SHADOWS FLEE AWAY: SELMESTON CHURCH & CHURCHYARD
Selmeston church is tucked away down a quiet country lane. It isn’t a tourist magnet and it can’t compete with Berwick and its famous Bloomsbury murals, but it has character and is worth a visit. It looks like a typical medieval parish church but it isn’t. It was completely rebuilt from the ground up in 1866 – on the same footprint. Its dimensions are interesting. I took a tape measure to it, and found that the core of it, nave plus chancel, is the same as Berwick church. That in turn is the same as Bishopstone, and Bishopstone is known to be a Saxon building. So it is likely there were Saxon churches at both Berwick and Selmeston. As much as 8,000 years ago there were people living very close by. Traces of their houses, probably wigwams, have been found down Slubby Lane. A complete very early Neolithic pot made 6,000 years ago was found on the same site, now an overgrown sandpit. There are many layers of history here.
SBG Computers of East Sussex A family business Est. 1999 Supporting and servicing all your PC needs Repairs Servicing Upgrades Custom-built PC’s and laptops Mac repair Broadband set-up Wi-Fi Networking iPad/iPod/iPhone repair Virus removal/protection Data recovery/back-up Personal Tuition No call-out fee Free telephone advice l
l
l
l
l
l
l
l
l
l
l
l
l
l
www.sbg-computers.co.uk Seaford/Eastbourne 01323 887997
Call any time for a prompt friendly service
We are proud to be an approved member of the Buy With Confidence scheme run by East Sussex Trading Standards.
54
The Victorian vicar, a scholar called William Parish, compiled a dictionary of the Sussex dialect as well as demolishing and rebuilding his church. His friend Lewis Carroll often stayed with him at the vicarage, and wrote
parts of the Alice books there. One of Parish’s stuffed birds amused Carroll and he turned it into the mythical borogove in Jabberwocky.
Among the many interesting inscriptions in the churchyard is one dedicated to Frederick Stanley Mockford, who in 1923 devised the international distress signal. He chose ‘May Day’, an English phrase which sounds like the French for ‘Help me’ – ‘M’aidez, just right for cross-Channel pilots. This new book by Rodney Castleden and Ann Murray tells the story of Selmeston church and its churchyard. It lists all the inscriptions in the church and churchyard. Ann and Rodney hope that their book will be a useful stepping stone for anyone pursuing family history, or just wanting to know more about local history, and more about this fascinating church. There are plans of the church and churchyard, as well as indexes, all to help you to find the inscriptions – or a lost relative. This 242-page book is the latest in a series of companion books of inscriptions to be seen in local churches; Bishopstone, Berwick and St Leonard’s Seaford, (£12.95), and East Blatchington (£7). Order Shadows Flee Away (£12.95) or any of the other books in the series from Rodney Castleden at Rookery Cottage, Blatchington Hill, Seaford. Add £3 for postal delivery; free delivery by hand in the Seaford area by arrangement. Photos: Shadows Flee Away cover; Lewis Carroll.
Please mention Seaford Scene when contacting advertisers
