Greatham Church

Like nearby Wiggonholt Church, which it resembles, Greatham Church was erected in about 1100 to serve the sparsely populated marshlands next to the River Arun between Pulborough and Amberley. The hamlet was an agricultural community from the Saxon era, and shepherds would have formed the bulk of the early congregation. The Amberley Wild Brooks Site of Special Scientific Interest is nearby. Rubble and brickwork from nearby Roman sites was incorporated in the walls, Minimal restoration was performed in the 19th century, in contrast to many other Sussex churches, although the original bell-turret was replaced by one topped with a spire. A new entrance, set in a porch, was added on the south…

s were built into the walls in the 13th century.]] Greatham Church is a tiny, primitive, unrestored building dating from the "Saxo-Norman overlap" period when Anglo-Saxon architecture was giving way to the Norman style. The writer Arthur Mee was once told not to mistake the church for a haystack: in dark wood and built in the early 19th century (possibly around 1820), also survives, as do box pews of the same era. The porch houses a slab of local marble which may have formed part of the original altar. The walls are whitewashed.

The church was designated a Grade I Listed building on 15 March 1955. It is part of a larger benefice which includes the churches at Amberley, Parham and Wiggonholt and the former St Mary the Virgin's Church (now redundant) at North Stoke.