All Saints Church

The ancient parish of West Hoathly covered a large area of the High Weald in central Sussex, characterised by clay soil with sandstone ridges. The hamlet of Highbrook developed on an isolated area of lower ground (still 400 ft above sea level) in the south of the parish, about 1.5 mi south of West Hoathly village. The road connecting them, Hammingden Lane, runs along one of the narrow sandstone outcrops. By the Victorian era, Highbrook had many long-established houses and farms—some of which dated from the 16th and 17th centuries— Between 1860 and 1890, 269 churches of all Christian denominations (mostly Anglican) were built in Sussex, and the early 1880s was the peak period for new…

All Saints Church, characterised by architectural historian Nikolaus Pevsner as "a serious job, outside and inside", It has a chancel and nave with a chancel arch between them, an aisle on the north side of the nave, a porch on the south side and a northeast tower topped with a broach spire laid with oak shingles. The whole church is built of local stone. All windows are lancets with tracery of the Decorated Gothic style, and all have stained glass. The east window of the chancel is the largest, with five lights. The chancel arch and aisles have moulded capitals and responds which appear more elaborate than in a typical rural church of the era. Other internal fixtures include a reredos of…

All Saints Church was listed at Grade II by English Heritage on 11 May 1983; As of February 2001, it was one of 958 Grade II listed buildings, and 1,028 listed buildings of all grades, in the district of Mid Sussex. The parish covers the hamlet of Highbrook and the surrounding rural area between the B2028 Edenbridge–Haywards Heath road and the preserved Bluebell Railway line. It is part of the united benefice of Highbrook and West Hoathly, which was created in September 1975. The advowson is held by the Bishop of Chichester.