St Botolph's Church, Hardham

This tiny, whitewashed church is tucked away just a few miles south of Pulborough, is one of Sussex's oldest and most fascinating.

Dating from the 11th Century (claimed to be 1050 AD), this Saxon foundation contains Roman tiles in its walls, presumably re-used form the earlier Roman settlement sited in the area. The windows are, for the most part, of the Saxon or early Norman style, very narrow and with rounded heads.

But the real reason for a visit is that Hardham contains what may be England's earliest mediaeval wall paintings, and certainly one of the most complete decorative schemes to survive. Dating from shortly after 1100 AD, they are in amazing condition for their age, with vivid colours. They cover every wall.

The subjects include an oddly anatomical Adam and Eve (above), the Annunciation, scenes from the life of Christ, and St George (in classic 11th century armour, riding a fine white charger) killing the Dragon.

Hardham has a regular church service at 11am on Sundays, but it is often open in the daytime for visitors. (Hooray!).

To get there head south out of Pulborough on the A29 towards Arundle. Slow down and prepare to turn left as soon as you pass the sign telling you that you are entering Hardham: the turn is not signposted in advance, and appears like a track, although you can see some half-timbered houses in the distance. The church is half way along this lane, and will amply reward a half hour of anyone's time.

Choirs and weddings

We met some friends of ours the other night and, among other things, they mentioned that a friend was getting married in a well-known church in the city of London. Built by Sir Christopher Wren, the church has a grand and beautifully restored interior and is a fine setting for a wedding.

One of the parts of the service they had planned included a performance by a choir in which one of the family sings: a nice touch you'd have thought. However, apparently this is not allowed: the church has its own choir, and if anyone is going to sing (and get paid for it), it has to be them.

Now, I can see that, generally speaking, the church's own choir would be the normal choice, and even have first refusal. But in this case there's a special reason for making an exception, and it seems a little mean to me to operate what is effectively a closed shop on someone's special day. Not entirely in the Christian spirit, methinks...

A patch of green in West London

Kew green is a lovely spot that almost has the feel of a village green, with its elegant Georgian houses, pubs, pretty St Anne's Church and even a cricket pitch (home to the local Kew Cricket Club).

It was mentioned in a Parliamentary Survey of Richmond taken in 1649, described as 'a piece of common or uninclosed ground called Kew Green, lying within the Township of Kew, conteyning about 20 acres.' Cricket was first recorded being played on the Green in 1737, and the Green itself was enclosed by a private Act of Parliament in 1824, preserving it in its current form. The Green is beautifully maintained, with mature trees around the perimeter. In one corner of the Green is an old horse pond, which has a small island and planted pond edges, enabling a range of water birds to nest in peace and safety.

Alas, it would all be nicer still were it not bisected by the A205, better known as the South Circular. It's a hopelessly busy road, and entirely unsuitable for the amount of traffic that now uses it. (An apt comment I once heard is that, while the North Circular really is a road, the South Circular is just a collection of signposts). Crossing it in the area of the Green requires taking your life in your hands. (It also means that the park is only suitable for children who are fully aware of traffic.)

Still, the Kew Gardens end is a lovely enclave, the church of St Anne is worth a visit in its own right, and the sound of the traffic soon quietens down as you walk towards the entrance to Kew Gardens.

Up and down to York

Every year, my motorbike club has a final event of the year called the 'Birthday Bash', which commemorates and celebrates the founding of the club over 30 years ago. It's a chance to meet up with old (and new) friends, visit a part of the country you might not otherwise visit, go on a bike run with a different mix of people, and generally enjoy some good food, drink and company.

This year's event was in York, which meant quite a trek for me - I keep my bike in Brighton rather than West London, as I got fed up of it getting knocked over in the streets by ignorant motorrists here. (But that's for another blog).

Unfortunately for me, the week-end in question just happened to be unseasonably cold, with a grim forecast, so I decided to break the journey: a round trip of 600 miles on my own over three days in the cold and wet did not seem to so appealing (not that I'm a fair weather biker - more a case of making things a bit easier - after all, it's supposed to be fun!).

So I decided to break my journey at Peterborough, which is roughly half way on the route, and stayed with the very jolly people at the Sibson Inn on the Great North Road. It's a lovely old converted farmhouse, with many of the rooms arranged around a courtyard in former outbuildings. The food is excellent too - dinner was really good, and it's nice to have a cooked breakfast made to order rather than serve yourself from a hotplate.

Before setting off the next day, I headed to the lovely little village of Castor for a look at its famous church of St Kyneburgha. This is well worth a short detour if you are ever in the area, for its astonishing array of Norman carvings and the 15th century painted angels (over 60 of them) which adorn its roof.

And then to York, staying at the hostel at York Racecourse; this provides very decent budget accommodation for groups, with good traditional cooking; everyone was impressed by the evening meal of steak pie (or veggie lasagne) with plenty of fresh vegetables. It certainly lived up to the image of generous northern hospitality!

York itself, of course, needs no introduction, whether you like history, railways, churches or all three. The downer was that it was packed, with a particular emphasis, it seemed, on large organised tour groups. Still, both the National Railway Museum and York Minster live up to expectation - though, oddly, the former is free and you now have to pay to get into the latter!

The run back started with a quick visit to the legendary Squire's Cafe (well, legendary in biking circles): this former pub, taken over as a milk bar in the 1960s, is a biking mecca: literally thousands of bikes a week visit during the summer months. It was a great opportunity to say farewell to our friends before heading off back to the four corners of the UK.

And I even got home without getting wet!

Holy Trinity Church in York

OK, more old churches: this time, from a recent visit to York.

Phrases like 'atmospheric', 'hidden gem' and 'perfectly preserved' often get bandied about when talking about old buildings, but this church, tucked away from the busy, touristy streets of old York, fits them better than most.

For a start, it really is hidden: the churchyard lies quietly secluded from the busy streets of York, accessed by narrow alleyways. It would not look out of place in a remote village. And it is exceptionally well preserved: such restoration as was undertaken by the Victorians seems to have been extraordinarily sensitive. It is about as close as you can get to how a church would have looked after the Reformation: dark, quiet, homely, with uneven floors, high box pews and plain walls. With candle-light it must perfectly evoke the late 17th century. It is rightly a Grade I listed building.

The church actually dates back to the 12th century, although the current building owes rather more to the 13th-15th centuries. The box pews are recorded as being repaired in 1633, and new ones added in 1700-1725. The pulpit dates from 1695.

But the church's most notable feature - as is so often the case in York - is its mediaeval stained glass. The windows are Decorated and Perpendicular in style. The best is the late Perpendicular east window: this dates from 1470-71 and was presented by the then rector, John Walker. The glass depicts saints, including St George and St Christopher, as well as heraldic shields, around a central panel in which a representation of God as the Trinity holding the dead Christ, with the donors at his feet.

Other features include a simple 15th century font and wall plaques recalling Lord Mayors of York, including the infamous 'Railway King', George Hudson.

Whether you just want ten minutes' peace and quiet, or some spiritual solace from the touristy rush that is modern York, a visit is a must.

The church is in the care of the Churches Conservation Trust.

Catch it while you can - Holy Trinity, Hove

The days may be numbered for this familiar landmark in Hove's Blatchington Road shopping area: formally declared redundant, this Victorian grade-II listed building is scheduled for demolition despite the pleas of the Victorian Society.

Built in 1863-68 to the design of a local architect, J Woodman, Holy Trinity came about as the result of Hove's early Victorian growth, which meant that the old church of St Andrew's could no longer cope with the bustling congregations. The erection of this new church was largely thanks to the energy and devotion of its first incumbent, the Rev. Fraser Taylor, who at the time was curate at old St Andrew's, Hove.

The design was in a rather bastardised form of Lombardic-Gothic style, of red brick, with a colourful mixture of black and yellow brick and Bath stone decoration externally. The windows are a mix of very narrow lancets and early Decorated Gothic forms, some with plate tracery. It has an attractive tower (the intended spire was never added), but the most notable feature, to the east, is a very rare external pulpit, erected in 1919, which has been scheduled for retention. The idea of this pulpit was to preach open-air sermons in the summer, which would make the church's presence more visible to local residents. Now, it is somewhat oddly located in the Vicarage Garden.

Internally, the church is rather less notable, although the elaborate capitals on the piers beneath the Gothic arcades are well done, and the sanctuary is a nicely proportioned space. There are a few memorials inside, most notably that of Fraser Taylor himself, and some attractive stained glass, mostly by Ward & Hughes of London. Also notable is the damage from incursions of damp, due largely to failing gutters: the major cause of such problems in churches.

The erection of the much larger and grander All Saints, Hove, a few minutes' walk to the east, was the church's undoing, however; this drew off much of the congregation, and the first attempt to close Holy Trinity came as early as 1931. It has soldiered on, largely thanks to a very loyal congregation, but has now been declared redundant.

There has been some local opposition to its closure, largely because it is a distinctive and attractive local landmark. It is not in the top rank of Victorian church architecture by any means, but I have a nasty feeling that any replacement building - whatever form it takes - will not be anything like as uplifting or interesting an addition to the urban landscape.

It is being opened to the public for a last look on Sunday afternoons (2-4pm) until September 2008. After that, the future timetable - and what happens next - is uncertain.

Addendum 2011

Reports in the local paper have implied the church may yet be saved through conversion into a health centre, depending on finance and planning permission. In the meantime, though, there's no question that the fabric is deteriorating. Fingers crossed...

A visit to the Church of St Nicholas, Poling, West Sussex

Poling really is hidden Sussex. It’s not remote, by any stretch of the imagination: it’s only a mile from the busy A27 between Worthing and Arundel, and two miles as the crow flies from Littlehampton. But it’s tucked quietly away, a mile down a small minor road off the A27, just over a mile east of the junction with the A283 to Littlehampton.

The lane is lined with old farms, brick cottages and newer houses: all are beautifully kept, not to say prosperous, with lovely gardens. In one of them, the author AA Milne and Christopher Robin once lived, and a swan from a local lake, ‘Hopper’, features in one of the ‘Winnie-the-Pooh’ stories.

The church itself is rather hidden: after a bend in the road, there is a name board for St Nicholas, but to get there you walk down the adjacent path and turn left past more immaculate gardens, around the back of Manor Farm.

The churchyard, like the rest of the village, is immaculately kept. The church is modest, and very Sussex, with flint walls and a low but well proportioned tower, with a sweeping roof of red tiles and Horsham slates. The interior is whitewashed, but charming.

Inside, the proportions give away a Saxon nave, to which was added a south aisle with an arcade of two bays of plain pointed arches and a chancel. The church guide and Sussex volume of The Buildings of England (Nairn & Pevsner) disagree about the date of the aisle: the guide gives 1180, whereas Nairn & Pevsner give 1300. I’m inclined towards the former, but both agree about a date of 1380 for the chancel. The tower was added around 1420 and the porch in 1830.

The nave and chancel are, unusually, the same height, so there is no chancel arch. Instead, the remains of a 14th century rood screen separate nave and chancel, and the composition is very attractive. There is a small Saxon window high on the north wall, and preserved below are the (incredibly rare) remains of the original wooden shutter.

Apart from the East window, which was replaced in 1830, the remaining windows are all attractive Perpendicular square-headed single or twin lights, dating from 1380 to 1420. The East window contains a small fragment of 17th century glass.

For a small country church it has a set of remarkably interesting furnishings. Pride of place goes to the brass on the chancel floor, to Walter Davy, vicar of Poling 1442-1499, decked out in his best ecclesiastical garb. The interior has other 17th and 18th century memorials, but by the south door is very rare survivor indeed: an iron-bound poor box on a pedestal. On the top are the initials Rt de H I C of A, and a date of 1285, thought to refer to Robert of Hastings and his wife, Isabella Countess of Arundel. On the front is the date 1797 (more likely to be the true date).

Above this is a stone inscribed (complete with spelling mistake): PRAYE REMEBER THE POORE. Opposite is an ancient stone tub font, thought to be Saxon, with a rather odd, modern decorated font cover from 1946. The west wall of the Nave bears a fine painted Royal Coat of Arms of George I, dated 1714.

But my favourite item is a headstone, located in the porch. It is dedicated to Alice, the wife of Robert Woolldridge, who died on 27th May 1740, aged 44 years. It has a wonderful rhyme, and one which is not entirely inappropriate for our own celebrity- and wealth-obsessed times:

The World is a round thing
And full of crooked streets
Death is a market place
Where all Men meets
If Life was a thing
That money could buy
The Rich would live
And the Poor would dye

The church is still a focus of its tiny community, and judging by the state of the graveyard and the beautiful flowers, it is well loved.