St Mary the Virgin Church East Worldham

St Mary the Virgin Church East Worldham sits prominently on the crossroads at Worldham Hill

St Mary the Virgin Church East Worldham Hampshire

St Mary the Virgin Church East Worldham

St Mary the Virgin East Worldham was built in its present form in the C13th but quite obviously sits on the site of a much earlier Anglo Saxon building. Its position is no accident. An ancient forest track on the road to Alton meets another at a crossroads here and next to the church runs an old Roman road on route to Silchester. There has therefore quite possibly been a place of worship on the site since Pagan times.

The pretty wooden belfry looks out across miles of Hampshire and Surrey countryside and you do feel as if you are on top of the world.

Inside, a delightful C14th female effigy allows for some historical conjecturing. Who was this lady with her fine clothes and how might she relate to this ancient manor?