St Nicolas & St Andrew Church

St. Nicholas’ church of Portslade old village sits atop the village itself, with views out to sea now partially obscured by trees. The church was once a landmark for sailors, and the theory goes that this is why it was dedicated to Nicholas, patron saint of sailors. It’s an ancient structure dating back to the 12^th century — their records of vicars go back to 1185. Curiously, the graves in the small churchyard are fairly recent — the earliest I found was from 1782. This immediately made me wonder what the story is and why there are no earlier ones. It could just be the long term effects of the salt air on sandstone, which seems to be a popular headstone material, oddly enough. Or there could be stories there I have yet to unfold.
There was once a 22 — foot fresco in the church, according to their website, but inexplicably it was whitewashed over in 1847. There are still drawings, however, although naturally they’re not as impressive as the original one would have been, partly by virtue of its sheer size, and the fact that no-​one knows how representative they really are. It’s sad that it was destroyed, because what’s left isn’t all that interesting. There’s a well-​executed portrait of St. Francis of Assisi in stained glass, but it’s not stunning, and the carved sandstone seats set into the wall (I later learned they were called sedilia, and are for priests’ use) are enjoyably gothic and pointy, but nothing else sticks out. It’s much more visually interesting from the outside than the inside. Having said that, it’s a church, not a tourist destination, and as such it isn’t trying to be decorative — it’s achieving its’ religious purposes undeniably well, so I shall step away and leave them to it.

This church is suffering largely from falling church goer numbers but still continues to put on certain events over the year so that locals can benefit.
The local primary schools use these facilties once a week for hyms and to pray. It is also a graveyard which does give this church an eerie feeling but I think that is part of it’s charm. When I go to a church I like to be thought provoked by what is going on around me, if I don’t then for me the church is no good.

Despite being surrounded by modern housing estates, the old village centre of Portslade still retains a villagey feel: indeed, the approach from the busy A270 Old Shoreham Road is quite a shock: a sea of modern car showrooms gives way to a village green with winding lanes, cottages, a post office and two pubs.
At its centre is the parish church of St Nicholas, one of the oldest buildings in Brighton & Hove. Built in the Norman period around 1150, it was substantially enlarged with a new chancel and tower around 1250. Apart from the addition of a remarkably sensitive north aisle by the Victorians, it remains substantially a church in the Early English Gothic style.
From the outside, it is entirely conventional: a short west tower, a single roof covering both nave and aisles, covered in Horsham Slate, a smaller tiled chancel, and a south porch. It really could be in any Sussex village.
Inside, the oldest part of the church is the south aisle wall and the south nave arcade: of three bays, the two piers are typically Norman: heavy, round, and with square scalloped capitals, with the shallowest of pointed arches. The aisle windows were altered to lancets around 1250, when the chancel and tower were added.
Until 1847 there were early mediaeval wall paintings on the south arcade of the Nave, depicting a ‘Doom’, with the souls of the good and the damned moving to heaven and hell, either side of Christ seated in Judgement. Unfortunately, these were whitewashed shortly afterwards.
The chancel is particularly attractive: the two lancets with a sexfoil window above on the east wall are nicely balanced, and it has a fine sedilia (seats in niches for the priest and his assistants) and piscina on the south wall. The tower with rough stone walls also has an attractive high lancet window.
The north aisle was added in the latter part of the 19^th century but, apart from being wider, it is an almost mirror image of the south aisle, down to the scalloping on the capitals. The east wall repeats the motif from the chancel of two lancet windows, this time below a trefoil window, but the west end is given over to the Brackenbury Chapel, erected in 1874 for Miss Hannah Brackenbury (also spelt Brakenbury) and her brothers and niece. This contains heavily stained glass windows, and is separated by a large mullioned glass screen from the body of the church.
The interior is well lit, as few of the windows are coloured. Furnishings are limited, but there are some handsome 18^th century memorials on the aisle floor, and a pair of formidable skulls from another memorial (presumably 17^th century?) in the south aisle floor.
Overall, this is a lovely spot and a heaven of peace and quiet away from the anonymous sprawl of suburban Brighton and Hove. The church is part of a very active parish: detailed of services and other activities can be found on the website.
To the north of the church are the scant remains of Portslade Manor House, one of the few examples of a Norman Manor surviving. Unfortunately, much of the fabric was pillaged to build a Victorian folly ‘ruin’ further north. The remains are nevertheless of national importance and it is a grade II* listed monument.
Practicalities
The old village sits north of the Old Shoreham Road, well over a mile from the railway station and shopping centre of modern Portslade, and two miles from the sea. It is on the 1/​1A bus route, which provides a very frequent service. Alight at the stop for ‘St Nicolas’.