England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Rumboldswyke St Mary

The Parish

The parish of Rumboldswyke lies in western Sussex, it was formerly a separate village but has now been totally absorbed into the urban area of the city of Chichester. The original parish centre is now known as the modern suburb of Whyke and lies on the B2145 road which connects Chichester with Selsey Bill on Sussex's English Channel coast, Rumboldswycke being about 5 miles from the sea. Rumboldswycke was a compact settlement along this road until Chichester's modern growth overtook it and it lost its separation. The area is low lying, at just 10 metres above sea level, and would have been dominated by pastoral farming on the grazing marshes that spread as a band down to the Channel coast. What drainage there is in the parish is headed for the Bremere Rife and the sea at Pagham Harbour. Rumboldswycke has always been a relatively small parish but despite this it supported over 300 parishioners. In Domesday Times Rumboldswycke had a separate identity and was held by one Warin of Ryton yet supported only 3 ploughs.

The Church

St Mary's church sits adjacent to the B2145, here called Whyke Road, at its junction with Kingsham Avenue. The church is small and described by Pevsner at eleventh century and "two-celled". The Norman church was added to in 1866 with a northern aisle and sensitively restored in modern times. There is no tower merely a small bellcote at the western end. The site is enclosed by a high brick wall and is screened by many mature trees making the church difficult to spot when driving down Whyke Road. A narrow entrance gives access to the site opposite Kingsham Avenue where the building is tucked tight against its surrounding wall, This tight site and tree cover make for a challenging building to adequately photograph.