St Botolph's Church, Hardham

The church's exterior

Hardham village is just off the main A29 road, which is "excitingly" separated from the village lane by narrow hedges.[2][4] The A29 follows the course of Stane Street, an important Roman road, and Hardham was the first posting station after leaving the Roman city of Noviomagus Reginorum (present-day Chichester).[4][5] Hardham was recorded in the Domesday survey of 1086 as Heriedham, but a church was not described.[6] Hardham Priory was founded nearby in 1248.[7]

The church is late Saxon or early Norman.[2][8] Despite its omission from the Domesday survey, the present building is often considered to be 11th-century;[2][4][5][9][10][11] all sources agree that it was complete by 1125 at the latest.[6] The design, described as "primitive" and simple,[2][6] appears to belong solely to the very early Norman style rather than "wavering between Saxon and Norman" like some contemporary churches; but the dedication to St Botolph is generally associated with Saxon churches.[11] Some stones and tiles used by the Romans for their nearby buildings were incorporated into the fabric of the building, especially in the chancel.[6][9][11]

An anchorite — apparently a woman called Myliana — was housed in a stone cell attached to the church from about 1250. A squint was added at the same time to give her a view into the chancel towards the altar and to allow her to receive Communion. Another known occupant of the cell was Prior Robert, who died there in 1285.[12] The squint was later blocked, but in about 1900 it was uncovered.[4][13] Some lancet windows were added in the nave in the late 13th century, and in the 14th century the chancel received two new window openings.[2]

Many churches in small villages around the South Downs were changed very little after they were built, and St Botolph's Church is an example of this. Minimal population growth over the centuries meant that enlargement was not needed; and the parishes tended to be poor, with little to spend on rebuilding or new architectural designs.[14] Therefore, the church retained its simple appearance until the 19th century, when a porch and bell-turret were added.[2] At the same time, the frescoes were revealed again: first in 1862, when a section of whitewash was removed and one painting was found (although the work damaged it), and later in 1866, when the rest were uncovered. They are faded but clearly discernible.[4][10] Philip Mainwaring Johnston undertook some restoration of the frescoes around 1900 and wrote a study of them in the Sussex Archaeological Collections in 1901.[15]

The south wall has a blocked doorway.

The church consists of nave and chancel only. Such two-cell structures are common in the South Downs area of Sussex.[14] The nave measures 31 ¹⁄₂ by 19 feet (9.6 m × 5.8 m), and the chancel is much shorter and slightly narrower at 17 by 15 ¹⁄₂ feet (5.2 m × 4.7 m). The walls, 2 ³⁄₄ feet (0.84 m) thick, are of coarse sandstone rubble masonry and flint with much re-use of Roman stonework and tiles. In particular, one of the blocks in the southeast quoin is in fact a set of about 16 tiles with their original Roman mortar. The other quoins are rough-faced stone blocks with dimensions of about 20×15×7 inches (51×38×18 cm).[6] A shingle-covered belfry stands on the east gable of the nave, and a porch protrudes from the north side.[16] The exterior walls are covered in white plaster—a common feature of churches in the medieval era.[12]

The nave and chancel are separated by a chancel arch whose "austere"[17] and "broad simplicity" is indicative of early Norman design.[11] The surface has "discreet", subtly ring-moulded imposts which hardly interrupt the smooth lines.[2][17] Certain other features suggest Saxon influence, including the square east end of the chancel and the substantial, blocky quoins.[11] The south wall also has a bricked-up doorway, which may have been a Saxon-era entrance.[12] Overall, though, the building is low, broad and sturdy—a "vigorous, down-to-earth and practical work" which was characteristic of Norman builders.[11] The king-post roof is likely to be original.[2]

High in the nave walls are two small windows with modest splays.[18] There are also original Early English-style lancet windows, which "suit the church very well",[12] and other windows which were added later. The porch and bell-turret were added in the Victorian period.[2] A squint was cut into the south side of the chancel in the Middle Ages. It was the site of a now vanished anchorite's cell, which would have projected from the wall.[8][12]

Internal fixtures include a 15th-century Perpendicular Gothic octagonal font, benches whose simple straight-headed ends date from the same era, and altar rails dating from 1720.[7][10] One of the two bells, possibly dating from the early 12th century, may be the oldest in Sussex; the other was cast in 1636 and bears the inscription Gloria Deo in Excelsis T.P., 1636, B.E..[19][12][20]

St Botolph's Church was listed at Grade I on 15 March 1955.[16] Such buildings are defined as being of "exceptional interest", and in some cases of greater than national importance.[31] As of February 2001, it was one of 38 Grade I listed buildings, and 1,726 listed buildings of all grades, in the district of Horsham.[32]

The parish covers the hamlet of Hardham and the surrounding rural area. The River Arun, the southern edge of Pulborough and field boundaries mark its outer limits. The A29 road runs through from southwest to northeast.[33] The parish is one of four in the joint benefice of Bury with Houghton, Coldwaltham and Hardham.[34][35]

Services are held each Sunday, generally using the Book of Common Prayer.[36]

• Grade I listed buildings in West Sussex
• List of places of worship in Horsham (district)
• St John the Baptist's Church, Clayton

• St Botolph's Church on the Sussex Parish Churches website.