It is a beautiful and touching sight, the little iron church standing alone in the woods on Bramdean Common
The Church in the Woods
In 1883 the Reverend Alfred Caesar Bishop, built this church so that the commoners, charcoal burners and itinerant gypsies who seasonally occupied the Bramdean Common would be able to attend church. His wife, Louisa Frances Bishop, then left monies in her will for an endowment that would secure its upkeep. Bramdean Common itself is a wonderful place to visit, with an array of flora in late spring and early summer. It doesn’t take much imagination to see the thin whirls of smoke from campfires and to remember a time when the common provided work and shelter for a mobile community and their own church. Click here for more photos and history of the church in the woods.
