St Margaret is a gem of a church on the edge of the tiny village of Worthing and overlooking the water meadows along the Blackwater valley.
A place to belong – as you enter the churchyard of this early little church dating back to before the middle of the Saxon period 900 / 1000, sit on the bench by the gate and take in the peace of the place and its surroundings. It is the smallest church in the Group, consisting of a round tower with the three belfry windows which houses the single bell dated 1744, nave and porch. The ground plan of the nave and tower has changed little over a thousand years. All the churches in the Heart of Norfolk Group have their surprises and here sheltered by the fifteenth century porch is a splendid Norman south door with ornate flouron decoration and zig-zag moulding above a pair of colonnettes and scalloped capitals. The chancel was pulled down between 1781 and the 1820s and the chancel arch is blocked with a mixture of flint and ashlar with the gable rebuilt in brick. Earthworks here at the east end indicate where the chancel was and further earthwork to the north-east indicates the site of a free-standing building, possibly a chapel. Inside, the church has a simple charm with an exquisite English Gothic niche (15th – 16th c) reset at the east end with two birds as brackets to the canopy.
There is a leaflet about the church available inside the church.
Church Road is a single track suitable for walking, cyclists, joggers, horse-riding and dog walkers