St Catherine of Siena Church, Cocking

The Domesday Book, completed in 1086, records the village of Cocking as "Cochinges" and describes it as having a church and five mills. At this time, the village was held by Robert, son of Tetbald, who had been appointed Sheriff of Arundel and Lord of the Honour of Petworth by Earl Roger de Montgomery. In the 11th century, the church was attached to the St Nicholas collegiate church at Arundel; the college at Arundel then became a priory of the abbey at Séez (Sées) in Normandy, France. Thus the church at Cocking passed to the Abbey of Séez, which was under the Order of Saint Benedict. In 1199, the ownership of the parish was the subject of a claim against the Abbey by Brian Fitzralph, and…

The south aisle dates from the early 14th century. At the western end is the Lady chapel with a small altar table, which is used for quiet prayer and contemplation. Behind the altar table is the east window; this has two lights with pointed trefoil heads and a diamond-shaped quatrefoil light at the top; the interior splays of the window have shallow cinquefoil-headed niches. On the south wall, to the right of the altar are the aumbry, behind a wooden door in a square stone opening, and a triangle-headed piscina; these both date from the construction of the aisle in the early 14th century. The aumbry was used to store chalices and other vessels, as well as for the reserved sacrament, while…