Beautiful churches of South Downs included in new guide
National park visitors invited to discover heritage buildings
The South Downs National Park is best known for its incredible landscapes and wildlife – but it also contains some of the UK’s most beautiful churches and chapels.
Now, the National Churches Trust is making it easy for anyone visiting a national park to also discover this amazing national heritage.
Thirty-one churches in the South Downs National Park are included in a new online visitor guide on the National Churches Trust’s ExploreChurches website.
The guide includes top tips on the best churches to visit in each national park and some stunning photographs to whet the appetite of heritage lovers.
Author Bill Bryson, vicepresident of the National Churches Trust, said: “It is impossible to overstate the importance of churches to this country.
“Nothing else in the built environment has the emotional and spiritual resonance, the architectural distinction, the ancient, reassuring solidity of a parish church.
“To me, they are the physical embodiment of all that is best and most enduring in Britain.
“So, when you visit the South Downs National Park, why not discover some beautiful churches in this most breathtaking and treasured landscape.”
More than 200 churches and chapels found in the UK’s 15 national parks are featured in the new online guide, which has been produced to mark 70 years since the first national park was created.
Sarah Crossland, engagement manager for the National Churches Trust, said: “This year marks the 70th anniversary of the designation of the Peak District as the UKs first national park.
“From the rugged wilds of the Cairngorms in Scotland and the ancient woodlands of the New Forest in southern England to the golden shores of the Pembrokeshire Coast in Wales, all the UK’s National Parks are truly special places. And so are the hundreds of churches and chapels in the National Parks.
“Our new ExploreChurches online visitor guide makes it easyforvisitorstonationalparks to also discover some of the UK’s most beautiful churches.
“These stunning buildings, many of which date back to medieval times, are the jewels in the UK’s heritage crown. No visit to a national park is complete without discovering these beautiful churches, each with an amazing story to tell.”
The South Downs churches included in the guide are:All Saints, Patcham; St Thomas a Becket, Cliffe; St Mary the Virgin, Glynde; St Nicholas, Iford; St Andrew, Alfriston; The Good Shepherd, Lullington; St Mary & St Peter, Wilmington; St Mary, Itchen Stoke; St Mary the Virgin, Twyford; Watts Chapel, Compton; Holy Trinity, Colden Common; St Mary & All Saints, Droxford; Our Lady, Warnford; St Nicholas, Wickham; All Saints, Hinton Ampner; St Mary, North Marden; St Peter, East Marden; Holy Rood, Empshott; Old St Luke, Milland; St Hubert, Idsworth; St Michael, Up Marden; St Nicholas, Compton; St Andrew, Kilmeston; Arundel Cathedral; St Peter, Hascombe; St Michael, Amberley; Fitzalan Chapel, Arundel; St Nicholas, Bramber; St Mary the Virgin, Sompting; St Nicholas, Arundel; St Mary, Compton
Visit www.explorechurches. org/national-parks