St Nicolas Church, Portslade facts for kids
Quick facts for kids St Nicolas, Portslade |
|
|---|---|
_(December_2019)_(7).JPG) |
|
| 50°50′35″N 0°13′06″W / 50.8431°N 0.2182°W | |
| Denomination | Church of England |
| Churchmanship | Anglo Catholic |
| Website | Parish of Portslade & Mile Oak |
| History | |
| Dedication | St Nicolas |
| Administration | |
| Parish | Portslade, Parish of Portslade & Mile Oak |
| Deanery | Rural Deanery of Hove |
| Archdeaconry | Chichester |
| Diocese | Chichester |
| Province | Canterbury |
St Nicolas Church is an Anglican church located in Portslade, a part of Brighton and Hove, England. It's a very old church, first built in the 1100s! It serves the original village of Portslade, which is a bit inland from the newer Portslade-by-Sea area. This church is also a type of building called a hall church, common in southern England.
Contents
History of St Nicolas Church
How the Church Began
A Roman road once ran through the area where Portslade is now. Even though there wasn't a Roman town here, some old Roman pottery has been found nearby. A village started to grow in the Middle Ages. Around the 1100s, a manor house and a church were built close to each other.
The church was first built with a chancel (the area around the altar), a nave (the main part where people sit), and an aisle (a side section) on the south side. It also had a square tower at the west end. The nave, aisle, and part of the tower were built first. They used Norman architecture features, like special twin pillars made of Caen stone. The chancel and the top part of the tower were added in the early 1200s.
Changes Over the Centuries
In the 1300s, a bell tower with battlements (like small castle walls) was added to the top of the tower. A porch was built on the south side later, probably by the 1500s.
Portslade was once the most important village west of Brighton. St Nicolas Church stayed strong and was never left to fall apart, unlike some other churches nearby. However, over time, parts of the church and its features did wear out. Like many churches in Brighton and Hove, it was changed and repaired during the Victorian era (the 1800s).
Lost Paintings and New Windows
In 1847, old medieval wall paintings were found in the nave. Sadly, they were covered over with whitewash and lost. These paintings showed the Last Judgement, a scene from the Bible. An article was written about them, suggesting they were painted around 1440.
In 1849, another aisle was added on the north side of the church. Later, in 1946, local stained glass artists named Cox & Barnard created a small window. This window is in the church tower and shows Saint Nicholas, the church's patron saint. It remembers A.C. Wheatland, a former verger (a church official).
Roof Repairs and New Additions
The church roof was made of very heavy stone slabs. By 1959, it needed big repairs. The roof was sagging and had even moved by about 30 centimeters (1 foot) because of the weight! This was despite strong wooden supports inside. For most of that year, a special jack was used to slowly push the roof back into place. At the same time, a vestry (a room for clergy) and a gallery for the organ were added.
The Brackenbury Chapel
The Brackenburys were a very important family in Portslade. Their family burial place was at the church. Between 1869 and 1874, the Brackenbury Chapel was built at the west end of the church. This chapel is very fancy, quite different from the simpler church. It was built by Hannah Brackenbury, who was buried there after she died in 1873. Hannah was known for giving money to local causes and charities. She also helped Balliol College, Oxford, where a debating society and a building are named after her. She even gave land and money to build the local primary school, a Gothic-style building from 1872.
Architecture of St Nicolas Church
St Nicolas Church is a fairly simple building. Its design is similar to many churches built in Sussex during the 1100s and 1200s.
Inside the Church
The chancel has a chamfered (beveled) Norman arch. This leads to the main part of the church, the three-bay nave, which has aisles on both the south and north sides. In the older south aisle, the piers (support columns) have capitals (the tops of columns) decorated with a scallop design. The north aisle, added in the 1800s, is similar but wider.
In the chancel, you can also see a repaired sedilia (seats for clergy) and a piscina (a basin for washing sacred vessels). Both of these are from the 1200s and are on the south wall. There's also a stone pulpit (where sermons are given), a modern altar, and a reredos (a screen behind the altar) and wood panels from 1921.
Most of the windows are lancets, which are tall and narrow. Some of these date back to the 1200s and have plain glass. Two stained glass windows show St Francis of Assisi and St Nicolas. The windows at the east end are two tall, narrow lancets with a sexfoil (a window shaped like a six-leaf clover) above them.
The Brackenbury Chapel's Design
The Brackenbury Chapel is much more decorative. It has a three-pane lancet window with stained glass, including the family's coat of arms. You'll also see fancy carved wood, stonework, and black and green marble. In the middle of the chapel is a marble tomb. The walls have arcades (a series of arches) and memorial tablets for family members. The chapel is built from knapped flint (flint stones that have been shaped), which is different from the rest of the church, made of pale rubble-work (rough, unshaped stones). A wall connects the chapel to the church's north aisle.
The Church Tower
The church tower has three parts. The base is from the 1100s, the upper section from the 1200s, and the bell tower was added later. It's made of coursed stone rubble-work, meaning the stones are laid in even rows, unlike the more random arrangement in the main church walls. The tower does not have buttresses (supports built against a wall).
St Nicolas Church Today
The church was officially recognized as a Grade II* listed building on July 19, 1950. This means it's a very important historic building. As of 2001, it was one of 70 Grade II*-listed buildings in Brighton and Hove.
Services are held at the church every day, with two or three on Sundays.
St Andrew's Church and Parish Union
St Andrew's Church was built on Church Road in Portslade-by-Sea between 1863 and 1864. It was designed by an architect from Brighton named Edmund Scott. In 1898, St Andrew's got its own parish (a church area). However, this parish has now joined with the parish of St Nicolas. The combined parish covers all of Portslade-by-Sea and Portslade Village. It also reaches up onto the south side of the South Downs. Since September 2013, St Andrew's has been used less often for regular services.
In September 2013, St Nicolas Portslade and St Andrew Portslade joined with The Good Shepherd Mile Oak. They now form a new, larger area called the Parish of Portslade & Mile Oak.
See also
