St Margaret’s Building Project 2026
Find details of how to donate to our church and building project here.
This is a rolling blog and will be updated at irregular intervals. You may like to follow us on facebook for the latest updates.
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29th May A great step forward this week as water services are laid as far as the new servery (they’re popped through the bottom of the wall under the right hand window in the photo). Work on backfilling the trench across the south porch main door has begun.
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29th May Whilst it’s been sweltering outside the contractors have been hard at work indoors. The new skylight has been fitted to the vestry roof – this will give us vastly improved lighting conditions as well as reducing our electricity bill in the future. Rolls of insulation are being fitted around the loo.
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22nd May Services have been laid into church and now the Tower floor and tiles inside the west door have been reinstated with part of the outdoor trench backfilled.
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19th May The trench from the West Door connects with the earlier service trench. An archaeologist is on hand at all times to investigate any potential finds.
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14th May Services are being laid and connected through the trenches into the west end of church.
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14th May Meanwhile inside church the vestry, cupbard and loo have started to take shape behind the safety fences.
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6th May. The contractors have now moved outside and are working on the trench which will run south from the west door and connect with the trench dug earlier in 2019. Whilst they’re excavating there will be an archaeologist on site at all times to assess and protect any finds. So far they’ve found a cache of clay pipes and a cow’s tooth outside the west door.
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Ground has been broken on our building project (April 27th) with the builders erecting safety fences at the back of church, taking up the wooden tower floor which will be replaced once the groundworks in the tower are complete.
The history of the project…
It’s taken several years, a lot of work and a few new grey hairs from the launch of our fundraising project to get to where we are today, with work about to begin on installing a loo, creating a Sunday School space, a new vestry and kitchen facilities in church.
When work begins in April we expect to be able to hold our services in church as usual, although access may have to be through the small south door into the Lady Chapel.
Outside service times the church will be kept closed for everyone’s safety as it will be a busy building site. At some point during the project further drains will be dug which will necessitate closing path/s round the church but we don’t have full details on this yet. We will do our best to keep you informed both via this website (please check the home page to confirm service details as mid-week services may alter) and facebook.
Along the way we’ve been grateful for your generous support for all the fundraising initiatives. We’ve enjoyed talks by Tom Coward and Tim Baker, concerts by Margaret Watson, Slinfold Concert Band and Michael Heighway, Medieval Banquets, Casino evenings, Garden Parties and many other events. It’s been a real community effort and we don’t take your support for granted.
The faculty permission has been granted by the Diocese and work begins in April 2026. We’ll try and share progress with you here and on our facebook page.
Our Church Architect, Jonathan Cerowski is leading the design element of our project. Jonathan is a specialist heritage architect who trained under Ptolemy Dean. He is accredited with the RIBA (Royal Institute of British Architects) at SCA (Specialist Conservation Architect) level, as well as with the AABC (Architects Accredited in Building Conservation). He is also a full member of EASA (the Ecclesiastical Architects and Surveyors Association) which is the professional body focussing on works to church buildings. He sits on the Church of England’s DAC (Diocesan Advisory Committee) for Chichester, and is a Specialist Advisor to the National Trust
In the past Jonathan has worked on nationally important buildings including The Houses of Parliament, National Trust and English Heritage properties, and Historic Hospitals. Internationally he has worked for the Commonwealth War Graves Commission in France, and the Government of Trinidad and Tobago in the capital city of Port of Spain.
A quick description of plans, area by area.
Firstly, the Sunday School area. The old vestry, built in 1899, will look unaltered from the outside but inside will be reordered. The exterior profile will remain unaltered.
The WC. This will be in a contained unit at the North West end of the main aisle. Fully accessible, it will align with the organ loft above. A storage cupboard will be built opposite, in the South West corner of the main aisle.
New Vestry. The font will be moved back close to its pre-1935 position beside the pillar and the vestry will be moved to the immediate left of the south door, (incidentally this is where we believe it was sited before 1870). The applied column on the west wall, between the new vestry and the North aisle cupboard, will remain exposed.
The new servery area will be beneath the Baptism of Christ / Emmaus window, to the right of the main South door.
Thank you for taking the time to read about our plans. We aim to make our church welcoming and accessible for those who worship here regularly, for the wider community and for visitors. If you would like to support us financially please visit our giving page where you will find more details. Thank you.