Church of the Holy Trinity, East Grimstead

This was a chapel of ease to the church at West Dean and much of the history and land ownership of the two communities is closely linked. The early chapel was a simple structure of nave and chancel with a porch in the north wall of the nave. The nave measured 30 feet 9 inches by 13 feet while the chancel was 18 feet by 9 feet 2 inches. There was a reading desk in the north east corner of the nave and a font near the doorway. In his History of Modern Wiltshire Sir Richard Colt Hall laconically comments, ‘no monuments’.

The present church was built in 1857 to the designs of F.H. Powell. It consists of chancel and nave but has a north vestry and an elaborate timber porch on the south wall of the nave. There is a little bell cote on the east gable of the nave. The church is of knapped flint with ashlar dressings and presents a very attractive picture in its green churchyard bordered by bright crab apple trees. The interior is of brick with bands and decorative patterns in vitrified brick. There are no separate registers for East Grimstead as all events were recorded in the parish registers of West Dean, which, apart from those in current use, are held at the Wiltshire & Swindon History Centre in Chippenham.