THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF BUXTED & HADLOW DOWN
Administrator
Diocese of Chichester
England's Nazareth in Sussex
Quote from the pamphlet "Nazareth in Sussex", first printed in 1934...
“May Nazareth in Sussex, standing as a witness to the doctrine of the Incarnation in the Southern Counties, become known and loved, and draw many to visit this Shrine who, for one reason or another, are but seldom able to ‘take the Walsingham Way’”.
St. Mary’s Church, in the heart of the village of Buxted was erected and endowed by Father Arthur Douglas Wagner. The church (Grade II listed) was consecrated in 1887. This small church, built in the traditional Sussex style, is of flint construction, in line with the Wagner churches of Brighton, and is the only church built by him in the Sussex countryside.
St. Mary’s, designed to promote the Catholic faith, had, at one time, a religious community (the Community of the Blessed Virgin Mary) attached to the parish. The Lady Chapel (or Walsingham Chapel) was built to the dimensions of the medieval Holy House at Walsingham in Norfolk. In turn these dimensions are as those of the Holy House at Nazareth.
The ancient shrine of Walsingham was destroyed in the 16th Century, so the Walsingham Chapel at St. Mary’s became the first restored Holy House and precursor of the restoration of the Shrine at Walsingham by Father Alfred Hope Patten, once curate of St Mary's when Father Charles Roe was Rector. St Mary's has been a place of pilgrimage for over one hundred years, started in 1919 for Father Roe and Father Hope Patten.
Are you interested in the wider history of St Mary's either from the perspective of our Anglo-Catholic background, or the more colourful side that included scandal, personal attacks against a priest and his flock, armed robbery and murder? If you would like to learn more, we will be only too happy to give a talk on this fascinating history.
In 2020, cracks appeared on the east wall of the Sanctuary. Fearing damp penetration a surveyor was called in. Fortunately, no damp just nine layers of emulsion paint! The decorator started scraping away. However, he got rather carried away when he found Father Wagner's murals and removed more emulsion than we expected. These murals, painted in the 'Arts and Crafts' style, were part of Father Wagner's original design for St Mary's and were painted over in 1951. The paintings of Sts Wilfrid, Augustine, Gregory and Richard, which once hung in the four plaster niches disappeared at the same time.
An art expert recently inspected the murals and discovered a canvas imprint on the four plaster niches. This indicates that the four 'Saints' were painted using the Marouflage technique: painted on canvas (probably in a studio) and the canvas affixed to the wall to form part of the mural. Using this technique, the canvas can be removed at any time with a minimal risk of damage. Each canvas measures 54" x 24" (137 cm x 61 cm) and could be rolled up for transporting.
Although the murals have only been partially revealed (there are many more), it will take many years of fund raising before we can consider revealing more.
In the meantime, we are keen to discover the whereabouts of the four 'Saints'. If you know where they are, we would very much like to hear from you.