The Divine Motherhood and Saint Francis of Assisi

Introduction

Its fan-shaped plan and light-filled interior distinguish it as an early post-war design focused on the Eucharist.

History

Built from 1957 to designs by Guy Morgan and Partners, the church replaced a small chapel on Rumbold's Hill. The main auditorium and campanile were completed by 1962, the cloister shortly thereafter, and the Madonna and Child sculpture by Richard Guyatt was installed in 1965. The church was consecrated in May 1966. Internal fittings were installed before consecration but not designed by the architects; Guy Morgan complained in a letter dated 26 September 1962 that his design had been 'murdered'.

The incumbent who commissioned the church was succeeded in 1962 by a priest whose taste diverged from Morgan's. The successor priest, with the support of the diocesan bishop, opposed the original design and requested changes. The final version of Richard Guyatt's sculpture was a compromise: a solid bronze relief with relief carving in a figurative, Renaissance style.

Architecture and furnishings

The church comprises a fan-shaped auditorium and a tall campanile, linked by a cloister, constructed of sandstone with a concrete roof. The curved front of the auditorium is divided into seven parts by projecting vertical stone fins, with the central bay containing the main entrance. Inside, the walls are brick painted white, the floor is paved with stone slabs, and the ceiling is clad in radiating wood boards with an oculus above the altar. There is a choir and organ gallery above the main door, accessed via two concrete spiral staircases with hardwood treads and handrails.

Three circular steps lead to the altar, which is cream and grey marble, as is the semi-circular altar rail. Original fixtures include curved hardwood pews, a stained glass window in one of the side chapels, a Pietà sculpture, the Stations of the Cross carved on two stone bands along each wall, a stone font, and a Crucifixion by Michael Clark. Above the entrance are blind concrete panels on which the Madonna and Child sculpture is mounted. The remaining six bays of the front are almost entirely made up of small panes of glass set in lead glazing bars, with solid sandstone wall below.

The concrete roof projects from the curved north-east façade, and its eaves soffit is coffered and painted. A single-storey aisle accommodating side altars and vestries wraps around all sides of the building, punctuated by square windows with concrete surrounds, and continuing as a cloister between the church and the campanile. The cloister has square stone piers and a coffered concrete ceiling. The square campanile has slightly battered sides and a pitched roof, and is blind but for three vertical bell louvres in the upper stage of each face.

The only alteration to the exterior of the church is the insertion of a new door for a disabled toilet in the single-storey aisle. There is also a Saxon stone baptismal font and a piece of medieval stonework, each supported on sandstone plinths which appear to be contemporary with the church.

Parish life

The parish extends across more than 200 square miles of Sussex countryside and belongs to the Cathedral Deanery of the Diocese of Arundel and Brighton.