Paranormal Investigation The historic church of St Mary’s

Settlement of the area now covered by Sompting began in the Bronze Age and continued through the Iron Age and into the Roman era. By the 11th century, two distinct villages had formed: Sompting, based on the main east–west trackway from the cathedral city of Chichester to Brighton, and Cokeham to the south (later subdivided into Upper Cokeham and Lower Cokeham). At the time of the Domesday Book in 1086 they were separate manors, but were both held on behalf of William de Braose, 1st Lord of Bramber.

There was a church on the site of the present building by the early 11th century, and some structural elements remain from that era. William de Braose held the advowson at the time of the Domesday survey, but in 1154 his grandson William de Braose, 3rd Lord of Bramber passed it to the Knights Templar, who made many structural changes. They widened the church by rebuilding the nave and chancel to the same width as the Saxon-era tower. In about 1180, they erected a large chapel—effectively a separate church in its own right until the 19th century, when an arch linked it to the nave and made it a de facto south transept. At the same time, they added a north transept with an aisle and two chapels.They also paid for a vicar and his accommodation.

After the Knights Templar were emasculated in 1307, Pope Clement V conveyed ownership of the church to the Knights Hospitaller, another religious order, in 1324. They extended the nave on the northwest side—forming a chapel which had openings into the nave and the tower, built a porch on the south side and carried out work on the nave walls.[Although the advowson later passed out of the Knights' control, it was restored to the order in 1963 by Major G. H. Tristram. They had been dissolved in 1538 but were re-established in 1831 as the Venerable Order of Saint John and later founded the St. John Ambulance organisation.

The church fell into decay during the 18th century, when the living was poor and the villages of Sompting and Cokeham still supported only a small population. Repairs in the 1720s and 1760s were not enough, and two bells had to be sold to pay for proper repairs in 1791. Richard Cromwell Carpenter undertook more restoration in 1853: this included re-roofing the church and replacing the shinglework on the spire, rebuilding the Knights Templars' chapel into a south transept, improving the aisle in the north transept and cleaning the stonework.

The tower is the most important feature of the church and is known nationally and internationally as an exemplar of Saxon architecture—although recent analysis suggests that its upper stage may have been renewed in early Norman times to an identical design. The spire—a design known as the Rhenish helm because of its prevalence in the Rhineland area of Germany—is unique in England. The design comprises a cap of four shingled gables rising steeply in a pyramid formation.