List of places of worship in Adur

Three-quarter view of a long, low, flint rubble church on a rising grass slope with some gravestones. A tile-roofed porch juts out from the longer side, which also has two paired lancet windows and two other windows. The shorter side has three single-light round-headed windows and a blocked lancet window below the roofline.
The 11th-century church at Coombes is a Grade I listed building.
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The district of Adur, one of seven local government districts in the English county of West Sussex, has 26 extant churches and other places of worship, and a further five former churches that are no longer in religious use. The southern part of the district forms part of the Brighton/Worthing/Littlehampton conurbation, and almost all of the churches are in the towns and villages within this continuous built-up area. The rural northern part of the district has one ancient church that is still in use, and another former chapel that served a now deserted medieval village. Many Christian denominations are represented, but followers of other religions must travel outside the area to worship.

Seven of Adur's extant places of worship, and two former churches, have been awarded listed status. A building is defined as "listed" when it is placed on a statutory register of buildings of "special architectural or historic interest" in accordance with the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990.[1] The Department for Culture, Media and Sport, a Government department, is responsible for this; English Heritage, a non-departmental public body, acts as an agency of the department to administer the process and advise the department on relevant issues.[2] There are three grades of listing status. Grade I, the highest, is defined as being of "exceptional interest"; Grade II* is used for "particularly important buildings of more than special interest"; and Grade II, the lowest, is used for buildings of "special interest".[3]

By the 11th century, the area now covered by Adur district had several small settlements, each with their own church. Although some have been restored and altered, most ancient structural work and internal features remain. These include an anchorite's cell (where a hermit was walled up for life),[4] a rare series of wall paintings,[5] an example of the Tapsel gate design found only in Sussex,[6] and a "Rhenish helm" four-gabled tower cap that is unique in England.[7][8][9]

  1. ^ "Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 (c. 9)". The UK Statute Law Database. Ministry of Justice. 24 May 1990. Archived from the original on 27 January 2013. Retrieved 7 April 2015.
  2. ^ "What English Heritage Does". English Heritage. 2012. Archived from the original on 8 February 2013. Retrieved 7 April 2015.
  3. ^ "Listed Buildings". English Heritage. 2012. Archived from the original on 26 January 2013. Retrieved 7 April 2015.
  4. ^ Nairn & Pevsner 1965, p. 252.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference Pevsner194–195 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference Wales67–68 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Nairn & Pevsner 1965, p. 330.
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference Coppin104 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Historic England. "The Parish Church of St Mary, Church Lane, Sompting, Adur, West Sussex (Grade I) (1353763)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 13 April 2022.