England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Parham St Peter

The Parish

The parish of Parham lies in west central Sussex about 5 miles northeast of the small market town of Arundel. Parham sits about a mile west of the A283 road which connects Pulborough with Storrington. There is no village as such to Parham, the entire parish consists of the estate of Parham House, as a "closed" parish where all land was held by the local Lords of the Manor no village developed. As an estate community Parham's economy would have been tied to that of the Hall with a mixture of arable and pastoral farming predominant. Much of the immediate area is modified to parkland supporting the Tudor Hall but small streams drain westward to join the nearby River Arun and reach the English Channel through the port of Littlehampton. Parham is sited at around 30 metres above the sea but sits at the foot of the escarpment of the South Downs and lands rises steeply to the south to local heights of around 190 metres above the sea. Parham parish was small by Sussex standards, it covered just over 1,100 acres and would have supported a population of around 50 parishioners. In Domesday times Parham was shared by Earl Roger of Shrewsbury with Westminster Abbey, collectively it could offer just 5 ploughs, a small meadow but did possess a mill.

The Church

St Peter's church sits on the lawn to the south of the Tudor House and is subject to access restrictions to what is nowadays a "visitor attraction" with charges for entry. The grounds are generally open throughout the summer months - Wednesday to Sundays in the afternoons. The church was extensively remodeled in or about 1820 but was clearly a Perpendicular church retaining a few features from the earlier style eras of the Decorated and early English Gothic. The best features of the building are, however, the interior which Pevsner praises extensively. The church is accessed on foot from the parking areas and sits in an uncluttered churchyard which does not inhibit photography.