St Nicolas Church, Pevensey and William the Conqueror, storms, North American students ...

I went to a talk on St Nicolas Church in Pevensey – of William the Conqueror fame – well he conquered and left us, Angles or Saxons as we were, with a new world … talk about change – but we are what we are now 1,000 years on …

St Nicolas Church, Pevensey looking east

I have written briefly about Pevensey, as too Herstmonceux Castle … but nothing as thorough as this recent post from Mike at “A Bit AboutBritain” on the Battle of Hastings …

Dr Scott McLean, an archaeologist from the Canadian School at Herstmonceux, gave the talk … and wondered why no recent detailed excavations of Pevensey had ever been made … particularly with the tools that we have available to us today …

We have no idea where the harbour was that William, with his huge fleet of ships, landed – it was Pevensey … but was it north of the castle, or to the east … were there two harbours even … no major archaeology has been found, nor has a recent serious search been made.

The coastline of Pevensey c 340 AD
that expanse of water is now the
Pevensey Levels

To go back to the Roman era (2,000 years ag) – this part of the Sussex coast was very strategic with its ‘deep water port’, a number of salt works … Pevensey was a peninsula … and the coastline had many more deep water inlets …

Graveyard surrounded by trees - not of the Saxon age!
Through the trees and over them is where
Pevensey Castle stands

The thick forest of Andredsweald (c/o Mike for the name of the forest) … offered the Romans all the necessary raw materials to increase the already present iron industry (wood and iron) … together with clay for tiles and bricks, hogs, deer, and at the coast – fish … to feed the population.

Less manicured part - but it was a lovely day to be
at the Church and walking around

The forest provided a natural barrier … trade would be south to the various ports along the coast … the ‘Classis Britannica’ or Roman fleet, an imperial organisation, as well as a navy, supplied the inhabitants with necessities … while encouraging some form of farming at the various farmsteads dotted around the various forts.

… as the trades were established the land became relatively settled – albeit of a coastal tract – as trade was by boat … and these were  Harold Godwin’s lands … so William’s invasion – was war on King Harold as he might have been.

Early Medieval France - the Germanic tribes were
to the east, Armorica was settled by the Celtic Britons
escaping the Anglo-Saxon invasions

Yet – why did William land here … he came with the winds – but it was because there was this major connection with Normandy and western France – rulers hadn’t settled, as we know them, their lands yet … and so Pevensey became the centre of people movement and of ideas …

Pevensey Castle outer wall - the east entrance

… a Mint was established, the new church of St Nicolas was built to the east of the castle, but on a previous Saxon church … while in 1207 Pevensey was given the status of a Cinque Port.  The Cinque Ports were a trade and military confederation along the south and east coasts of England.

… but a harbinger of disaster was ‘brewing’ - the climate was changing – so much so that there were major storms in the 1286 and 1287 seasons … which changed the coastline for ever.

Compared to the Pevensey Bay coastline
above - the shore line is very different today

The wide open harbours were silted up, cliffs collapsed leading to harbour settlements finding themselves landlocked, while others that had been inland found themselves with access to the sea.

This was the wide bay - now silted up

The Pevensey levels were swamped with silt so that Hailsham became landlocked … Pevensey was left without either of its major harbours … trade ceased: impacting in a major way life along the Sussex coast … 100 villages were deserted … and these storms continued on and off until 1430 …

Trade moved to larger open water ports … such as Portsmouth, or north Kent where the London ports became established … perhaps Pevensey could have been ‘a Portsmouth’ … and our lives here in Eastbourne and East Sussex would have been very different.

They are still farming at Church Farm hundreds of
years later - pigs were in this field

Dr McLean brought some Canadian students from Herstmonceux to experience a dig … they were not impressed! with the square of old farm yard next to the Church … which needed to be carefully dug/trowelled out … looking for Neolithic, Roman, Saxon, Viking, Norman, Medieval finds …

Emperor Allectus of the Britannic Empire
with a Classis Britannica galley on
the obverse

… relatively few were found – they found some Roman coins, pottery, the base of a medieval road, a beach and a wharf that would have been nearby …

… all leading to the fact that the Church would have been at the centre of a community – on the harbour, surrounded by a Mint, Customs House, homes, shops, farms etc …

Unusually the nave and chancel are almost
of the same length - it is slightly off true;
the thinking is that it was intentional - a
deliberate feature to create an illusion of
greater strength, or to depict the
drooping of Christ's head on the Cross.

The students however loved the new born lambs, baby pigs … meeting the locals … but not the mud and farmyard yuck – but archaeological digs cover all things …

… then one day – they were ushered into the Church … and had a seminar in the Medieval Church that is 800 years old … something that they’d have never have experienced in north America.

So as you can see I hope from my brief foray along our coast and through the two millennia back to Roman times, and even another 4,000 years further back in time to the Neolithic Age – confirmed by other finds in and around Eastbourne … that history uncovers much … including storms that completely change the way of life.

Flint Wall, wonderful picket like fence, white roses
taken from the graveyard

History is weird and wonderful … so much to learn, so many mysteries to solve – where did William the Conqueror land … exactly where is that harbour, and the underlying archaeology …

To the Sacred Memory of Thomas Pierce - mariner and
pilot who died, drowned in sight of home in the gale
of June 6th 1870 - aged 70 years.

… someone one day will decide it’ll be worth the expense and effort to unravel that historical unknown … much as they appear to have done for the Battle of Hastings – where William conquered, and Harold lost his eye, before death cut him down.

It was a fascinating visit … and now I need to revisit and find out more …


Please also see http://positiveletters.blogspot.co.uk/2016/11/st-nicolas-church-pevensey-and-william.html for some extra details of the Church and its history

Hilary Melton-Butcher

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