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42. St Wilfrid's Chapel Church Norton
This small chapel stands on the edge of Pagham Harbour some two miles from the main church of St Peters' Selsey today. Only the chancel remains, dating from the fifteenth century, but it almost certainly stands on the site of St Wilfrid's Saxon cathedral built at the end of the 7th century. Standing in the middle of a large cemetery within sound of the sea and surrounded in summer by hordes of bird-watchers in the adjacent Nature Reserve it is an idyllic spot. But in winter, as Rudyard Kipling's poem "Eddi's Service" describes, it can be very rough, stormy and isolated. A copy of this poem hangs on the north nave wall. Although only a few services are held in the chapel today it is well preserved with its white-washed walls and contains some interesting monuments and stained glass windows.
The Early English lancet windows contain some fine modern glass. On the north side is the Buxton-Knight Window depicting three scenes involving nurses and their work in alleviating suffering. The upper window, entitled Canada, shows wounded Canadian soldiers on the battlefield, the middle window, entitled England, shows Red Cross workers in London Underground shelters during the Blitz, whilst the lower window, entitled Egypt, shows St John Ambulance nurses with Cairo Cathedral in the background. The window was designed by Carl Edwards in 1969. Close by is the Nature Window dedicated in 1952 in memory of Reginald Chaplin. Rather like the Gilbert White windows in Selborne, this beautiful window depicts many of the birds and animals that can be seen nearby. Birds include the pheasant, magpie, woodpecker, owl, golden plover, curlew, heron, Brent geese, mallard and oyster catchers, whilst the animals include the mole, stoats, rabbits, a fox and a woodmouse.
The two lancet windows on the south side of the nave are equally attractive. One a memorial to Robert Yelf, a doctor who died in 1934, shows St Luke and St Wilfrid in delicate blues and yellows. The other window commemorates Sir Moir Mackenzie who died in 1963. It shows the Feeding of the Five Thousand, the shipwreck of St Wilfrid near Selsey and his teaching the local people how to fish. The Perpendicular East Window has glass of a slightly earlier date being presented by Captain Maurice Wingfield in 1921. Three figures are portrayed. The central one of the Virgin Mary shows the face of his wife Agnes who died in 1919. On the left is the face of his brother Captain John Wingfield and on the right his friend Captain Thomas Agar-Roberts MP. Both men were killed in the Great War and are shown dressed in knightly armour à la St George. The simple stone shelf-style altar was only dedicated in 1988 but on the south side a well preserved medieval Aumbry and Piscina can be seen. The font is Victorian as are the oak pews but the high roof has impressive medieval timber rafters. The most dominant feature of the chancel is the large Tudor canopy tomb in Caen stone of John Lewis and his wife Anges who died in 1537. They are shown facing each other kneeling on carved prie-deux. Behind them in bas relief are their patron saints, St George and St Agnes, whilst their coats of arms are carved below. John was Lord of the Manor during the reign of Queen Elizabeth. In complete contrast is a somewhat bizarre 19th century memorial on the north wall to WIlliam Clayton who 'died deeply lamented of brain fever on Lombok island in the East Indies on November 16 1835 in his eighteenth year'. Yet another reminder of the many deaths in remote corners of the world during the Imperial Age, but strangely comforting that this young boy is commemorated still, 165 years later in this quiet corner of Sussex whilst his grave on Lombok island probably no longer stands today. It is well worth making the journey to this chapel, probably the oldest Christian site in Sussex. An excellent history of both the chapel and the parish church of St Peters by Brenda Prior is on sale in the chapel. John Symonds |
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page last updated 1 OCTOBER 2000 |
