England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
West Dean by Chichester St Andrew

The Parish

The parish of West Dean (here given the suffix "by Chichester" to distinguish it from Sussex' other parish of the same name near Eastbourne) lies in the west of Sussex not too far from its border with neighbouring Hampshire. As its suffix suggests this West Dean lies roughly 5 miles north of the West Sussex city of Chichester. West Dean is a small and rather linear village built along and parallel to the A 286 road which connects Chichester with London. West Dean sits amongst chalk hills in the incised upper valley of the River Lavant with a  extensive rural parish area which would have seen not only arable but sheep grazing on the chalk downs as part of a varied farming economy. Modern developments did come to West Dean's valley as a railway line was built along it with a station at West Dean, sadly this line has ceased to be and is dismantled. The River Lavant drains the parish southwards passing to the east of Chichester from whence its former course is much changed by man-made drainage to the nearby English Channel. West Dean is sited at around 60 metres above the sea but sits deep in a valley set within rolling hills rising to local heights of over 200 metres on nearby St Roche's Hill. West Dean parish was extensive but its acreage included the settlement at Binderton, collectively it covered close to 4,600 acres and would have supported a population of close to 700 parishioners. West Dean, itself, is not specifically mentioned in Domesday Book.

The Church

St Andrew's church sits at the northern end of the village accessed from the A286 by way of Church Lane. Sadly the church, which has ancient origins, was badly damaged by a fire in 1934 and was rebuilt following that disaster. Attempts were made to retain the features of those ancient origins that survived as well as to rebuild sensitively to the style of the former building, an objective which has been satisfactorily achieved. The church is pre-Conquest and 11th century in origin, retained from that period are the walls of the nave together with a blocked doorway on the northern side which is 9 feet high.  The eastern end retains the 13th century early English Gothic lancets whilst the western tower is dateable from documentary evidence to 1727. Also 18th century are the transepts albeit from the latter half of that century. These fragments of the former church are knotted together by the 1934 rebuild into a coherent structure for today's villagers. To the north of the churchyard is a large rough parking area sufficient for many cars enabling a prolonged visit. A high flint wall surrounds the church, arched gateways in flint are supplemented by a wrought iron arched gateway enabling access. Sadly the churchyard is fairly narrow and constrained to the east by the premises of West Dean College of Arts & Conservation which together rob the favoured southeastern aspect from the photographers portfolio and making for a tricky subject to adequately capture on a sunny day.

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