It is recorded that in 1249 Patrons Richard de Filliol and the Prior of Caldwell presented Peter de Wintonia to the living of North Crawley.
He was a clerk to the royal household of Henry 111 and from 1255 until the death of Henry in 1272 was a keeper of the wardrobe. The office was a lucrative one and he had an income from 8 benefices totalling about £65 gross per annum.
As a royal servant most of Peter’s time would have been spent in the kings entourage so he would not have visited Great Crawley often but as Rector he was responsible for the fabric of the Chancel and during the years 1253-55 he rebuilt it, the King giving him 11 good oaks from Selsey Forest.
On his retirement from public service Peter came to live in Great Crawley and built the Rectory in Broadmead called in those days the hamlet of Craule Est End. He died in 1289 and the floor slab at the east end of the nave marks his burial spot.
The King gave him another 4 oaks in 1265 and another 3 in 1272 and the building in Broadmead was described as a great parsonage with two great barns, it had 18 rooms and a full array of outhouses.