St Margaret's Church, West Hoathly

St Margaret's Church (dedicated in full to St Margaret of Antioch) is an Anglican church in the village of West Hoathly in Mid Sussex, one of seven local government districts in the English county of West Sussex. By the late 11th century, a simple single-room stone building existed on the high, open ridge upon which the village developed. A series of medieval expansions doubled its size by the 15th century, and the present building has changed little since then—despite a Victorian restoration overseen by architect R. H. Carpenter. A major addition was the heavily buttressed Perpendicular Gothic west tower, topped with a tall broach spire and containing a peal of ancient bells. The large, steeply terraced churchyard also serves as a public cemetery and has far-reaching views across the Weald. The original dedication to Saint Margaret of Antioch fell out of use for many centuries until a researcher rediscovered it. The church serves a large rural parish which was reduced in size in 1882 when two residents of the hamlet of Highbrook paid for an additional church to be built there. English Heritage has listed it at Grade I for its architectural and historical importance.