List of current places of worship in Wealden
There are more than 130 current places of worship in Wealden, the largest of six local government districts in the English county of East Sussex. The mostly rural district, with five small towns and dozens of villages, has a 1,200-year documented history of Christian worship—a Saxon leader founded a church at Rotherfield in 790—and by the 19th century nearly every settlement had at least one church, as formerly extensive parishes were split up. Protestant Nonconformism, always strong in Sussex, flourished in the area now covered by the district: many Baptist, Methodist and Congregational chapels were built, and most survive. New churches continued to be built throughout the 20th century as the population grew. The district also has 40 former places of worship: their buildings survive but are now used for other purposes.
English Heritage has awarded listed status to more than 60 current and former church buildings in Wealden. 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 Act 1990. 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. 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". As of February 2001, there were 47 Grade I-listed buildings, 106 with Grade II* status and 2,020 Grade II-listed buildings in Wealden.
Location of Wealden and its places of worship
Covering an area of, Wealden is the largest of the six local authority areas in East Sussex, which has three small, highly urbanised coastal areas and a large rural hinterland covered by three districts. Wealden is at the centre of these: the district of Lewes lies to the west and Rother is to the east.Wealden's population at the time of the United Kingdom Census 2001 was 140,023. Five small towns—Crowborough, Hailsham, Heathfield, Polegate and Uckfield—account for about half of these people, and each has several places of worship catering for different denominations. The rest of the population is spread across dozens of villages and hamlets in the largely rural district. Many of these settlements have at least one church—often an ancient building on a site where worship has taken place for over a thousand years. St Wilfrid, exiled to Sussex in the late 7th century, and his near-contemporary St Cuthman rapidly Christianised the county, and the 111 churches described in the Domesday Book of 1086 was a significant underestimate.
Religious affiliation
According to the United Kingdom Census 2001, 140,023 people lived in Wealden district. Of these, 77.2% identified themselves as Christian, 0.37% were Muslim, 0.2% were Buddhist, 0.19% were Jewish, 0.08% were Hindu, 0.01% were Sikh, 0.7% followed another religion, 13.86% claimed no religious affiliation and 7.38% did not state their religion. The proportion of Christians was much higher than the 71.74% in England as a whole, and other religions not listed in the Census were also followed by more people than average. The proportion of people with no religious affiliation was lower than the national figure of 14.59%, and adherents of Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism, Judaism and Sikhism were much less prevalent in the district than in England overall: in 2001, 3.1% of people in England were Muslim, 1.11% were Hindu, 0.67% were Sikh, 0.52% were Jewish and 0.28% were Buddhist.Administration
All Anglican churches in Wealden are part of the Diocese of Chichester, whose cathedral is at Chichester in West Sussex, and most are in the Archdeaconry of Lewes and Hastings—one of three subdivisions which make up the next highest level of administration. In turn, this archdeaconry is divided into eight deaneries. The churches at Hooe and Ninfield are in the Rural Deanery of Battle and Bexhill. Those at Bodle Street Green, Broad Oak, Cross-in-Hand, Hailsham, Hawkswood, Heathfield, Hellingly, Herstmonceux, Horam, Old Heathfield, Upper Dicker, Waldron, Warbleton and Wartling are part of the Rural Deanery of Dallington. East Dean, Friston, Jevington, Pevensey, Pevensey Bay, Polegate, Stone Cross, Westham and Willingdon's churches are in the Eastbourne Rural Deanery. The churches at Alciston, Alfriston, Arlington, Berwick, Chalvington, Folkington, Laughton, Litlington, Lullington, Ripe, Selmeston, West Dean and Wilmington are in the Rural Deanery of Lewes and Seaford. Those at Blackham, Coleman's Hatch, Crowborough, Eridge Green, Five Ashes, Frant, Groombridge, Hartfield, Jarvis Brook, Mark Cross, Mayfield, Rotherfield, Tidebrook, Wadhurst and Withyham are in Rotherfield Rural Deanery. Buxted's two churches and those at Chelwood Gate, Chiddingly, Danehill, East Hoathly, Fairwarp, Fletching, Framfield, Hadlow Down, High Hurstwood, Isfield, Little Horsted, Maresfield, Nutley and Uckfield are part of the Rural Deanery of Uckfield. Three churches in the north of the district—at Forest Row, Hammerwood and Holtye Common —are part of the Rural Deanery of East Grinstead in the Archdeaconry of Horsham.The Roman Catholic Diocese of Arundel and Brighton, whose cathedral is at Arundel, administers Wealden's 11 Roman Catholic churches. Forest Row's church is in the Crawley Deanery; the churches at Hailsham, Pevensey Bay and Polegate are in Eastbourne Deanery; and the other seven—at Crowborough, Heathfield, Heron's Ghyll, Mayfield, Rotherfield, Uckfield and Wadhurst—are in Mayfield Deanery.
Four United Reformed Churches in the district, at Crowborough, Lower Willingdon, Polegate and Uckfield, are part of the Central Sussex United Area. This ecumenical partnership with the Methodist Church was developed by the United Reformed Church's Southern Synod in September 2007.
Union Church in Heathfield and the Herstmonceux Free Church are part of the 34-church South-East Area of the Congregational Federation, an association of 294 independent Congregational churches in Great Britain. The federation came into existence in 1972 when the Congregational Church in England and Wales merged with several other denominations to form the United Reformed Church. Certain congregations wanted to remain independent of this, and instead joined the Congregational Federation.