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St Bartholomew’s, Burwash

Located at the eastern end of the High Street, Burwash.

Rector: Revd Stephen France
Tel: 01435 882301
Email: revfrance@tiscali.co.uk

St. Bartholomew’s is a central inclusive church in the Diocese of Chichester where worship has taken place for nearly one thousand years.

If you are unfamiliar with any of our services we hope the following notes will be of use to you and that we will be able to welcome you into our Parish family:

Every Sunday at 8am – Holy Communion - a traditional said celebration of the Eucharist taken from the 1662 Book of Common Prayer (BCP)

1^st Sunday of each month at 10am - Family Service - this is a short service aimed at families to come along to worship and have fun. The service is often led by families or the youth organisations. Coffee is served afterwards.

1^st Sunday of each month at 6pm- Evensong – a traditional evening service as set out in the Book of Common prayer. The service includes readings, psalms and hymns

2^nd Sunday of each month at 10am - Matins - a traditional morning and service as set out in the Book of Common prayer. The service includes readings, psalms and hymns.

2^nd Sunday of each month – a Family Service is held at Etchingham Parish Church.

3^rd Sunday of each month at 10am - Family Communion – a lively and short modern communion service for all the family.Coffee is served afterwards.

4^th Sunday of each month at 10am - Parish Communion - a celebration of the Eucharist using Common Worship which uses more modern language and along with hymns and is partly sung.

Also on the 4th Sunday of each month our Sunday Club meets during the main 10am service at the Rectory, please contact the Rector or one of the Sunday Club Leaders for more details.

5th Sunday of each month at 10am - Family Communion – a lively and short modern communion service for all the family. Coffee is served afterwards.

January Services at St Bartholomew’s

January 1 2nd Sunday of Christmas	10.00am	No 8am Service New Years Day Family Communion
Thursday 5	9.15am	Holy Communion – CW
January 8 1st Sunday of Epiphany	8.00am 10.00am	Holy Communion – BCP Matins
Thursday 12	9.15am	Holy Communion - CW
January 15 2nd Sunday of Epiphany	8.00am 10.00am	Holy Communion – BCP Family Communion
Thursday 19	9.15am	Holy Communion - CW Two minutes silence at the War Memorial
January 22 3rd Sunday of Epiphany	8.00am 10.00am	Holy Communion – BCP Parish Communion
Thursday 26	9.15am	Holy Communion - CW
January 29 4th Sunday of Epiphany	8.00am 10.00am	Holy Communion – BCP Family Communion

February Services at St Bartholomew’s

Holy Communion Service (CW) at Noon throughout Lent on Tuesday & Thursday starting on Tuesday 28 February.

Thurs February 2	9.15am	Holy Communion - CW
February 5 Candlemas	8.00am 10.00am 6.00pm	Holy Communion – BCP Family Service Evensong
Thursday 9	9.15am	Holy Communion - CW
February 12 2nd Sun before Lent	8.00am 10.00am	Holy Communion – BCP Matins
February 19 Sun before Lent	8.00am 10.00am	Holy Communion – BCP Family Communion
February 22 Ash Wednesday	9.15am 12 noon	School service Imposition of Ashes and Holy Communion
February 26 1st Sun of Lent	8.00am 10.00am	Holy Communion – BCP Parish Communion
Tuesday 28	7.30pm	House Group – Lent Refelections*

* Held at Farley House in the High Street. Contact Ian Craston for details on 01435 882332

March Services at St Bartholomew’s

Friday March 2

Women’s World Day of Prayer

March 4

2nd Sun of Lent

Holy Communion – BCP

Family Communion

Evensong

Normal Pattern of Services

Time	1st Sunday	2nd Sunday	3rd Sunday	4th Sunday	5th Sunday
8am	Holy Communion - BCP	Holy Communion - BCP	Holy Communion - BCP	Holy Communion - BCP	Holy Communion - BCP
10am	Family Service	Matins – BCP	Family Communion	Parish Communion	Parish Communion
6pm	Evensong - BCP
BCP = Book of Common Prayer

The church is open every day from 9am-5pm for private prayer and visits. A guide book is available in the church priced £2.50.

And for 2012....

Burwash Church- a brief history

The first record of a church in Burwash shows a stone church built in about 1090, consisting of chancel, nave and tower. Of this Norman church only the tower remains. Later, owing presumably to the increase in the population of the village, a larger church became necessary.

To achieve this the nave was widened by knocking down the outer walls and adding aisles supported by pillars, on the south side in about 1190, on the north side in 1250. As part of the work in 1250 a larger chancel replaced the original. In the 14th century both aisles were widened, buttresses added to the south west corner of the tower and new windows put into the aisles. A porch was added to the west door and a vestry built in the north east corner.

At some point dormer windows were added to the roof but apart from this the church then remained unaltered for 500 years until the 19th century.

The church was partially rebuilt and extensively restored in 1856. This work included the lowering of the floor and this in turn necessitated the removal of a considerable depth of earth from the surrounding churchyard. The flooring of the church was again renewed owing to the considerable rotting of the old flooring, in the years 1989 to 1990.

Features of Note

The Tower

Only the tower remains of the original Norman church with evidence of its origin being discernible by the great width of the mortar in which the stones are bedded and which can be seen from the outside. The tower houses the eight bells

Iron Memorials

On the wall to the left of the Lady Chapel altar is a cast-iron sepulchral slab of especial interest. Before it was placed here it lay on the floor, marking the last resting place of John Collins, a member of the family of the ironmaster of that name who owned a forge at Socknersh, between Burwash and Brightling. Of 14th century origin it is said to be the oldest existing example of a Sussex cast-iron grave slab.

Memorial to John Kipling (Rudyard’s son – killed in action.)

On the wall between the Sawyer window and the south door is an oval bronze plaque commemorating the death in action of the beloved only son of Rudyard Kipling, the celebrated writer of prose and verse who lived at Bateman’s for many years. The plaque is the first commercial work of Charles Wheeler who was later to become President of The Royal Academy of Arts.

The Font

The octagonal font probably dates from the late 16th century, and has the Pelham Buckle carved on it-a reminder of the association of the Pelham family and Burwash. Edward III bestowed this crest on John de Pelham at the battle of Poitiers in 1356 after he had seized the French king, John, by the buckle of his sword belt - whereupon the king surrendered his sword.

Churchyard and Memorials

Searching the churchyard of St. Bartholomew's, Burwash

In 2005 Ms Claire Goodey completed a survey of St. Bartholomew's churchyard, noting down the inscriptions of all the headstones and monuments present. Obviously where no headstone exists there is no recorded entry in the comprehensive list that she produced and is available to download here. Each entry is given a unique reference and this matches the plan of the churchyard.

Whilst the Rector of Burwash can provide additional advice and support for relatives if the person being sought is beyond the preceeding generation of parents, aunts, uncles then the will church require that a fee be paid which is currently £19 per hour or part thereof. For burials after 2005 the Rector will need to be approached in every case.

We have attached a copy of the plan of St. Bartholomew's graveyard and details of memorials. Please note the Memorials file is extensive.

Burwash Churchyard Plan (pdf file)

Memorials A-Z in Burwash Churchyard (pdf file)

If you have searched either of the above files and found them useful in your research - perhaps you will consider making a donation to St Bartholomew's Tower Appeal. We have a formidable target and all contributions are most welcome. Thank you.