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The Tower
The tower was built in stages between 1714 and 1738, after the collapse of the earlier tower with spire in 1698.
This may have been caused by hanging a 'Great Bell' in the previous year, which proved too much
for the earlier structure.The location of the earlier tower is not known for certain, but from what evidence is available probably stood where the Gundrada Chapel is built now. There are four carved stones set in the brickwork of the tower of which three may have been recovered from the earlier tower. One has the arms of the De Warenne family, Lords of the Barony of Lewes. One has a Tudor Rose with a Duke's Coronet above, which has not been satisfactorily explained, and one (now much worn) has the letters I.A.P.L. These have exercised the ingenuity of many historians, but the most probable explanation is that they identify John Ashdown, Prior of Lewes, who was the last Prior but one before the dissolution. He ceased to be Prior in 1525. 
The fourth stone has the letters N.T.P. and the date 1714, and may refer to Nathaniel and Philadelphia Trayton,
the son and daughter-in-law of the owner at that time of the Manor of Southover.In the tower that collapsed were four bells, and in the present tower there are ten. Southover Church is one of only five churches in east and west Sussex to have this number, the last two bells having been added in 1906. The top of the Tower has brick merlons (Battlements) and the octagonal cupola and the fine tall weathervane are additions of the 19th Century. The moving part of the vane seems to represent a basking shark. (c) 2007 Southover Church. DHTML / JavaScript Menu by TwinHelix Designs |
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