Rent, as distributed by part or wing of the church (8)
I believe the answer is:
transept
'wing of the church' is the definition.
'transept' can be an answer for 'wing' (I've seen this before). I'm not certain of the 'of the church' bit.
'rent as distributed by part' is the wordplay.
'distributed' indicates an anagram.
'by' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'part' becomes 'pt' (abbreviation).
'rent'+'as'='rentas'
'rentas' anagrammed gives 'transe'.
'transe'+'pt'='TRANSEPT'
'or' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for transept that I've seen before include "Crossing part of a church" , "Side part of a church" , "Part of a church - patterns (anag)" , "It crosses the nave in church" , "Part of church off aisle" .)