St Mary Magdalene's Church

St Mary Magdalene's Church is the former Anglican parish church of the hamlet of Tortington in the district of Arun, one of seven local government districts in the English county of West Sussex. Founded in the 12th century to serve a priory and villagers in the riverside location, it has experienced little change despite a 19th-century restoration. Its ancient chancel arch and doorway have remarkable carvings with "grotesque, boggle-eyed monsters", rare beakhead figures and chevron ornamentation. Standing in a picturesque setting behind a farm, the flint and Caen stone building was used for worship until 1978, when it was declared redundant. It is now cared for by the Churches Conservation Trust, and English Heritage has listed it at Grade II for its architectural and historical importance.

Tortington is an ancient manor and parish next to the River Arun in West Sussex. The ecclesiastical parish was originally shaped like an inverted triangle, but many boundary changes took place over the centuries. As well as the manor—mentioned in the Domesday survey of 1086—there was a medieval Augustinian monastery, Tortington Priory. An agricultural hamlet had developed by the 12th century, and its layout and function have changed little since then.

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