England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Graffham St Giles

The Parish

The parish of Graffham lies in southwestern Sussex roughly 4 miles southeast of the market town of Midhurst. It should be noted that it borders the detached Hampshire parish of Steep but is not part of the formal border between the two counties. Graffham sits a little over 2 miles west of the A285 road which links Chichester with Petworth and at the base of the escarpment of the South Downs. Graffham is a linear village running from its church, which sits at the foot of that steep slope, northwards along its winding lane for almost 3/4s of a mile northwards, the street being lined with picturesque cottages and an inn. The landscape in which Graffham sits gave it a diverse farming mosaic with pastures for cattle in wetter spots, sheep-runs on the Downs tops and some limited arable, the great hanging woodland that bedecks the escarpment would have also been managed for woodland products by coppice. The presence of excellent hiking along the Downs top following the South Downs Way National Trail brings many to the village as a starting point for local hikes. Graffham is drained northwards by a small stream which soon meets the River Arun, water turns east and then south to take a gap in the escarpment and reach the English Channel through the port of Littlehampton. Graffham is sited on steadily rising ground from 40 metres at its northern end to 90 metres above the sea at the church, the towering South Downs top out at 233 metres just southwest and within a mile. By Wealden standards Graffham parish was towards the smaller end of the scale, it covered roughly 1,700 acres and supported a population of close to 400 parishioners. In Domesday times Graffham was a much smaller place, held by Earl Roger of Shrewsbury it offered merely 4 ploughs and the woodland that still forms a significant area of the parish.

The Church

St Giles' church stands at the end of the dead-end lane which forms the heart of the village, tight below the escarpment of the South Downs. The church received a very substantial rebuild between 1874 and 1887 which has removed much of thr original detail of an early church. The earliest remaining medieval fabric dates back to the 12the century Norman Romanesque period and is best shown in the nave's arcades, despite partial renewal they still show the circular piers and single-chamfered pointed arches of that style. Also early but Early English Gothic and 13th century is the western door which Pevsner found to be "delicate and intricate". Much of the remainder is either a product of the rebuild or heavily modified by the same, the nave and chancel being augmented with a northern transept and capped at the western end by tower complete with a typical Sussex shingled spire, all done in the same Early English Gothic style that had become re-fashionable once again. The street passing the churchyard is well used for parking for both visiting the church and taking local hikes, a neat lychgate grants entry to a churchyard which has some trees hugging the east end of the church but is otherwise lacking obstacles for the photographer.