Two fine churches in an ancient town

10:09am Wednesday 23rd July 2008

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Many centuries ago, when Brighton was still nothing but a poor, windswept fishing village, neighbouring Shoreham-by- Sea was a substantial town.

Two magnificent churches remain to remind us today of how important Shoreham was from Norman times onwards.

They are St Nicolas Church in Old Shoreham, near the historic toll bridge, and St Mary de Haura in New Shoreham, the main town today.

Shoreham grew up because it was at the mouth of the River Adur and there has been a harbour there since Roman times. The town’s name means a home near the sea.

When the Romans left, Shoreham and neighbouring parts of Sussex were overrun by South Saxons.

It became part of the kingdom of the Saxon warrior Ella and traces of Christianity disappeared.

But in 681AD St Wilfrid visited the South Saxon kingdom and successfully converted it to Christianity.

Several churches were built.

Wood was used first and then stone. The church at Sompting dates from this period.

Saxons built a stone church in Old Shoreham around 900 AD and a community grew up around it.

There are still some Saxon remains in the church of St Nicolas today.

The church was mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 and was substantially rebuilt during Norman times. Even today it still looks like a Norman church, despite some extensive renovation and restoration work in the 1840s.

The guidebook says the tower shows Norman work at its best and it is a landmark which can be seen across the river.

Although the Victorian restoration took away some of the church’s charms, it was greatly needed at the time.

A contemporary report of the building before restoration describes a damp, earthy smell pervading the building and green mould on the walls. It says the state of St Nicolas “would have led the visitor to imagine he was descending into the dungeon of a criminal rather than going into the house of the Lord”.

New Shoreham was planned by the Normans in 1100AD and was needed because the River Adur was slowly silting up at Old Shoreham.

The church of St Mary was built between 1100 and 1225. It is unusual in being less than half its original length. De Haura is a Latin phrase meaning “of the harbour”.

It is now 100ft long compared with 205ft in Norman times. The ruins of the old church can still clearly be seen nearby.

According to legend, William de Braose, a lord and landowner, extended the church at Shoreham to compensate for murdering some Welsh chieftains. But he had to flee the country, owing debts to King John, before he could establish a monastic foundation.

This would explain why such a big church was not monastic.

The tower is more than 80ft tall and is the dominant feature of Shoreham, which has been spared modern high-rise development.

The church looks particularly impressive from Shoreham Beach and there are magnificent views from the top of the tower when it is open to the public.

The church has a handsome clock and there is also a peal of bells. The heaviest one weighs almost three-quarters of a ton.

Over the years this church, like many others, has had its dark days and the worst of these occurred in about 1700 when the nave collapsed. No one is sure why this took place but the original damage could either have been done during the Civil War or by a French raid. There were also severe storms in the early 1700s.

A nationwide appeal was launched in 1713 to restore the nave but so little money was raised the project was abandoned and the west end of the church was blocked up with stones from the ruins.

New Shoreham was at a low ebb then, with the river mouth having silted up, but its fortunes – and those of the church – revived when a new harbour was constructed.

Since then, St Mary’s has been pleasingly restored and is one of the most handsome churches in Sussex. Indeed, it could be called the cathedral of the Sussex coast.

Reverend Nathaniel Woodard, curate at the church from 1846 to 1850, founded a school nearby.

Eventually he also started three great public schools, Ardingly, Hurstpierpoint and Lancing, which are all thriving today.

There are now many other sister schools which are part of the Woodard group.

The church also has an interesting memorial tablet to Ambrose Reeves, Bishop of Johannesburg from 1949 to 1961 and a staunch opponent of apartheid. It was carved by the Sussex-based sculptor John Skelton.

Both churches are frequently open to the public and have an active group of Friends.