Boxgrove is situated 3 miles North East of Chichester, the village gets it's name from an ancient grove of box-trees

The Benedictine priory was founded around 1115 in the 12th century by Robert de Haye, it was part of the Abbey of Lessay in Normandy (near Cherbourg). From modest beginnings it became one of the most influential monastic houses in Sussex. The De la Warr chantry chapel built in 1532 was intended as the last resting place of the 9th Lord de la Warr, Lord of the Manor, this was not to be however due to the dissolution of the monastaries by Henry VIII. Lord de la Warr did however manage to save some of the buildings including the chantry built in what was to become the parish church. The ruins of the priory can still be seen in the grounds of the church, SS Mary and Blaise.

The parish church is one of the earliest English churches in the region, it is believed the same architect also worked on Chichester Cathedral. Inside the church, pillars of Purbeck Marble support a ceiling painted in the 15th century by Lambert Bernard.

Some believe the game of Cricket originated in Sussex. The first record of Cricket ever being played is during evensong at Boxgrove Priory on 28th April 1622 when Anthony Ward and Edward Hartley were accused of playing Cricket in the church grounds. The churchwardens didn't approve of the game, they reported the game "Contrarie to the seventh article, and for that they use to breake windowes with the ball".

On a slightly morbid note, the first American serviceman to die in WW2 is buried at Boxgrove. Pilot Officer Bill Fiske was killed in action whilst stationed at nearby Tangmere.

Boxgove's other claim to fame is a human shin bone discovered in a local gravel pit in 1993. The bone is the oldest human remains ever found in Europe. It dates back half a million years and has become known as "Boxgrove Man". The bone belongs to a species called "Homo Heidebergensis", it is estimated that at the time of his death Boxgrove Man was about 20 years old, over 6 feet tall and weighted about 12 stone.