for its architectural and historical importance.
History
Durrington was first recorded in 934 as a SaxonAnglo-Saxons
Anglo-Saxon is a term used by historians to designate the Germanic tribes who invaded and settled the south and east of Great Britain beginning in the early 5th century AD, and the period from their creation of the English nation to the Norman conquest. The Anglo-Saxon Era denotes the period of...
estate. In that year, King Athelstan
Athelstan of England
Athelstan , called the Glorious, was the King of England from 924 or 925 to 939. He was the son of King Edward the Elder, grandson of Alfred the Great and nephew of Æthelflæd of Mercia...
granted some of the land to one of his thegn
Thegn
The term thegn , from OE þegn, ðegn "servant, attendant, retainer", is commonly used to describe either an aristocratic retainer of a king or nobleman in Anglo-Saxon England, or as a class term, the majority of the aristocracy below the ranks of ealdormen and high-reeves...
s. By the time of the Domesday survey
Domesday Book
Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...
in 1086, Robert le Sauvage—lord of the manor
Lord of the Manor
The Lordship of a Manor is recognised today in England and Wales as a form of property and one of three elements of a manor that may exist separately or be combined and may be held in moieties...
of nearby Broadwater
Broadwater, West Sussex
Broadwater is a neighbourhood of the Borough of Worthing in West Sussex, England. Situated between the South Downs and the English Channel, Broadwater was once a parish in its own right and included Worthing when the latter was a small fishing hamlet. Before its incorporation into the Borough of...
—held the land. The civil and ecclesiastical parish was smaller than the Saxon estate: it extended for about 2 miles (3.2 km) from north to south and 0.7 miles (1.1 km) from east to west.
The Domesday survey recorded that Durrington had "a church, eight acres of meadow and a wood of ten hogs". The church had existed since Saxon times, no later than the 11th century, but little is known of it: the structure was probably built of plaster, wattle and daub
Wattle and daub
Wattle and daub is a composite building material used for making walls, in which a woven lattice of wooden strips called wattle is daubed with a sticky material usually made of some combination of wet soil, clay, sand, animal dung and straw...
and thatch
Thatching
Thatching is the craft of building a roof with dry vegetation such as straw, water reed, sedge , rushes, or heather, layering the vegetation so as to shed water away from the inner roof. It is a very old roofing method and has been used in both tropical and temperate climates...
, in common with other churches of the era. It was dedicated to St Nicholas. In about 1265, the church was rebuilt and rededicated to Thomas Becket
Thomas Becket
Thomas Becket was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1162 until his murder in 1170. He is venerated as a saint and martyr by both the Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion...
. The new design, a simple two-cell building, had a 56 by 29 ft (17.1 by 8.8 m) nave
Nave
In Romanesque and Gothic Christian abbey, cathedral basilica and church architecture, the nave is the central approach to the high altar, the main body of the church. "Nave" was probably suggested by the keel shape of its vaulting...
and a 23 by 19 ft (7 by 5.8 m) chancel
Chancel
In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar in the sanctuary at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building...
separated by a rood screen
Rood screen
The rood screen is a common feature in late medieval church architecture. It is typically an ornate partition between the chancel and nave, of more or less open tracery constructed of wood, stone, or wrought iron...
, above which was a crucifix
Crucifix
A crucifix is an independent image of Jesus on the cross with a representation of Jesus' body, referred to in English as the corpus , as distinct from a cross with no body....
. There was also a wall-mounted stone pulpit
Pulpit
Pulpit is a speakers' stand in a church. In many Christian churches, there are two speakers' stands at the front of the church. Typically, the one on the left is called the pulpit...
, a stone altar, a series of tall, pointed windows high in the walls, an unadorned stone font
Baptismal font
A baptismal font is an article of church furniture or a fixture used for the baptism of children and adults.-Aspersion and affusion fonts:...
and a short wooden steeple
Steeple (architecture)
A steeple, in architecture, is a tall tower on a building, often topped by a spire. Steeples are very common on Christian churches and cathedrals and the use of the term generally connotes a religious structure...
—little more than an extended belfry
Bell tower
A bell tower is a tower which contains one or more bells, or which is designed to hold bells, even if it has none. In the European tradition, such a tower most commonly serves as part of a church and contains church bells. When attached to a city hall or other civic building, especially in...
—extending from the nave roof. The new church was still a chapelry
Chapelry
A chapelry was a subdivision of an ecclesiastical parish in England, and parts of Lowland Scotland up to the mid 19th century. It had a similar status to a township but was so named as it had a chapel which acted as a subsidiary place of worship to the main parish church...
of St Andrew's Church
St Andrew's Church, West Tarring
St Andrew's Church is the Anglican parish church of West Tarring, an ancient village which is now part of the town and borough of Worthing, one of seven local government districts in the English county of West Sussex...
at nearby West Tarring
Tarring, West Sussex
West Tarring is a neighbourhood of the Borough of Worthing in West Sussex, England. It lies on the A2031 road northwest of the town centre. It is officially called West Tarring or, less commonly, Tarring Peverell, to differentiate it from Tarring Neville near Lewes, but is usually called just...
: this meant that it was served and administered by clergy from that church, and most of the parish's tithe
Tithe
A tithe is a one-tenth part of something, paid as a contribution to a religious organization or compulsory tax to government. Today, tithes are normally voluntary and paid in cash, cheques, or stocks, whereas historically tithes were required and paid in kind, such as agricultural products...
s were paid to St Andrew's. It was not an independent parish church
Parish church
A parish church , in Christianity, is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish, the basic administrative unit of episcopal churches....
. The same applied to the nearby St Botolph's Church
St Botolph's Church, Heene
St Botolph's Church is an Anglican church in the Heene area of the borough of Worthing, one of seven local government districts in the English county of West Sussex. It had 11th-century origins as a chapelry within the parish of West Tarring, but declined and fell into disuse by the 18th century...
at Heene
Heene
Heene is a neighbourhood of the Borough of Worthing in West Sussex, England. It lies on the A259 road 0.6 miles west of the town centre.Heene comes from the word Hīun or Hīwun meaning family or household....
. Until agreement was reached in 1254, there was a long-running dispute between the rector of St Andrew's Church and Sele Priory over the division of the tithes. A small proportion of tithes were reserved for Sele Priory
Upper Beeding
Upper Beeding is a village and civil parish in the Horsham District of West Sussex, England. It is located at the northern end of the River Adur gap in the South Downs four miles north of Shoreham-by-Sea and has a land area of 1877 hectares...
under arrangements made by Robert le Sauvage in the 12th century. When the priory was dissolved in 1459, the Bishop of Winchester
Bishop of Winchester
The Bishop of Winchester is the head of the Church of England diocese of Winchester, with his cathedra at Winchester Cathedral in Hampshire.The bishop is one of five Church of England bishops to be among the Lords Spiritual regardless of their length of service. His diocese is one of the oldest and...
William Waynflete
William Waynflete
William Waynflete , born William Patten, was Bishop of Winchester from 1447 to 1486, and Lord Chancellor of England from 1456 to 1460. He is best remembered as the founder of Magdalen College and Magdalen College School in Oxford....
acquired the patronage and made the tithes payable to Magdalen College, Oxford
Magdalen College, Oxford
Magdalen College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. As of 2006 the college had an estimated financial endowment of £153 million. Magdalen is currently top of the Norrington Table after over half of its 2010 finalists received first-class degrees, a record...
, which he had recently founded.
The church was wrecked during skirmishes linked to the English Civil War
English Civil War
The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...
in the 1640s. In 1638, Reverend William Stanley became the rector of Tarring, which still had ecclesiastical responsibility for Durrington and Heene. His politics were strongly Royalist
Cavalier
Cavalier was the name used by Parliamentarians for a Royalist supporter of King Charles I and son Charles II during the English Civil War, the Interregnum, and the Restoration...
, but the villagers of Durrington were almost all Parliamentarian
Roundhead
"Roundhead" was the nickname given to the supporters of the Parliament during the English Civil War. Also known as Parliamentarians, they fought against King Charles I and his supporters, the Cavaliers , who claimed absolute power and the divine right of kings...
in outlook. He joined King Charles I's
Charles I of England
Charles I was King of England, King of Scotland, and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. Charles engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England, attempting to obtain royal revenue whilst Parliament sought to curb his Royal prerogative which Charles...
army when war broke out
First English Civil War
The First English Civil War began the series of three wars known as the English Civil War . "The English Civil War" was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations that took place between Parliamentarians and Royalists from 1642 until 1651, and includes the Second English Civil War and...
in 1641, angering his parishioners. The villagers' dislike of the rector was also prompted by his "unintelligible preaching", his failure to carry out parochial duties and his prosecution of some parishioners for non-payment of tithes. Their anger erupted in 1643 when, during a period of military action in Sussex, they partly demolished the church. He was removed from his role as rector in April 1645, but was restored 15 months later. Thereafter, he served the parishioners of Durrington infrequently, and reputedly threatened and spoke unpleasantly to them.
By 1677, the church was in such poor structural condition that the of Dean of Chichester convened a consistory court
Consistory court
The consistory court is a type of ecclesiastical court, especially within the Church of England. They were established by a charter of King William I of England, and still exist today, although since about the middle of the 19th century consistory courts have lost much of their subject-matter...
with three parishioners and asked them why repairs had not been carried out. When they explained that it had been ruined during the Civil War, that Reverend Stanley had failed to serve them appropriately and that the parishioners could not afford its upkeep, the court accepted this. The parish was soon the subject of court action again, when the Dean found that the church bell had been sold without permission. After conflicting accounts were given, the churchwarden
Churchwarden
A churchwarden is a lay official in a parish church or congregation of the Anglican Communion, usually working as a part-time volunteer. Holders of these positions are ex officio members of the parish board, usually called a vestry, parish council, parochial church council, or in the case of a...
eventually admitted to selling it to raise funds for poor people in the parish. At the same time, he submitted an estimate for repairs to the church, stating again that the villagers could not afford them and asking for permission to abandon the building and worship at St Andrew's in West Tarring
St Andrew's Church, West Tarring
St Andrew's Church is the Anglican parish church of West Tarring, an ancient village which is now part of the town and borough of Worthing, one of seven local government districts in the English county of West Sussex...
instead. This was agreed on 24 January 1680. The structure decayed further, and some of the masonry was used to build houses in the village. Nevertheless, the church was used occasionally until 1752, according to parish register
Parish register
A parish register is a handwritten volume, normally kept in a parish church or deposited within a county record office or alternative archive repository, in which details of baptisms, marriages and burials are recorded.-History:...
s—mainly for baptisms, marriages and funerals, but a few services were held as well.
The area remained rural until the 19th century. Durrington village always had two centres of population: the southern one, next to the road to Littlehampton
Littlehampton
Littlehampton is a seaside resort town and civil parish in the Arun District of West Sussex, England, on the east bank at the mouth of the River Arun. It lies south southwest of London, west of Brighton and east of the county town of Chichester....
, had declined almost to nothing by 1875, but the part to the north near the church began to grow in the last quarter of the 19th century, stimulated by the success of neighbouring Worthing. The soil was of excellent quality, so land around the village was developed extensively for market gardening
Market gardening
A market garden is the relatively small-scale production of fruits, vegetables and flowers as cash crops, frequently sold directly to consumers and restaurants. It is distinguishable from other types of farming by the diversity of crops grown on a small area of land, typically, from under one acre ...
as well. In 1890, the new rector of St Andrew's Church paid for a small temporary mission chapel (a tin tabernacle
Tin tabernacle
Tin tabernacles were a type of prefabricated building made from corrugated iron developed in the mid 19th century initially in Great Britain. Corrugated iron was first used for roofing in London in 1829 by Henry Robinson Palmer and the patent sold to Richard Walker who advertised "portable...
) to be erected in the grounds of the ruined church. Services took place every Sunday, and parishioners from St Andrew's donated Eucharistic objects and a font
Baptismal font
A baptismal font is an article of church furniture or a fixture used for the baptism of children and adults.-Aspersion and affusion fonts:...
.
The next rector of St Andrew's planned to replace the tin tabernacle with a permanent church to commemorate Queen Victoria's
Victoria of the United Kingdom
Victoria was the monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death. From 1 May 1876, she used the additional title of Empress of India....
Diamond Jubilee in 1897. He also sought to make the church independent from West Tarring by creating a separate parish for it. Fundraising was successful at first—£641 (£ as of ) was raised by 1898—but the rector left to take charge of another church in that year, and the impetus was lost. In 1910, when the temporary church needed urgent repairs, consideration was again given to building a proper replacement; and in 1911 the rector of St Botolph's Church
St Botolph's Church, Heene
St Botolph's Church is an Anglican church in the Heene area of the borough of Worthing, one of seven local government districts in the English county of West Sussex. It had 11th-century origins as a chapelry within the parish of West Tarring, but declined and fell into disuse by the 18th century...
in Heene
Heene
Heene is a neighbourhood of the Borough of Worthing in West Sussex, England. It lies on the A259 road 0.6 miles west of the town centre.Heene comes from the word Hīun or Hīwun meaning family or household....
—which had been successfully rebuilt from a ruined state and separated from West Tarring parish about 30 years previously—helped to drive the scheme forward. A committee was formed, and another £208 (£ as of ) of donations came in. The local architect R.S. Hyde, who had worked on St Botolph's Church, had submitted a design in 1896, but this was rejected in favour of plans by Lacy W. Ridge, who was at the time the Diocesan architect
Diocese of Chichester
The Diocese of Chichester is a Church of England diocese based in Chichester, covering Sussex. It was created in 1075 to replace the old Diocese of Selsey, which was based at Selsey Abbey from 681. The cathedral is Chichester Cathedral and the bishop is the Bishop of Chichester...
.
The parish of Durrington was created on 14 July 1914, and its first priest was appointed later in the year. Rebuilding started immediately: the remaining parts of the old walls (principally on the south and west sides) were incorporated into the new structure, and despite wartime
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
disruption and shortages enough had been built to allow the church to be opened in 1915. It was dedicated to St Symphorian on 13 October 1915. A consecration ceremony took place on 15 December 1916. Durrington's rapid residential growth continued, especially after it became part of the Borough of Worthing in 1929, and the church was extended and thereby completed in 1941 with the construction of a chancel by W.H. Godfrey. The church was rededicated by the Bishop of Chichester
Bishop of Chichester
The Bishop of Chichester is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Chichester in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers the Counties of East and West Sussex. The see is in the City of Chichester where the seat is located at the Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity...
George Bell
George Bell (bishop)
George Kennedy Allen Bell was an Anglican theologian, Dean of Canterbury, Bishop of Chichester, member of the House of Lords and a pioneer of the Ecumenical Movement.-Early career:...
on 3 September 1941. Lacy Ridge's work had cost £1,735 (£ as of ); the extension cost £4,509 (£ as of ).
Regular repairs and damp-proofing have been carried out since the church was completed: the decision to build around the remains of the 13th-century walls meant that damp was able to permeate and the new walls cracked. The roof also caused problems: in 1961 the timberwork had to be renewed after a woodworm
Woodworm
A woodworm is not a specific species. It is the larval stage of certain woodboring beetles including:*Ambrosia beetles *Bark borer beetle / Waney edge borer *Common furniture beetle...
infestation. Internal reorganisation and renewal was carried out throughout the 1960s and 1970s as well.
Architecture
St Symphorian's Church is a flintFlint
Flint is a hard, sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as a variety of chert. It occurs chiefly as nodules and masses in sedimentary rocks, such as chalks and limestones. Inside the nodule, flint is usually dark grey, black, green, white, or brown in colour, and...
structure with stone dressings, built in the Early English style. The roof is laid with tiles. The building has a wide nave
Nave
In Romanesque and Gothic Christian abbey, cathedral basilica and church architecture, the nave is the central approach to the high altar, the main body of the church. "Nave" was probably suggested by the keel shape of its vaulting...
leading into a taller chancel
Chancel
In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar in the sanctuary at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building...
, a Lady chapel
Lady chapel
A Lady chapel, also called Mary chapel or Marian chapel, is a traditional English term for a chapel inside a cathedral, basilica, or large church dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary...
and a vestry
Vestry
A vestry is a room in or attached to a church or synagogue in which the vestments, vessels, records, etc., are kept , and in which the clergy and choir robe or don their vestments for divine service....
. An entrance porch stands on the southwest side. The remaining 13th-century structural elements are in the north wall (visible on the inside around one of the windows) and its foundations, and in the south and west walls. A Saxon-era fragment from the original (pre-Domesday) chapel has also been identified in the north wall. Also, a piscina
Piscina
A piscina is a shallow basin placed near the altar of a church, used for washing the communion vessels. The sacrarium is the drain itself. Anglicans usually refer to the basin, calling it a piscina. Roman Catholics usually refer to the drain, and by extension, the basin, as the sacrarium...
of medieval origin was rescued from the ruined chapel and placed on the east wall of the new church.
Inside, the nave roof, built by Lacy Ridge, is considered "remarkable". It is in two parts, the easternmost of which consists of a series of wide truss
Truss
In architecture and structural engineering, a truss is a structure comprising one or more triangular units constructed with straight members whose ends are connected at joints referred to as nodes. External forces and reactions to those forces are considered to act only at the nodes and result in...
es. The chancel roof has beams supported on decorated corbel
Corbel
In architecture a corbel is a piece of stone jutting out of a wall to carry any superincumbent weight. A piece of timber projecting in the same way was called a "tassel" or a "bragger". The technique of corbelling, where rows of corbels deeply keyed inside a wall support a projecting wall or...
s. Most of the windows in the church are lancets
Lancet window
A lancet window is a tall narrow window with a pointed arch at its top. It acquired the "lancet" name from its resemblance to a lance. Instances of this architectural motif are most often found in Gothic and ecclesiastical structures, where they are often placed singly or in pairs.The motif first...
. The north wall has four, there are three on the south and east sides, and the west wall has two and a rectangular window with tracery
Tracery
In architecture, Tracery is the stonework elements that support the glass in a Gothic window. The term probably derives from the 'tracing floors' on which the complex patterns of late Gothic windows were laid out.-Plate tracery:...
work. Stained glass
Stained glass
The term stained glass can refer to coloured glass as a material or to works produced from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant buildings...
is set into several of the windows; one commemorates victims of the world wars.
Internal fittings and furniture include a white marble font taken from St Paul's Church
St Paul's Church, Worthing
St Paul's Church in Worthing, England, was opened in 1812 as the Worthing Chapel of Ease. It was built so that the residents and visitors to the newly created town of Worthing would not need to travel to the parish church of St Mary in Broadwater...
in central Worthing; a wooden pulpit
Pulpit
Pulpit is a speakers' stand in a church. In many Christian churches, there are two speakers' stands at the front of the church. Typically, the one on the left is called the pulpit...
made in 1958; pew
Pew
A pew is a long bench seat or enclosed box used for seating members of a congregation or choir in a church, or sometimes in a courtroom.-Overview:Churches were not commonly furnished with permanent pews before the Protestant Reformation...
s taken from a demolished church in Newhaven, East Sussex
Newhaven, East Sussex
Newhaven is a town in the Lewes District of East Sussex in England. It lies at the mouth of the River Ouse, on the English Channel coast, and is a ferry port for services to France.-Origins:...
; an 18th-century altar from a demolished church at Treyford
Treyford
Treyford is a hamlet in the Chichester district of West Sussex, England. It lies within the civil parish of Elsted and Treyford. The hamlet sits on the Elsted to Bepton Road 4 miles southwest of Midhurst....
, West Sussex; and an organ
Organ (music)
The organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...
installed in 1954 to replace the original.
St Peter's Church
Residential development in the High SalvingtonHigh Salvington
High Salvington is a neighbourhood of the Borough of Worthing in West Sussex, England. It lies north of the A27 2.9 miles northwest of the town centre....
area, north of Durrington and within its parish, encouraged the vicar of St Symphorian's Church to open a mission chapel there at his own expense. At first, services were held every two weeks (Evensong
Evening Prayer (Anglican)
Evening Prayer is a liturgy in use in the Anglican Communion and celebrated in the late afternoon or evening...
), augmented by a monthly Eucharistic service. Later this changed to weekly Matins
Matins
Matins is the early morning or night prayer service in the Roman Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran and Eastern Orthodox liturgies of the canonical hours. The term is also used in some Protestant denominations to describe morning services.The name "Matins" originally referred to the morning office also...
and fortnightly Holy Communion. On 20 April 1951, after the vicar died, the church was sold to the parish for £600 (£ as of ). The church still had no dedication and was known simply as the Mission Church. On 3 July 1951, the Archdeacon of Chichester conducted a ceremony at which it was dedicated to Saint Peter
Saint Peter
Saint Peter or Simon Peter was an early Christian leader, who is featured prominently in the New Testament Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles. The son of John or of Jonah and from the village of Bethsaida in the province of Galilee, his brother Andrew was also an apostle...
.
St Peter's is an iron church (tin tabernacle
Tin tabernacle
Tin tabernacles were a type of prefabricated building made from corrugated iron developed in the mid 19th century initially in Great Britain. Corrugated iron was first used for roofing in London in 1829 by Henry Robinson Palmer and the patent sold to Richard Walker who advertised "portable...
)—now rare in Britain. It is the only surviving example in Worthing. Most of the internal fittings were donated by parishioners. As of , it is still part of the parish of St Symphorian.
The church today
St Symphorian's Church was listed at Grade II by English HeritageEnglish Heritage
English Heritage . is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport...
on 11 October 1949; this defines it as a "nationally important" building of "special interest". As of February 2001, it was one of 198 buildings with Grade II status (or the equivalent Grade C), and 213 listed buildings of all grades, in the Borough of Worthing. (These totals have since changed because of new listings and delistings.)
The parish, in its present form (ratified in 1974), covers the Durrington, West Durrington and High Salvington suburbs in the northwest of the borough of Worthing, and some surrounding rural areas. The eastern boundary is formed by Mill Lane, Half Moon Lane and Stone Lane; the main Littlehampton Road marks the southern boundary; and Titnore Lane and field boundaries form the other parts of the boundary.
There is a Eucharistic service every Sunday, daily morning and evening prayer sessions and a daily Eucharistic service (two on Wednesdays).