The nave is C11, with a late C12 south aisle and a slightly later south chapel. The chancel and north tower are C13 and there are good monuments, especially two related C16 ones.
The church stands in what remains of the old village, with houses that have been carefully and perhaps excessively restored. Herringbone in the north wall of the nave shows it is C11 and the thicker lower part of the west wall is probably also of this date. In the late C12 a south aisle was added, with a four-bay arcade, which has plain, pointed heads and alternating round and octagonal piers on high, spurred bases. Each square capital has inexpertly carved foliage, ending in a kind of volute at each corner. Quartermain shows the aisle had lancets, but only a pointed doorway survives; there is also a restored chamfered north one with abaci.
The gabled south chapel dates from c1200, as the two-bay arcade to the chancel shows, and is wider than the aisle. The moulded arches of the arcade are close to contemporary work at Boxgrove and Chichester cathedral - West Wittering was an episcopal manor. The round heads may seem surprising at this date, but there are comparable ones at Chichester and Boxgrove and they are a reminder that the emergence of the pointed arch at the expense of the round head was a gradual process. The round marble pier is a further link, though the square responds, with concave fluted corbels for the inner orders of the heads, are less so.
This arcade confirms there was a chancel before the present later C13 one, which has low clasping east buttresses and, for the most part, lancets. The east pair and the north east one date from 1845, but are said to have been based on good evidence, including the shafted rere-arches. The square responds of the chancel arch are chamfered with stops and the inner order of the head rests on convex fluted corbels. The two lights of the north west window have shouldered heads, more common in secular architecture but original, and a further window to the east is raised above a roll-moulded doorway with a depressed head. The tower at the north east corner of the nave is also of this date and its clasping buttresses are related to the chancel. It is no higher than the roof, despite having two stages. The base has lancets and an arch to the nave, plain except for a single chamfer. A small blocked, pointed recess in the east wall inside suggests the presence of an altar. The bell-openings have been altered from the square-headed ones shown by Adelaide Tracy (1852). These could have been C15, but were more likely post-Reformation. The shingled pyramid spire is unchanged and the timber bell-frame with four large corner posts and heavy diagonal braces, rising from the ground, may be C13. A round stair to the bell chamber is probably C16.
Most other later mediaeval or later alterations have gone. Of indeterminate date were the east window before 1845, which had three small round-headed lights in a row, and also the east window of the south chapel. This was larger than the present lancet, as its sill, still visible, shows. A worn moulded west doorway is C15, along with large west buttresses and a few timbers in the north porch. Quartermain’s second drawing (undated, but before 1875) shows that most windows in the nave and south aisle were C18 - the big west one had a wooden mullion and transom.
The chancel was restored in 1845 by an unknown architect. W White restored the rest between 1873 and 1875 at a cost of £1498. The discovery then of a C13 coffin lid under the chancel floor shows he also worked on the chancel, which would be unsurprising 30 years after the first restoration. He refaced almost all the exterior, replaced most windows and rebuilt the south aisle, west gable and the nave and aisle roofs. On the tower, he replaced the bell-openings. The chapel in particular retains little of its previous appearance and the arch to the south aisle is entirely his work. Until 1875 the chancel roof was higher than the nave, but White then made it lower, re-using some existing timbers.
So on to the clues.
The Notice Board is dedicated to whom? AB
See hint below if you can't solve this!
A Rear Admiral had a flag raised in his honour, what date is associated with him? CDEFGHI
Shutters on the Tower?JK
Crosses on top of the Church? L
Follow the path through the graveyard towards the back. Find a grave stone with an Anchor on it for Harry Robinson, just off the path, how old was he when he died? MN
The final cache is at N.((F+G)xH) (M+J)L. (N-D)(A+H)(K+D) W.000 HE.(A-B)(C-A)(IxD)