St Wilfrid's Chapel, Church Norton facts for kids
Quick facts for kids St Wilfrid's Chapel |
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The chapel from the southwest
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| 50°45′18″N 0°45′55″W / 50.7549°N 0.7652°W | |
| Location | Rectory Lane, Church Norton, Selsey, West Sussex PO20 9DT |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Denomination | Anglican |
| History | |
| Former name(s) | St Peter's Church |
| Status | Church |
| Founded | 13th century |
| Dedication | Saint Wilfrid |
| Dedicated | 1917 (rededicated to St Wilfrid) |
| Architecture | |
| Functional status | Redundant |
| Heritage designation | Grade I |
| Designated | 5 June 1958 |
St Wilfrid's Chapel is an old church building near Selsey in West Sussex, England. It's also known as St Wilfrid's Church or, a long time ago, St Peter's Church. This chapel used to be a much bigger church. From the 1200s until the 1860s, it was the main church for the village of Selsey.
But then, something unusual happened! About half of the church was taken apart. Its stones and other parts were moved to the center of Selsey village. There, they were used to build a new church, which was also made bigger with new sections.
What's left of the old church is just its chancel (the part where the altar is). It stands by itself in a quiet, leafy area near the harbor, looking a bit like a small chapel in a graveyard. In 1917, it was given a new name, St Wilfrid's, after a famous saint who founded a monastery nearby. For a while, it was used as a smaller church for local people. However, in 1990, it was declared "redundant," meaning it was no longer needed for regular church services. Now, a charity called the Churches Conservation Trust looks after it. This small chapel is very important, so it's protected as a Grade I Listed building. This means it's a building of special historical interest.
Contents
A Church with a Long History
The area around Selsey is in the very southwest corner of Sussex. It used to be an island! The English Channel is to the east and south. To the north, there's Pagham Harbour, which once connected to the sea on the west side too. Two main places grew in this area: the village of Selsey and a smaller place called Church Norton. Church Norton is about 2.4 kilometers (1.5 miles) northeast of Selsey, right on the edge of Pagham Harbour.
The Beginnings: Saint Wilfrid and a Monastery
Many people believe this land is where Ælle of Sussex, the first King of the South Saxons, landed in 477 AD. Two hundred years later, a very important person named Wilfrid (who later became Saint Wilfrid) brought Christianity to this area. He made Selsey his main base.
It seems that Wilfrid was given land on the island in the 600s. In 681, he started a monastery there. This monastery later became a cathedral, which is a very large church where a bishop works. About 25 bishops served in Selsey between 681 and 1075. After the Norman Conquest, a big meeting in London in 1075 decided that the bishop's main church should move from Selsey to Chichester. The new cathedral in Chichester was built on the same spot as an older St Peter's church.
The Church Grows and Changes
Even though the monastery in Selsey was gone by the 1000s, its location remained. By the late 1100s, a church stood on this quiet spot. Some people think it might have replaced an even older Saxon building, but there isn't much proof.
At its biggest, the church had a nave (the main part where people sit) with side aisles, a chancel, a small bell tower, a porch, and a main tower. The oldest parts were the arches in the nave, built around 1180. Soon after, the nave was made even longer. The chancel was added in the early 1200s and had simple, tall, narrow windows called lancet windows. A larger east window, in a style called Perpendicular Gothic, was added later. Windows were also put into the side aisles in the 1400s. Finally, a tower with strong supports called buttresses was built at the west end in the 1500s.
Moving a Church: A Big Project
Selsey village started to grow a lot after 1830. New roads and houses were built, and it became a small seaside town. Because the old church at Church Norton was quite far from the growing village, people decided to build a new church right in the center of Selsey.
The old church, which was still called St Peter's at this time, was partly taken down. Only its chancel was left standing. Some of the old church's materials were used to build the new St Peter's Church. This big move happened around 1864, 1865, or 1866.
A meeting was held on July 1, 1864, to approve raising money for the move. A wealthy local lady, Mrs. Vernon-Harcourt, paid most of the cost, which was about £3,000 (a huge amount back then!). She also gave the village land for the new church. Some people didn't want the old church to disappear. So, it was agreed that the old church, except for the chancel, would be moved stone by stone to the new site. The work finished in 1865, and the new church was officially opened on April 12, 1866.
Many parts of the old church were moved to the new one. These included a Norman-era font (a basin for baptisms), pillars, arches, and three sections of the nave's arches. A bell made in 1844 and some old church objects from the 1500s to 1700s were also moved.
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For the next few decades, the remaining part of the old church at Church Norton was used as a chapel for the graveyard. In 1906, it received some new items from another church that was being torn down. Then, in 1917, the Bishop of Chichester officially rededicated the church to St Wilfrid. Even though it was now part of the new St Peter's Church's parish, some services continued there. Beautiful stained glass windows were added in 1969 and 1982. In 1990, the chapel was declared "redundant" by the church authorities, meaning regular services stopped, except for special events.
A Story by Rudyard Kipling
The church was even featured in a poem by the famous writer Rudyard Kipling. His poem, Eddi's Service, from a 1910 book, tells a story about a priest named Eddi. On a stormy Christmas Eve, Eddi was determined to hold Midnight Mass, even though no church members showed up. He said, "I must go on with the service for such as care to attend." When he lit the candles, an old donkey and a wet bullock wandered into the church. They stayed until morning, listening to Eddi preach. This story isn't true, but it might have come from an old local tale. Wilfrid's own chaplain was named Eddius Stephanus, which likely inspired the priest's name in the poem.
A Marriage Mix-Up
When the new church in Selsey was opened in 1866, there was a small mistake. It wasn't properly set up to hold legal marriages. This wasn't discovered until 1904! By then, 196 marriage ceremonies had taken place there. While these marriages were fine in the eyes of the church, they weren't strictly legal in the country's law. To fix this, a special Act of Parliament (a law made by the government) was needed. In 1906, an order was made to officially make all those marriages legal.
What the Chapel Looks Like Inside and Out
The original church was quite large, with a main hall, side aisles, a porch, and a tower. The tower was never fully finished and was only about 2.4 meters (8 feet) tall. The part that remains today, the chancel, is a simple building in an old style called Early English Gothic. It still has its original lancet windows on the north and south walls. The large east window, with three lights, was added in the 1400s and is in the Perpendicular Gothic style. You can still see where the old arch to the main part of the church used to be on the west wall. Because the church is "divided into two halves and standing in two different places," it's been called "one of the oddest in England."
Inside the south wall, there are two small hollows. One of these is used as a piscina, which is a basin for washing sacred vessels. Another very old feature is a carving from 1537. It shows a man named John Lewis (or Lews) and his wife Agnes kneeling. They are facing a central panel that is now too damaged to see clearly, but it would have shown a scene like the Crucifixion or the Trinity. This carving is made from Caen stone and is in a hollow in the north wall. Next to it, another carving shows St George and a "gruesome" scene of St Agatha's suffering.
The chapel also has beautiful stained glass windows from the 1900s. One from 1969, by Carl Edwards, honors women and shows a picture of a church in Cairo that no longer exists. Another, from 1982 by Michael Farrar-Bell, shows the nature reserve at Pagham Harbour with its animals and birds.
St Wilfrid's Chapel Today
St Wilfrid's Chapel was officially recognized as a Grade I Listed building on June 5, 1958. This means it's considered one of the most important historic buildings in the country.
The Diocese of Chichester declared the chapel "redundant" on November 1, 1990. Since then, it has been looked after by the Redundant Churches Fund, which is now called the Churches Conservation Trust. This charity takes care of old churches that are no longer used for regular services. St Wilfrid's is one of five former churches in West Sussex that this charity manages.
Even though it's not used for regular services, special events are still held at the church sometimes. For example, services are held on the feast day of Saint Wilfrid, which is October 12.
See also
- Grade I listed buildings in West Sussex
- List of churches preserved by the Churches Conservation Trust in Southeast England
- List of former places of worship in Chichester (district)
- Manhood Peninsula
- Selsey Abbey
