Saint Margaret's Church Saint Margaret's Church Door
St Margarets St Margarets

The general consensus is that the
church dates from the early 11th Century
and is therefore Saxon in origin.

St Margarets A Partridge

St Margaret of Antioch, for whom the church is named,
was a young Christian martyr whose story was brought
back by Crusaders in the eleventh century

lych gate
Lych is derived from the Old English 'lich', meaning corpse.
They were meeting places and shelters for the party bringing
a corpse for burial, and for the priest to receive the corpse.

Welcome to St Margaret’s!

Rottingdean’s village green, pond, historic buildings and iconic windmill attract many visitors. By visiting us today you follow countless others who have made the same journey over centuries, whether in person or online.
Since Saxon and Norman times, people have come to St Margaret’s to praise and worship God,  to be baptized, to marry their beloved and to bury their dead.  They have come to pray for themselves, for their loved ones and for the needs of the world. They have come to admire the beautiful windows by Edward Burne-Jones and William Morris. They have come to find peace, fellowship and support.
For our friends in the United States, there is a replica of St Margaret’s in Los Angeles: the Church of the Recessional at Forest Lawn (Glendale).
Whoever you are and wherever you are from, we welcome you as our latest visitor. May you be richly blessed by God in Christ Jesus.