CHURCH.
The benefice was a rectory by 1270. (fn. 48)
As an archiepiscopal peculiar Edburton lay in Canterbury diocese until 1846, when it was transferred
to Chichester diocese. (fn. 49) Between 1957 and 1982 the
living was held in plurality with that of Poynings, (fn. 50)
and in the latter year it became part of the united
benefice of Poynings with Edburton, Newtimber,
and Pyecombe, the parishes remaining distinct. (fn. 51)
The advowson always apparently belonged to the
archbishop. The Crown presented during vacancies
in 1270, 1278, and 1486, and also in 1561, (fn. 52) and the
Lord Protector nominated in 1656. (fn. 53) From 1982 the
right of presentation to the new united benefice was
to be exercised alternately by the Lord Chancellor
and by the archbishop and bishop jointly. (fn. 54)
Tithes at Fulking and Perching were granted to
Lewes priory in the late 11th century; (fn. 55) in 1341 they
were worth 2 marks. (fn. 56) In 1368 they were exchanged
for a pension of £3 3s. 4d., (fn. 57) which was still paid to
the Crown, as successor in title to Lewes priory, in
1627. (fn. 58) The living was valued at £14 13s. 4d. in
1291. (fn. 59) In 1341 the rector had tithes from a ploughland at Truleigh worth 13s. 4d. which had previously
been tithed to Woodmancote; (fn. 60) the rector of Woodmancote, however, took tithe from 2 a. of hay in the
Edburton common meads in 1675. (fn. 61) In 1535 the
living was said to be worth £16 net. (fn. 62) The average
net income c. 1830 was £379. (fn. 63) About 1841 the
tithes were commuted for £420. (fn. 64)
There was glebe valued at 10s. in 1341; (fn. 65) in the
19th century it comprised only 3 a., but c. 1841 the
rector also leased 4 a. of adjacent land from the
Crown. (fn. 66) A rectory house existed in 1664, when it
had five hearths. (fn. 67) The existing building, called
Edburton House in 1984, incorporates walling of the
17th century or earlier at the west end of its main
range. In the early 18th century the house was described as 'old and crazy and low', and part of it
collapsed c. 1710. (fn. 68) The building appears to have
been reconstructed at various dates in the 18th and
19th centuries. The central portion was heightened
early in the 18th century, presumably soon after c.
1710. A 'very good room and hall' and an additional
stable were put up between 1754 and 1782. (fn. 69) In the
early 19th century the entrance was moved from the
south to the east side, (fn. 70) and extensions were made at
the west end, including the addition of a stair block;
those alterations seem to have been carried out partly
to accommodate pupils taken by the rector. (fn. 71) The
kitchen wing on the north side is later 19th-century.
The rectory house was sold presumably c. 1957, after
which the incumbent lived at Poynings. (fn. 72)
At least two medieval rectors were absentees, (fn. 73)
one being a penitentiary in South Malling collegiate
church. John Thomson, rector from 1521, was master
of the Maison Dieu at Dover in 1543, (fn. 74) and his successor served through a curate in 1548. (fn. 75) A later
rector was resident in 1563, (fn. 76) but was deprived for
unlicensed pluralism in 1569. Most rectors between
the later 16th century and the earlier 19th seem to
have been pluralists, many living elsewhere. Robert
Spalding, rector 1606-25, was regius professor of
Hebrew at Cambridge, and his successor was chaplain successively to the Electress Palatine and King
Charles I, continuing to serve until his ejection in
1655, though another man signed the protestation as
minister in 1642. (fn. 77) The next incumbent, Nicholas
Shepherd, conformed at the Restoration. The Scot
George Keith, rector 1705-16 and a former Quaker,
held no other benefice but was forced by the poverty
of the living to sell part of his library. (fn. 78) Another early
18th-century rector, while living at Cliffe near
Lewes, personally read alternate morning and afternoon Sunday services at Edburton in 1717; there
were then c. 20 communicants, but parishioners
went to Poynings church for other Sunday services. (fn. 79)
Assistant curates were often recorded from the early
18th century. (fn. 80) Charles Baker, rector 1754-84, had
previously served as curate, and after 1770 was
master of Steyning grammar school. In 1758 he held
a service with sermon every Sunday and communion
eight times a year for 35 or 40 communicants. (fn. 81)
The parish choir, of eight or ten singers together
with instruments, was well regarded in the neighbourhood c. 1835. (fn. 82) On Census Sunday in 1851 the
morning service was attended by 80 and the afternoon one by 122. (fn. 83) Communion was then still held
eight times a year, but by 1903 weekly. (fn. 84) During the
20th century there has been a strong High Church
tradition in the parish. A mid-morning Sunday
eucharist with vestments was established, (fn. 85) and the
successful campaign of opposition to union with
Poynings in the 1930s was fuelled partly by differences in forms of worship. (fn. 86) Church attendance,
however, declined after the opening before 1903 of a
mission room at Fulking accommodating 50; it was
replaced by another building in 1925, (fn. 87) which was
not used after 1983. (fn. 88)
A chantry on the north side of Edburton church
was founded c. 1320 by William of Northo with an
endowment of a house, a yardland, and 60s. rent in
Edburton, Southwick, and elsewhere; (fn. 89) in 1357-8 it
bore a dedication to St. Catherine. (fn. 90) The income was
31s. net c. 1548, (fn. 91) the lands afterwards being resumed
into the Truleigh manor demesne farm. (fn. 92)
The church of ST. ANDREW (the dedication is
recorded from 1320) (fn. 93) is of flint and stone, and comprises a chancel and a nave with north transept, west
tower, and south porch.
The existing building is chiefly late 13th- and
early 14th-century, and is of simple and unified design; its scale presumably reflects its archiepiscopal
patronage rather than a putative larger medieval
population of the parish. Portions of walling remain
from an earlier church, to which the remarkable font
evidently belonged; it is of lead, decorated with an
arcade and scrolls, and was made c. 1180. (fn. 94) The tall
nave is late 13th-century, and the chancel, tower,
south porch, and north transept or chantry chapel
are early 14th-century. The east and west windows
were renewed in the later Middle Ages.
The church was said in 1620 to be very ruinous
and likely to fall down, chiefly it seems because of the
poor condition of the north transept. (fn. 95) A ceiling had
been inserted by 1782. (fn. 96) The chancel was restored in
the 1830s, (fn. 97) and the east window was replaced c.
1868. (fn. 98) The chief 19th-century restoration, however,
dates from the years 1878-80, and was carried out by
Norman Shaw. The whole church was reroofed, and
new fittings were added, including benches and stalls
in 17th-century style. (fn. 99) In 1938 the north transept,
which had hitherto remained private property, was
repaired and restored for worship, (fn. 1) fittings of a High
Church character being installed c. 1941. (fn. 2)
Medieval fittings besides the font and two bells
are three piscinae and a stoup. The pulpit and the
communion rails are early 17th-century. Memorials
in the church include the baroque wall monument
to William Hippisley of Truleigh (d. 1657), which
was restored from fragments in 1957-8; (fn. 3) those in the
churchyard include a stone monument to George
Keith, rector 1705-16, which was designed c. 1930
by W. H. Godfrey. (fn. 4)
Two of the three bells are medieval, the other
being of 1639. (fn. 5) None of the plate is earlier than 18thcentury. (fn. 6) The registers begin in 1558. (fn. 7)