St Peter & St Paul Wadhurst

Oliver Mason writes:	Photos courtesy of Michael Flegg & others
The parish church of St Peter and St Paul is the largest, tallest, and oldest building in Wadhurst. Its tower dates from about 1100 or a little earlier, and its fourteenth century spire soars to a height of 124 feet or 38 metres.
But the church is most famous for its iron tomb slabs, of which it possesses over thirty - more than any other church in England. Wadhurst was an important centre of the Wealden iron industry, which flourished from the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries.
The church also has a fine ring of eight bells, of various dates from the seventeenth to the twentieth centuries.
The building as a whole is a typical English parish church, its various parts having been built or enlarged at different dates. The side aisles were added in the 1200s. In the 1300s the S aisle was widened, the chancel enlarged and the N transept built. In the 1400s the clerestory and the porch, with a priest's room over, were added. The vestry dates from 1911-12. It was refurbished in 1987.
Copies of the church guide, and of the booklet 'Heraldry in Wadhurst Church', are available within. The church is normally open daily until dusk.