Our Christian heritage in this place stretches back 900 years. The Domesday Survey refers to the "three Manors of Rattendone, Willendone and Ferle", and indicates a chapel, with a priest attached to it in or near Willingdon, in the time of Edward the Confessor. It is certain that all who now come within these walls can, with good reason, give thanks for 'a goodly heritage' of worship and witness over many centuries.
Many strands are woven into this, including here the influence of the monastic tradition and the privileges and responsibilities of wealth and the ownership of land. In 1204, Simon, Bishop of Chichester, confirmed the grant of Willingdon to Robert, Abbot of Grestain in Normandy, previous links having already been established with Wilmington Priory, an offshoot of this Order. From then till 1413, abbots in France were responsible for pastoral care here, with Priors of Wilmington appointing to this living.
Following the suppression of alien priories, the patronage was given by Henry V to the Dean and Chapter of Chichester, who in the 16th and 17th centuries leased it to the Parker family of Ratton. The Freeman-Thomas family became lords of the manor in 1750. It was a member of this family, a fomer Churchwarden, who became Governor-General of Canada and later, as Marquis of Willingdon, Viceroy of India. His banner as Chancellor of the most noble Order of St. Michael and St. George, and some splendid monuments of both families, may be seen in the Ratton Chapel in the north aisle.