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Bedham Mission Church of St. Michael and All Angels

Bedham church is a strange place, tranquil and haunting. On parking the car several hundred yards away in a layby, I walked along the road to the mournful note of a tawny owl calling in the trees. Rounding a bend, a bell housing rose out of the trees and there below, bathed in the fading evening light was the roofless church.

HISTORY

In the late nineteenth century, it was seen as important to minister to the isolated communities of the Sussex Weald and mission rooms, churches and chapels sprung up in great numbers in Sussex, perhaps partly in response to the prevalence of Nonconformity in the Western Weald. At the same time, there was seen a need, especially after the Elementary Education Act of 1870, to provide adequate schooling. In areas where board schools were unfeasible, the Church often filled the void, providing a basic education for working classes.
It was against this background that William Townley Mitford (1817–1889), Member of Parliament for Midhurst and Squire of nearby Pitshill House paid for a dual purpose church and school to be built at Bedham for the charcoal burining and agricultural community. The modest brick building dedicated to St. Michael and All Angels was built in a hollow below the road on a northwest-southeast alignment in a somewhat understated Gothic style. A plaque on the north-west wall states that:
"FOR THE WORSHIP OF ALMIGHTY GOD/ IN GRATITUDE FOR MANY BLESSINGS/ THIS BUILDING WAS ERECTED BY/ WM. TOWNLEY MITFORD, OF PITSHILL/ ANNO DOMINI 1880."

Due to its size, Bedham was not granted parish status and falls under the remit of Fittleworth. There was no living in the vicinity so the church was served by a visiting priest with the master of Fittleworth School acting as lay reader. The mixed school, which had a capacity of 60 pupils, was served by three schoolmistresses. Despite the two annual maintenance visits from Mitford's own carpenters, by 1913 the school was found to be in 'a very unsatisfactory state' with 'defective lighting and ventilation and the girls' earth closet 'very offensive indeed.' This does not seem to have tainted the fond memories of the school's surviving pupils however, many of whom later related their experiences in local newspapers. Due to a falling rural population, the school closed in 1925, but continued in use as a church. The congregation was never a large one and with the demise of the sussex charcoal industry and the effects of two world wars attendances declined further. The the last wedding held here was in 1959 and the church closed later that year.


L-R: [1]. Single track lane into Bedham; [2]. From the road; [3]. Southeast aspect; [4]. Altar Window; [5]. Main entrance and remains of porch;
[6]. Northwest aspect; [7]. Downpipe


L-R: [1]. Collapsed boiler chimney; [2]. Possible vestry; [3]. Possible store; [4]. Rubble; [5]. Door to store from porch [6]. Boiler room.


L-R: [1]. Ridge tiles; [2]. Fly Agaric (Amanita Muscaria); [3]. Door from vestry; [4]. Lancet Windows; [5]. Door to Vestry; [6]. Lancet window; [7]. Nave looking Northwest


L-R: [1]. Dedication; [2]. Looking up to the bell housing; [3]. Heating vent at floor level; [4]. Nave; [5]. Fireplace for stove; [6]. Steve.

L-R: [1]. Graffiti; [2]. Apse (note step in brickwork for altar); [3]. Step in brickwork for Sanctuary; [4]. Tiles in the sanctuary; [5]. Sketch plan

Bedham itself lies deep within the Western Weald, a tiny hamlet of no more than a handful of houses once inhabited by farmers and charcoal burners. Its tranquility made it a retreat for several artists, writers and composers in the nineteenth and early twentieth Centuries including Rex Vicat Cole (1870-1940), Sir Edward Elgar (1857–1934) and Ford Maddox Ford (1873–1939).

The church and surrounding land are now part of a 395 acre nature reserve which is open to the public. If you intend to visit the site, please behave with due respect and consideration and leave it as you found it.

SOURCES
Original documents, catalogues and plans in the West Sussex Record Office, Chichester: AM 73/1; E/86A; Mitford MSS 2268-2273; MP 4045.

P Jerrome, (2006) 'Petworth from 1660 to the present day.', The Window Press

Valerie Martin, (2004) The Bedham Church Mystery', archived at http://web.archive.org/web/20050416170437/findonvillage.com/0713_the_bedham_church_mystery.htm Retrieved 04.12.09.



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