With a scatter of snow on the ground, the Saxon forest church looked like a scene from a Grimm’s fairy tale on a cold January day. Its proportions are unlike a typical, squat Sussex church as the apricot-coloured building is tall, reaching for light amongst the trees. It was a delight to find this sandwiched between Crawley and the M23.
To get here I followed Worth Way from Three Bridges station, sheltered from the strong east wind and fairly dry along the raised track. A ditch divided the path from a steep bank which was spread with a tapestry of mosses. After all the wet weather the ditch was full of rain and melt-water and it was tricky to get across to check the mosses. I tested my new boots and found them waterproof which is a novelty!
The church is full of interest which gave me an excuse to take time out from churchyard mossing to warm up inside. It was built to serve the local landowners of Worth Forest and is the 11th oldest church in England and may be the oldest in continual use. On either side of the nave are two tall arches, now bricked up. Rumour has it that these were for horseriders to enter on one side, say a prayer or take communion then exit through the other door without dismounting- a precursor of the drive-through!
The first moss I noticed in quantity was Plagiomnium undulatum, growing across shaded areas of turf. It’s the first record for this lovely but common moss for the tetrad which had 47 previous records. Francis Rose recorded 11 bryophytes in the churchyard in 1969 and Brad followed a section of Worth Way and Standinghall Lane in 2020 recording 47 bryophytes.
The snow wasn’t too much of a hindrance, but taking small samples of frozen moss is difficult without breaking brittle leaves. One tombstone had a few cushions of emerald green moss with silvery hair points and spreading leaves. I thought it might be Grimmia trichophylla which is occasionally found in Sussex churchyards but I was unsure. John Norton took some leaf sections and identified Grimmia lisae which is distinctive in having around 6 guide cells at the leaf base. The slightly squarrose leaves, also unusual in a Grimmia were typical and it has been confirmed as a new vice-county record for East Sussex. Many thanks to John for identifying it. There are a couple of records of this moss from West Sussex, Howard Matcham found it on a clay tile roof at West Stoke in 1985 when it was known as Grimmia trichophylla var. stirtonii.
Apart from one tombstone with the rare, emerald green Grimmia, other stones hosted familiar graveyard mosses.
The turf was stuffed with Rhytidiadelphus squarrosus and Pseudoscleropodium purum.
Francis Rose recorded a few epiphytes on Sycamore, Elm and Lime. The Elms are long gone of course and so are its attendant epiphytes. The Lime he surveyed may be a famous Small-leaved Lime outside the churchyard. I hardly found any bryophytes on surviving trees. Sycamores can be good substrate but the ones in this churchyard were bare. A Cherry was coming into blossom, exquisite against the snow.
The north side of the church had a ridge dotted with Zygodon viridissimus, out of the sun but exposed to the east wind.
TQ33D now has 59 species recorded.
Sussex Bryophytes 