Selsey Abbey
Encyclopedia
Selsey Abbey was almost certainly built at Church Norton, Selsey, Sussex, England. It was founded in 683AD, and became the seat of the Sussex bishopric
, until it was moved in 1075AD to Chichester
.
and his wife Eafe plus the leading thegns and soldiers had already been baptised in Mercia, then he goes on to say that only Queen Eafe was baptised . Kirby suggests that Stephens Life of Wilfrid was extremely partisan, as its purpose was to magnify Wilfrid as well as vindicate him.Kirby.The South Saxons: The Church in Saxon Sussex. pp. 169 – 170 Also that Queen Eafe was the daughter of Wulfhere
the Christian king of Mercia, and that Æðelwealh and his nobles would have been baptised at the Mercian court, and on their return to Sussex, Wulfhere will have sent a number of priests with them, to baptise the ordinary people. He further speculates that Christianity may have secured a foothold in early Sussex via one of its sons, the South Saxon Damian
, bishop of Rochester
c.660, but the evidence is not certain.
When Wilfrid arrived in Sussex, there was a small community of five or six Irish monks, led by Dicul in Bosham
however it seems that they had made little headway in evangelising the local people. It would not have been unusual to have found Irish monks in Sussex as during this period it was common to follow the ‘’Doctrine of Peregrinatio’’, a self imposed exile to serve God. Also, the South of England generally was part of the overland route for the Irish travelling to the continent.Kirby.The South Saxons: The Church in Saxon Sussex. p. 170.
At the time of Wilfrid, it would have been a financial expedient to set up a See in an existing monastery rather than build a cathedral church from scratch. Kelly suggests that this may have been why the cathedra
was originally set in Selsey rather than Chichester. According to the Domesday Book, at the time of Edward the Confessor
, the diocese of Selsey was one of the poorest bishoprics in the country. After the Norman Conquest, however the Norman elite were able to spend vast sums of money on buildings, including churches, so the cost of translating the See to Chichester would not have been a problem.
and 87 hides
to build a monastery
at Selsey. Bede says that one of Wilfrid's first acts was to free 250 slaves, who came with the estate, and baptised them. Wilfrid then went onto perform the deeds of Bishop in the area. A 10th century forged foundation charter, credits Cædwalla as granting Wilfrid the lands. Cædwalla was a wayward West Saxon prince who invaded the kingdom of the South Saxons and slew King Æðelwealh. Æðelwealh's successors, Berthun and Andhun drove Cædwalla out, but when Cædwalla eventually became King of the West Saxons, he conquered the South Saxons, killing Berthun in the process. One of the consequences of the West Saxon takeover, was that when Wilfrid eventually returned to Northumbria, Selsey was left without a Bishop, and the See was absorbed by the Diocese of the West Saxons at Winchester. In temporal matters Sussex was subject to the West Saxon kings, and in ecclesiastical matters it was subject to the bishops of Winchester. By 705AD the
West Saxon Diocese had grown to such a size that it became unwieldy to manage, so King Ine, Cædwalla's successor, resolved with his witan to divide the great diocese. Accordingly, a new see was created at Sherbourne and four years later the See of Selsey was revived. Wilfrid had been in charge of the religious community at Selsey, when he left he probably would have nominated a president, any subsequent vacancy would have been filled by election. The abbot of Selsey Eadberht
would have been president of the brotherhood in 709 and according to Bede was consecrated the first Bishop of the South Saxons by synodal decree. Wilfrid is credited with being first Bishop of the South Saxons, by William of Malmesbury
and Florence of Worcester
, also on some later Ecclesiastical lists
, but technically he was still Bishop of Northumbria when in charge of Selsey Abbey.
From the time of Wilfrid till after the Norman Conquest, when the See was transferred to Chichester, there were about twenty-two Bishops over a period of 370 years. The See was transferred after the Council of London
of 1075, which decreed that Sees should be centred in cities.
There is a dearth of documents for the early church in Sussex with gaps in the lists.Kirby.The South Saxons: The Church in Saxon Sussex. p. 171. Most of the documents that do survive are later copies or forgeries, which has made it impossible to reconstruct a detailed history before the Norman Conquest.
, reference to some obscure remains of that ancient little city, in which those Bishops resided, covered at high water, but plainly visible at low water . The cathedral/ abbey, in reality, was more likely to have been at the site of, what became, the old 13th century parish church
at Church Norton.
There is some supporting evidence for this, for example, Bishop William Reade
in the 14th century requested, in his will, that he should be buried before the high altar of the church at Selsey once the cathedral church of my diocese. A late Saxon object found at the 'mound', in Church Norton, was a bronze tab (belt end) of a type found in ecclesiastical contexts. Also various stone artefacts have been found in the area including remnants of Wilfrids palm cross, that would have stood outside his cathedral. The design on the remains of the cross are similar to those on the Bewcastle Cross
and it is thought that the Selsey cross would have been identical to the one at Bewcastle.
In another will dated 1545, Geoffrey Thomson, a Rector of Selsey asked to be buried next to the palm cross in the churchyard.
On the top left of the Barnard painting, that hangs in the south transept, of Chichester cathedral is a representation of the old church
and bell tower as it appeared in the 16th century, situated at Church Norton.
A young boy, in his prayers, appealed to Saint Oswald. Then Saint Peter and Saint Paul were said to have appeared to the boy, at Oswalds request. They told him that all in the Monastery would be cured of the plague apart from the boy.
According to Bede:
The charter of 957(S.1291) tells how Byrhthelm restores 42 hides of land in the Selsey area to the South Saxons.
The original foundation confirmed by Cædwalla to Wilfrid was 87 hides, so the 42 hides would have been nearly half the original endowment.
According to Byrhthelm the land was fraudulently seized from the church by a certain Ælfsige, against the canons of the Council of Nicaea (325)
when raised to the epsicopal seat of the 'Gewisse' (West Saxons).
The 15th decree of the first Council of Nicaea 325 stated that neither bishops nor presbyters nor deacons shall transfer from city to city. If after this decision... anyone shall attempt such a thing .. the arrangement shall be totally annulled... Several historians have suggested that the Council of Nicaea reference that bishops should not take over another bishops land infers that the Ælfsige who seized the lands at Selsey, would have been a bishop. The most likely candidate being the Bishop of Winchester
(whose name was also Ælfsige) and according to Bede the South Saxon Church was subject to the Bishops of Winchester at the time.
wrote about St Wilfrid and Selsey and in this poem he refers to a service at Manhood End
(Selsey), that was taken by Wilfrids chaplain Stephen of Ripon, referred to as Eddi in the poem :
Bishop of Chichester
The Bishop of Chichester is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Chichester in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers the Counties of East and West Sussex. The see is in the City of Chichester where the seat is located at the Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity...
, until it was moved in 1075AD to Chichester
Chichester Cathedral
The Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity, otherwise called Chichester Cathedral, is the seat of the Anglican Bishop of Chichester. It is located in Chichester, in Sussex, England...
.
Historical Context
The founder of Selsey Abbey was the exiled St Wilfrid of Northumbria.Bede.HE.IV.13 Wilfrid had spent most of his career in exile having quarrelled with various kings and bishops. He arrived in the kingdom of the South Saxons in 681 and remained there for five years evangelising and baptising the people. The account given by Wilfrid’s biographer Stephen, in his Life of Wilfrid infers that all of the South Saxons were pagan, whereas Bedes Ecclesiastical History is somewhat more contradictory,Bede says that the local king ÆðelwealhAethelwalh of Sussex
Æthelwealh was the first historical king of Sussex. Æthelwealh became the first Christian king of Sussex and was king when Sussex was converted to Christianity in 681...
and his wife Eafe plus the leading thegns and soldiers had already been baptised in Mercia, then he goes on to say that only Queen Eafe was baptised . Kirby suggests that Stephens Life of Wilfrid was extremely partisan, as its purpose was to magnify Wilfrid as well as vindicate him.Kirby.The South Saxons: The Church in Saxon Sussex. pp. 169 – 170 Also that Queen Eafe was the daughter of Wulfhere
Wulfhere of Mercia
Wulfhere was King of Mercia from the end of the 650s until 675. He was the first Christian king of all of Mercia, though it is not known when or how he converted from Anglo-Saxon paganism. His accession marked the end of Oswiu of Northumbria's overlordship of southern England, and Wulfhere...
the Christian king of Mercia, and that Æðelwealh and his nobles would have been baptised at the Mercian court, and on their return to Sussex, Wulfhere will have sent a number of priests with them, to baptise the ordinary people. He further speculates that Christianity may have secured a foothold in early Sussex via one of its sons, the South Saxon Damian
Damianus
Damianus served as Bishop of Rochester from his consecration between 655 and 664 until his death about 664. He was consecrated by Deusdedit, the Archbishop of Canterbury.-External links:*...
, bishop of Rochester
Bishop of Rochester
The Bishop of Rochester is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Rochester in the Province of Canterbury.The diocese covers the west of the county of Kent and is centred in the city of Rochester where the bishop's seat is located at the Cathedral Church of Christ and the Blessed Virgin...
c.660, but the evidence is not certain.
When Wilfrid arrived in Sussex, there was a small community of five or six Irish monks, led by Dicul in Bosham
Bosham
Bosham is a small coastal village and civil parish in the Chichester District of West Sussex, England, about ) west of Chichester on an inlet of Chichester Harbour....
however it seems that they had made little headway in evangelising the local people. It would not have been unusual to have found Irish monks in Sussex as during this period it was common to follow the ‘’Doctrine of Peregrinatio’’, a self imposed exile to serve God. Also, the South of England generally was part of the overland route for the Irish travelling to the continent.Kirby.The South Saxons: The Church in Saxon Sussex. p. 170.
At the time of Wilfrid, it would have been a financial expedient to set up a See in an existing monastery rather than build a cathedral church from scratch. Kelly suggests that this may have been why the cathedra
Cathedra
A cathedra or bishop's throne is the chair or throne of a bishop. It is a symbol of the bishop's teaching authority in the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church, and has in some sense remained such in the Anglican Communion and in Lutheran churches...
was originally set in Selsey rather than Chichester. According to the Domesday Book, at the time of Edward the Confessor
Edward the Confessor
Edward the Confessor also known as St. Edward the Confessor , son of Æthelred the Unready and Emma of Normandy, was one of the last Anglo-Saxon kings of England and is usually regarded as the last king of the House of Wessex, ruling from 1042 to 1066....
, the diocese of Selsey was one of the poorest bishoprics in the country. After the Norman Conquest, however the Norman elite were able to spend vast sums of money on buildings, including churches, so the cost of translating the See to Chichester would not have been a problem.
Foundation and Removal
King Æðelwealh gave Wilfrid a royal villVill
Vill is a term used in English history to describe a land unit which might otherwise be described as a parish, manor or tithing.The term is used in the period immediately after the Norman conquest and into the late medieval. Land units in Domesday are frequently referred to as vills, although the...
and 87 hides
Hide (unit)
The hide was originally an amount of land sufficient to support a household, but later in Anglo-Saxon England became a unit used in assessing land for liability to "geld", or land tax. The geld would be collected at a stated rate per hide...
to build a monastery
Monastery
Monastery denotes the building, or complex of buildings, that houses a room reserved for prayer as well as the domestic quarters and workplace of monastics, whether monks or nuns, and whether living in community or alone .Monasteries may vary greatly in size – a small dwelling accommodating only...
at Selsey. Bede says that one of Wilfrid's first acts was to free 250 slaves, who came with the estate, and baptised them. Wilfrid then went onto perform the deeds of Bishop in the area. A 10th century forged foundation charter, credits Cædwalla as granting Wilfrid the lands. Cædwalla was a wayward West Saxon prince who invaded the kingdom of the South Saxons and slew King Æðelwealh. Æðelwealh's successors, Berthun and Andhun drove Cædwalla out, but when Cædwalla eventually became King of the West Saxons, he conquered the South Saxons, killing Berthun in the process. One of the consequences of the West Saxon takeover, was that when Wilfrid eventually returned to Northumbria, Selsey was left without a Bishop, and the See was absorbed by the Diocese of the West Saxons at Winchester. In temporal matters Sussex was subject to the West Saxon kings, and in ecclesiastical matters it was subject to the bishops of Winchester. By 705AD the
West Saxon Diocese had grown to such a size that it became unwieldy to manage, so King Ine, Cædwalla's successor, resolved with his witan to divide the great diocese. Accordingly, a new see was created at Sherbourne and four years later the See of Selsey was revived. Wilfrid had been in charge of the religious community at Selsey, when he left he probably would have nominated a president, any subsequent vacancy would have been filled by election. The abbot of Selsey Eadberht
Eadberht of Selsey
Eadberht of Selsey was an abbot of Selsey Abbey, later promoted to become the first Bishop of Selsey, though neither the date of his consecration nor of his death are known. He was consecrated sometime between 709 and 716, and died between 716 and 731...
would have been president of the brotherhood in 709 and according to Bede was consecrated the first Bishop of the South Saxons by synodal decree. Wilfrid is credited with being first Bishop of the South Saxons, by William of Malmesbury
William of Malmesbury
William of Malmesbury was the foremost English historian of the 12th century. C. Warren Hollister so ranks him among the most talented generation of writers of history since Bede, "a gifted historical scholar and an omnivorous reader, impressively well versed in the literature of classical,...
and Florence of Worcester
Florence of Worcester
Florence of Worcester , known in Latin as Florentius, was a monk of Worcester, who played some part in the production of the Chronicon ex chronicis, a Latin world chronicle which begins with the creation and ends in 1140....
, also on some later Ecclesiastical lists
Bishop of Chichester
The Bishop of Chichester is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Chichester in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers the Counties of East and West Sussex. The see is in the City of Chichester where the seat is located at the Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity...
, but technically he was still Bishop of Northumbria when in charge of Selsey Abbey.
From the time of Wilfrid till after the Norman Conquest, when the See was transferred to Chichester, there were about twenty-two Bishops over a period of 370 years. The See was transferred after the Council of London
Council of London (1075)
The Council of London in 1075 AD was a council of the Roman Catholic church in England held by the new Norman archbishop of Canterbury Lanfranc five years after his installation. Other attendees included Gisa and William the Norman...
of 1075, which decreed that Sees should be centred in cities.
There is a dearth of documents for the early church in Sussex with gaps in the lists.Kirby.The South Saxons: The Church in Saxon Sussex. p. 171. Most of the documents that do survive are later copies or forgeries, which has made it impossible to reconstruct a detailed history before the Norman Conquest.
Location of the Abbey
The location of the old Selsey cathedral is not known for sure and although some local legends suggest that it is under the sea, and that the bell can be heard tolling during rough weather. It is thought not to be true and probably was due to CamdensWilliam Camden
William Camden was an English antiquarian, historian, topographer, and officer of arms. He wrote the first chorographical survey of the islands of Great Britain and Ireland and the first detailed historical account of the reign of Elizabeth I of England.- Early years :Camden was born in London...
, reference to some obscure remains of that ancient little city, in which those Bishops resided, covered at high water, but plainly visible at low water . The cathedral/ abbey, in reality, was more likely to have been at the site of, what became, the old 13th century parish church
St Peter's Church, Selsey
St Peter's Church is the Parish Church of Selsey, West Sussex and dates from the 13th century. The Church building was originally situated at the location of St Wilfrid's first monastery and cathedral at Church Norton some 2 miles north of the present centre of population.-Building:The church was...
at Church Norton.
There is some supporting evidence for this, for example, Bishop William Reade
William Reade
William Reade was a medieval Bishop of Chichester.Reade was brought up, from boyhood to maturity, by his friend and protege Nicholas of Sandwich. He was then educated at Exeter College, Oxford and elected from it to a fellowship at Merton College, Oxford where astronomy, mathematics and natural...
in the 14th century requested, in his will, that he should be buried before the high altar of the church at Selsey once the cathedral church of my diocese. A late Saxon object found at the 'mound', in Church Norton, was a bronze tab (belt end) of a type found in ecclesiastical contexts. Also various stone artefacts have been found in the area including remnants of Wilfrids palm cross, that would have stood outside his cathedral. The design on the remains of the cross are similar to those on the Bewcastle Cross
Bewcastle Cross
The Bewcastle Cross is an Anglo-Saxon high cross still in its original position in the churchyard of Bewcastle, near Carlisle, Cumbria, England. The cross probably dates from the 7th or early 8th century and features reliefs and inscriptions in the runic alphabet...
and it is thought that the Selsey cross would have been identical to the one at Bewcastle.
In another will dated 1545, Geoffrey Thomson, a Rector of Selsey asked to be buried next to the palm cross in the churchyard.
On the top left of the Barnard painting, that hangs in the south transept, of Chichester cathedral is a representation of the old church
St Wilfrid's Chapel, Church Norton
St Wilfrid's Chapel, also known as St Wilfrid's Church and originally as St Peter's Church, is a former Anglican church at Church Norton, a rural location near the village of Selsey in West Sussex, England...
and bell tower as it appeared in the 16th century, situated at Church Norton.
Plague and pestilence
In 681, while Eappa was Abbot at the Monastery, the country was ravaged by a plague.Bede.HE.IV.14 As the monastery was also badly afflicted by this disease, the monks set apart three days of fasting and prayer to try to placate the Divine Wrath.A young boy, in his prayers, appealed to Saint Oswald. Then Saint Peter and Saint Paul were said to have appeared to the boy, at Oswalds request. They told him that all in the Monastery would be cured of the plague apart from the boy.
According to Bede:
- "In the monastery at this time lived a Saxon boy, who had recently been converted to the Faith; this child had caught the disease, and for a long time had been confined to bed. About the second hour on the second day of prayer and fasting, he was alone in the place where he lay sick, when, under divine providence, the most blessed Princes of the Apostles deigned to appear to him; for he was a boy of innocent and gentle disposition, who sincerely believed the truths of the Faith that had been accepted. The Apostles greeted him very lovingly, and said: 'Son, put aside the fear of death that is troubling you; for today we are going to take you with us to the kingdom of heaven. But first of all you must wait until the Masses are said, and you have received the Viaticum of the Body and Blood of our Lord. Then you shall be set free from sickness and death, and carried up to the endless joys of heaven. So call the priest Eappa and tell him that our Lord has heard the prayers of the brethren and regarded their fasting and devotion with favour. No one else in this monastery and its possessions is to die of this disease, and all who are now suffering from it will recover and be restored to their former health. You alone are to be set free by death today, and shall be taken to heaven to see the Lord Christ whom you have served so faithfully. God in his mercy has granted you this favour at the intercession of the devout King Oswald, so beloved by God, who once ruled the people of the Northumbrians...."(Bede. Ecclesiastical History. Book 4. Ch. 14)
Land seizure and restoration
In the middle of the 10th century a certain Byrhthelm appears as bishop in a couple of the Selsey charters, dated 956 and 957.The charter of 957(S.1291) tells how Byrhthelm restores 42 hides of land in the Selsey area to the South Saxons.
The original foundation confirmed by Cædwalla to Wilfrid was 87 hides, so the 42 hides would have been nearly half the original endowment.
According to Byrhthelm the land was fraudulently seized from the church by a certain Ælfsige, against the canons of the Council of Nicaea (325)
First Council of Nicaea
The First Council of Nicaea was a council of Christian bishops convened in Nicaea in Bithynia by the Roman Emperor Constantine I in AD 325...
when raised to the epsicopal seat of the 'Gewisse' (West Saxons).
The 15th decree of the first Council of Nicaea 325 stated that neither bishops nor presbyters nor deacons shall transfer from city to city. If after this decision... anyone shall attempt such a thing .. the arrangement shall be totally annulled... Several historians have suggested that the Council of Nicaea reference that bishops should not take over another bishops land infers that the Ælfsige who seized the lands at Selsey, would have been a bishop. The most likely candidate being the Bishop of Winchester
Bishop of Winchester
The Bishop of Winchester is the head of the Church of England diocese of Winchester, with his cathedra at Winchester Cathedral in Hampshire.The bishop is one of five Church of England bishops to be among the Lords Spiritual regardless of their length of service. His diocese is one of the oldest and...
(whose name was also Ælfsige) and according to Bede the South Saxon Church was subject to the Bishops of Winchester at the time.
Fictional reference
Rudyard KiplingRudyard Kipling
Joseph Rudyard Kipling was an English poet, short-story writer, and novelist chiefly remembered for his celebration of British imperialism, tales and poems of British soldiers in India, and his tales for children. Kipling received the 1907 Nobel Prize for Literature...
wrote about St Wilfrid and Selsey and in this poem he refers to a service at Manhood End
Manhood Peninsula
The Manhood Peninsula is the southernmost part of Sussex in England. It has the English channel to its south and Chichester to the north.The peninsula is bordered to its west by Chichester Harbour and to its east by Pagham Harbour, its southern headland being Selsey Bill.-Name:The name Manhood has...
(Selsey), that was taken by Wilfrids chaplain Stephen of Ripon, referred to as Eddi in the poem :
- Eddi's Service (AD 687)
- Eddi, priest of St. Wilfrid
- In his chapel at Manhood End,
- Ordered a midnight service
- For such as cared to attend.
- But the Saxons were keeping Christmas,
- And the night was stormy as well.
- Nobody came to service,
- Though Eddi rang the bell.
- "'Wicked weather for walking,"
- Said Eddi of Manhood End.
- "But I must go on with the service
- For such as care to attend."
- The altar-lamps were lighted, –
- An old marsh-donkey came,
- Bold as a guest invited,
- And stared at the guttering flame.
- The storm beat on at the windows,
- The water splashed on the floor,
- And a wet, yoke-weary bullock
- Pushed in through the open door.
- "How do I know what is greatest,
- How do I know what is least?
- That is My Father's business,"
- Said Eddi, Wilfrid's priest.
- "But – three are gathered together –
- Listen to me and attend.
- I bring good news, my brethren!"
- Said Eddi of Manhood End.
- And he told the Ox of a Manger
- And a Stall in Bethlehem,
- And he spoke to the Ass of a Rider,
- That rode to Jerusalem.
- They steamed and dripped in the chancel,
- They listened and never stirred,
- While, just as though they were Bishops,
- Eddi preached them The World,
- Till the gale blew off on the marshes
- And the windows showed the day,
- And the Ox and the Ass together
- Wheeled and clattered away.
- And when the Saxons mocked him,
- Said Eddi of Manhood End,
- "I dare not shut His chapel
- On such as care to attend."
- Rudyard Kipling Rewards and FairiesRewards and FairiesRewards and Fairies is a historical fantasy book by Rudyard Kipling published in 1910. The title comes from the poem Farewell, Rewards and Fairies by Richard Corbet. The poem is referred to by the children in the first story of the preceding book Puck of Pook's Hill...
. p 179.
External links
- Prosopography of Anglo-Saxon England. Location: Selsey
- Manhood Partnership- Contains aerial photo of the possible site of the Abbey at Church Norton, and pictures of the remains of the Palm Cross.