The Church of St Michael and All Angels in Sidestrand originally had a Saxon tower with an octagonal top added in the 15th century. One night in 1841 it collapsed in a storm and a lower tower was built. MPs Samuel Hoare and Sir Thomas Fowell Buxton started fundraising to move the church to a safer position inland to protect it from coastal erosion. Much of the original masonry was reused and the new church was consecrated in 1881. The tower was left on the cliff edge and fell into the sea in 1916. The church inspired the poem by Clement Scott who wrote many articles about this area and made it famous as ‘Poppyland’ in the 19th century: ‘On the grass of the cliff, at the edge of the steep, God planted a garden – a garden of sleep.’ The headstones from the old churchyard are arranged along the present road-side wall. Note on the north aisle the communal grave for bones exposed in the old churchyard when the cliff fell. Inside, above the south door is a hatchment for Lord Templewood (d. 1959) and his wife (who d. 1962). The font is a plain octagon of the 15th century. The font cover was given in memory of Richard Hood who died aged 12 in 1930 of meningitis. Behind it, fixed to the wall are two pre-14th century stone coffin covers, taken from the original site in the old churchyard. One was known locally as the Crusader’s Stone. The nave is oak-panelled with names of departed members of the congregation. The stone corbels at the base of the roof have been painted red and marked with a cross in honour of St Michael. The organ was obtained from a church in Norwich.