St Margaret's Church — Attraction in Rottingdean

I visited the church on Friday 12th June to light a candle for my Aunt who has passed away. I was shocked to see the interior has been gutted and the floor was just dirt. The church was obviously closed, for refurbishment they said. I since read that the pews were sold off for £100 each to be replaced by chairs. This church had a wonderful atmosphere which will now be lost just so they can build an extension at the back. Why couldn’t they have done that without destroying the church interior? I went to find my husband’s grave in the cemetery which was so over grown with long grass and weeds that I couldn’t see it! I wrote an email to the vicar about this dismal visit to the church but so far no reply. Guess he’s too busy wrecking the church....

Indeed, I would never have thought I’d want to write a review for a churchyard in my life, but here we are. That’s very atmospheric, full of history and story, you even can Google a website of this cemetery and explore stories of many people buried here. I’m thankful to the locals who keep it neat and beautiful in all its gloomy yet so meaningful atmosphere. RIP for those who found their last place there on earth; if some day in my life I’ll be thinking about the place where I’d want to find peace, among others I’d definitely imagine...

St Margaret's is a thirteenth century church, built from flint from the local chalk downs, on the site of an older Saxon church. The church is famous for its connections with the Pre-Raphaelite artist, Edward Burne-Jones (1833-98), who lived in Rottingdean and who is buried here along with this wife, Georgiana. Burne-Jones also designed the church' s beautiful stained-glass windows. The prime minister, Stanley Baldwin, was married in this church and the guitarist, Gary Moore, is buried here.

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