Exploring a 900 Year Old Medieval Church in Sussex

Hello I'm Aidy from Honsin John's Otherwise many thanks indeed for I'm filming a video today I'm working at St Mary Magdalene School at the University of Wales Cardiff as you can see Back to me it's getting this wonderful library It's one of the most striking images I've ever seen in person It was added in the 1900s but there's something about I haven't seen it in years I've seen plenty of opportunities over the years but never one quite like this It's quite busy There are also many visitors and calculations underway To begin with we entered the rector's office e school plan and I was speaking with them abou me very interesting They were sharing a lot of stories as part of the council and the plan One of the things The school program told us that some of the barrel plans They were first recorded in their current form on this day but there is no prior record ey are in the school records and they were unable to locate them any information So if you know a lot about school plans and calculations and I'm going to film them so I'm giving them Back at the end then if you please let me know otherwise I would have given the school advice knowing that if I had discovered anything at all I'll get in touch with it and find out Otherwise I was trying to find out what happened at the end Felly first of all I just want to say I'm going to show you the coffin room making water and then we're off to go see Back to the council So go ahead and do it This splendid school project was being uncovered In 1905 Mr Edward Huth passed away leaving behind his children Henry and Augusta Now the Huth family continued living on Cardiff Road first floor of the 19th century in the heart of the city you will also see some libraries being established for this purpose They came from the Bolni library The latest school plan was the one where the coffin would appear at the funeral service upon discovering I was heading to the coffin room but it's also interesting changing the fact that before we used the coffin to leave the city It would have been discovered as some kind of substance Pay close attention to this crucial coffin I had never seen anything like this before and it's being emphasized with Marble Sussex at the top a fine example of fine craftsmanship used here before and perhaps you have too Having seen that some water works were indeed genuine and real On the surface of it you can see some kind of genuine substance It's a customary introduction to this historical institution St Mary Magdalene School is very large The building's meeting hall dates back to the mid-12th century I am 1100 years old in 1150 The Minister and the First Minister as we move forward between 900 AD Possibly also English or field recordings ahead The red marks can still be seen in some parts of the wall This marks the first appearance before the Norman period The meeting had taken place back in 1718 You can see the day there Looking at the water here Drury Bird Mr John Dennett Thomas West Church Wardens says it's a sight to behold It's very hard to see now and after the water there is water a dyna o Mr Thomas Dennett who arrived in 1767 Now this water is made from non-potable water Water itself is one of the most important aspects of the school It's about a small amount of water just a little water It's one of the first things from the school It's very important for the water from the well at Paris School which is particularly advanced They believe the two of them were made from the same water We'll be visiting that school sometime soon The channel has been much wider over the years As you can see just as we did when went to the water you can see after the blue paths In the old days the green paths were roads between and that's very recent indeed And in the language and in the water too the two small paths if you can see where they lead They're just 13 years old just trying to make the blue in their making It will of course be very recent The two paths ahead the paths of the future have been provided by Reverend Joseph Dale for complete transformations at school from 1853 to 1854 There is no way from either of these two paths two impossible paths in the school The only two in the school In this language Piscina is thirteen years old and this is where she would have been published e public route These paths here are impossible for Ann and they were the paths of John Bolney He said in 1600 in order for them to be impossible to teach And then Wherever we go the same on both paths both ways is written Here lies the body of John Pelleth Esquire the son and heir apparent of Benjamin Pellet Knight He departed this life on the tenth October 20 1625 And there are some lovely embroidered kneelers here undoubtedly made by the local community And there's a beautiful organ looks Victorian to me but I could be completely wrong and this lovely alabaster memorial The craftsmanship is just superb We got a couple of beautiful stained glass windows here On these dreary days it never quite captures the mood doesn't do it justice especially when it's so bleak and overcast outside But I truly loved these boards listing all the vicars of Bolney from 1886 to 2019 And look there's Reverend Holcroft with all his family I wonder what kind of life they led I absolutely love old black and white photographs He looks quite faded doesn't he Mr Webster looks more fun but this middle one like Finnymore that looks like a ghost on the left there doesn't it Perhaps it was a wedding and that was the veil And then moving on to more modern times Oh that was truly beautiful I've seen one just like it before in a church in Reutem I know they have their boards with the years when they served as rectors Such a delightful little detail So this is what the north extension of the church would have looked like had it been completed in the 1800s And on the outside the stonework isn't particularly appealing I'll show you that when I show you the tower And this is another beautiful alabaster memorial And this one lists all the men from Bolney who lost their lives during the Great War from 1914 to 1919 And you've got Saint George there Beautiful craftsmanship once again And the pews in this northern section of the arts center have recently been removed to make space for exhibitions and social gatherings among other uses And the font— I couldn't find any information about it—but it looks fairly modern to me Maybe it was replaced during the Victorian remodel And then we'll head over to the bell tower which has this beautiful wooden screen in front And this is actually a memorial to the local men who lost their lives in the Second World War Now this tower was constructed between 1536 and 1538 but I’ll share a bit more about it as we step outside And believe it or not this small church actually has eight bells the oldest complete set of eight bells in Sussex The oldest bell dates back to 1592 and the newest is from around 1740 And this was locked but that will be the stairs up to the top of the bell tower And on the walls here are scattered historic photos and boards about the ringing community And lovely old photographs And I'll show you the clock outside as well That was erected in honor of Queen Victoria And this is the Balney Church Ringers Society Dated 1906 I'd love to ring the church bells if I ever get the chance— it looks like so much fun I'd definitely give it a try even though I don't have much musical talent Shall we say there's some lovely community history right here—I really enjoyed reading all of it They must compete Beautiful And I'm just going to go around and take a look at the bell tower from the outside Now this 16th-century tower was primarily built by local villagers between 1536 and 1538 And surviving records indicate that while John Balney managed the project the construction was carried out by local labourers and funded through collective efforts and individual donations And the clock up there was installed to commemorate Queen Victoria And carved above the door are the arms of the Balney family which are quartered with those of the St Leger family because Richard Balney ad married Anne St Leger Now over to the left here on the wall is some graffiti It's an inscription that says this steeple is 66 feet high I imagine it was carved there by the stonemasons which would make it 500 years old—quite extraordinary isn't it And that was the North Isle I was telling you about that It just doesn't look very good does it That's reminiscent of herringbone Obviously when they added the extension during the Victorian era I just don't think it fits well with the rest of the church The churchyard remains open as I noticed several recent burials there— unusual for such ancient church—and I came across a few Commonwealth graves This is H S Holcroft Lieutenant from the Canadian Engineers who died in 1916 They look so worn down don't they But that just adds to the atmosphere don't you think Although I hate seeing them completely wiped out by Mother Nature These are reasonably well kept although most of them are totally impossible to read And then this huge vault looks like it's a family vault for the Huth family And they're the ones who paid for the Lichgate when we came in So they're obviously a very influential family And also I did see a Captain Huth I think a Huth—I'm not sure if I'm saying that right—on the Alabaster Memorial from the Great War inside the church And I also came across another Commonwealth war grave And this particular one is for Private P Isted who was from the Royal Army Service Corps and died in November 1915 Rest in peace And look at these beautiful abletop tombs truly lovely old examples But these are the unusual barrel graves the churchwarden was talking about Now these barrel graves are said to date from the 1600s and are amongs The earliest known tombstones It's said in the church that they were unique to Bolney Churchyard but I know for a fact that I've definitely seen some of them in another churchyard I think it was Sloughham or Sloughham— I'm not sure how you pronounce it—it's actually quite close by so maybe that's why it's linked to the local stonemason That was their style who knows There are a few more over there but they're much more weathered and covered in moss Thank you so much for watching the video today I really do hope you enjoyed it I'm going to wrap it up here I received such a warm welcome in that church Truly truly lovely I ran into a young man named Toby who gave me a wealth of information about this church and another one I’m planning to visit in the future So if you enjoyed today's video please like and subscribe—I'd really appreciate it—and hit the bell button It costs you nothing it's all free but it really helps the algorithm and supports my little channel and if you'd like to contribute a bit more to help me create even more videos and explore places farther afield Then you can support me by using the Buy Me A Coffee button below in the description So again thank you so much for watching and I’ll see you for the next one It could be a hunt it could be a jaunt—who knows